Warning: This story contains distressing details about torture and graphic images 

Self-described “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski described being beaten with a gun and tortured with knives and a lighter in the back of a truck as he began his testimony at the trial of his alleged kidnappers Friday in Toronto. 

“[I was] very scared, scared I’m going to die, scared for my life, in survival mode essentially,” Pleterski told the Ontario Superior Court about how he felt at the time. 

The Crown played a 13-second video for the jury, which showed Pleterski on his knees begging for his life while a man pointed a gun at him and counted down from three. 

Before reaching one, the man appears to fire the gun beside Pleterski’s head.

“It didn’t hit me,…