A second man has been charged in connection with the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in B次元官网网址淭he Wizard of Oz,B次元官网网址� according to an indictment made public Sunday.
Jerry Hal Saliterman, 76, of Crystal, Minnesota, was charged with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering. He did not enter a plea when he made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
The slippers, adorned with sequins and glass beads, were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actorB次元官网网址檚 hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, nearly 20 years ago and their whereabouts remained a mystery until .
The indictment says that from August 2005 to July 2018 Saliterman B次元官网网址渞eceived, concealed, and disposed of an object of cultural heritageB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� specifically, B次元官网网址渁n authentic pair of B次元官网网址榬uby slippersB次元官网网址� worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie B次元官网网址楾he Wizard of Oz.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� The indictment says Saliterman knew they were stolen, and that he threatened to release a sex tape of a woman and B次元官网网址渢ake her down with himB次元官网网址� if she didnB次元官网网址檛 keep her mouth shut about the slippers.
Saliterman was in a wheelchair and on supplemental oxygen during his Friday court appearance. His oxygen machine hummed throughout the hearing and he bounced his knee nervously during breaks in the proceedings. He responded with B次元官网网址測es,B次元官网网址� when U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright asked whether he understood the charges against him, but he said nothing about the allegations.
The case was not openly discussed in court. The magistrate ordered Friday that the indictment be unsealed, but it did not become publicly available until Sunday.
SalitermanB次元官网网址檚 attorney, John Brink, said after FridayB次元官网网址檚 hearing that he couldnB次元官网网址檛 say much about the case, but: B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 not guilty. He hasnB次元官网网址檛 done anything wrong.B次元官网网址� Saliterman, who was released on his own recognizance, declined to comment to The Associated Press outside the courthouse.
The man who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, 76, to theft of a major artwork, admitting to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museumB次元官网网址檚 door and display case in what his attorney said was an attempt to pull off B次元官网网址渙ne last scoreB次元官网网址� after turning away from a life of crime. He was to time served because of his poor health.
MartinB次元官网网址檚 laywer that an old associate of MartinB次元官网网址檚 with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value.
Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, said at an October hearing that he hoped to take what he thought were real rubies from the shoes and sell them. But a person who deals in stolen goods, known as a fence, informed him the rubies werenB次元官网网址檛 real, Martin said. So he got rid of the slippers.
Defense attorney Dane DeKrey wrote in court documents that MartinB次元官网网址檚 unidentified former associate persuaded him to steal the slippers as B次元官网网址渙ne last score,B次元官网网址� even though Martin had seemed to have B次元官网网址渇inally put his demons to restB次元官网网址� after finishing his last prison term nearly 10 years earlier.
B次元官网网址淏ut old habits die hard, and the thought of a B次元官网网址榝inal scoreB次元官网网址� kept him up at night,B次元官网网址� DeKrey wrote.
According to DeKreyB次元官网网址檚 memo, Martin had no idea about the cultural significance of the ruby slippers and had never seen B次元官网网址淭he Wizard of Oz.B次元官网网址�
The documents unsealed Sunday do not indicate how Martin and Saliterman may have been connected.
In the classic 1939 musical, GarlandB次元官网网址檚 character, Dorothy, had to click the heels of her ruby slippers three times and repeat, B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no place like home,B次元官网网址� to return to Kansas from Oz. She wore several pairs during filming, but only four authentic pairs are known to remain.
The FBI never disclosed exactly how it tracked down the slippers. The bureau said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he could help recover them but demanded more than the $200,000 reward being offered. The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis the next year. Federal prosecutors have put the slippersB次元官网网址� market value at about $3.5 million.
Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw had loaned the pair to the museum before Martin stole them. The other pairs are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the and a private collector. According to John Kelsh, founding director of the museum, the slippers were returned to Shaw and are being held by an auction house that plans to sell them.
Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She , about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, until she was 4, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969. The which includes the house where she lived, says it has the worldB次元官网网址檚 largest collection of Garland and B次元官网网址淲izard of OzB次元官网网址� memorabilia.
Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
