A second man has been charged in reference to the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz,” in keeping with an indictment unsealed Sunday.
Jerry Hal Saliterman, 76, of Crystal, was charged with theft of a significant art work and witness tampering. He didn’t enter a plea when he made his first court docket look Friday.
The slippers, adorned with sequins and glass beads, have been stolen from the Judy Garland Museum within the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, practically 20 years in the past and their whereabouts remained a thriller till the FBI recovered them in 2018.
The indictment says that from August 2005 to July 2018 Saliterman “received, concealed, and disposed of an object of cultural heritage” — specifically, “an authentic pair of ‘ruby slippers’ worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie ‘The Wizard of Oz.’” The indictment says Saliterman knew they were stolen, and that he threatened to release a sex tape of a woman and “take her down with him” if she didn’t maintain her mouth shut in regards to the slippers.
Saliterman was in a wheelchair and on supplemental oxygen throughout his Friday court docket look. His oxygen machine hummed all through the listening to and he bounced his knee nervously throughout breaks within the proceedings. He responded with “yes,” when U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright requested whether or not he understood the fees towards him, however he stated nothing in regards to the allegations.
The case was not overtly mentioned in court docket and the fees weren’t made public till the court docket paperwork have been unsealed Sunday.
Saliterman’s legal professional, John Brink, stated after Friday’s listening to that he couldn’t say a lot in regards to the case, however: “He’s not guilty. He hasn’t done anything wrong.” Saliterman, who was launched on his personal recognizance, declined to remark to The Associated Press exterior the courthouse.
The man who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded responsible in October to theft of a significant art work, admitting to utilizing a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and show case in what his legal professional stated was an try to drag off “one last score” after turning away from a lifetime of crime. He was sentenced in January to time served due to his poor well being.
Martin’s laywer stated in court docket paperwork that an outdated affiliate of Martin’s with connections to the mob advised him the sneakers needed to be adorned with actual jewels to justify their $1 million insured worth.
Martin, who lives close to Grand Rapids, stated at an October listening to that he hoped to take what he thought have been actual rubies from the sneakers and promote them. But an individual who offers in stolen items, referred to as a fence, knowledgeable him the rubies weren’t actual, Martin stated. So he removed the slippers.
Defense legal professional Dane DeKrey wrote in court docket paperwork that Martin’s unidentified former affiliate persuaded him to steal the slippers as “one last score,” though Martin had appeared to have “finally put his demons to rest” after ending his final jail time period practically 10 years earlier.
“But old habits die hard, and the thought of a ‘final score’ kept him up at night,” DeKrey wrote.
According to DeKrey’s memo, Martin had no thought in regards to the cultural significance of the ruby slippers and had by no means seen “The Wizard of Oz.”
The paperwork unsealed Sunday don’t point out how Martin and Saliterman could have been linked.
In the basic 1939 musical, Garland’s character, Dorothy, needed to click on the heels of her ruby slippers thrice and repeat, “There’s no place like home,” to return to Kansas from Oz. She wore a number of pairs throughout filming, however solely 4 genuine pairs are recognized to stay.
The FBI by no means disclosed precisely the way it tracked down the slippers. The bureau stated a person approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he may assist get better them however demanded greater than the $200,000 reward being supplied. The slippers have been recovered throughout an FBI sting in Minneapolis the subsequent 12 months. Federal prosecutors have put the slippers’ market worth at about $3.5 million.
Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw had loaned the pair to the museum earlier than Martin stole them. The different pairs are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a personal collector. According to John Kelsh, founding director of the museum, the slippers have been returned to Shaw and are being held by an public sale home that plans to promote them.
Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, till she was 4, when her household moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969. The Judy Garland Museum, which incorporates the home the place she lived, says it has the world’s largest assortment of Garland and “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia.
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