Owning Manhattan’s Jessica discovered her client allegedly tortured man in house she found for him
'I was just really scared'
Owning Manhattan agent Jessica Markowski has revealed that one of her clients allegedly kidnapped and tortured a man for weeks in a property she secured for him.
Jessica told People that she had worked with William Duplessie in March, with him securing a rental townhouse in SoHo.
Two months later Jessica discovered that William and his associate were arrested and charged with kidnapping, assault and coercion after they allegedly held an Italian tourist hostage inside the SoHo property for more than two weeks, according to ABC News.
Jessica Markowski opened up about the terrifying experience, with the Owning Manhattan agent admitting she felt “scared” after finding out about what happened.
She explained: “At that moment, I was just very fearful. Like, am I involved? I was just really scared of what was going to come through all of this.
“Like, did I do something wrong? But no, I didn’t. I just happened to secure them a townhouse, and lo and behold, that happened.”
She added that she’d done a background on him and “did all the protocols” ahead of working with him, but ultimately the situation was “out of my control.”
Jessica continued: “At the end of the day, you don’t really know your clients so well. My job is to secure a home, and I don’t really know the underlying things that happen with their own personal business. That was very hard on me when that happened.”
William and his associate John Woeltz allegedly lured the man into the property by threatening to have his family killed, according to ABC News.
His electronic items and passport were taken and he was then allegedly subjected to beatings and electric shock, according to the outlet.
The New York Police Department told People that two cryptocurrency investors allegedly tortured the victim over the course of two weeks in an effort to get him to give up the password to his Bitcoin account.
NBC 4 reported that the victim able to escape on May 23 and ran to a traffic enforcement officer for help.
Both William and John have pleased not guilty, with John released on a $1 million bond in July, according to NBC 4. William is currently being held at Otis Bantum Correctional Center on Rikers Island.
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