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 response to an indictment made public Sunday.
Jerry Hal Saliterman, 76, of Crystal, Minnesota, was charged with theft of a significant paintings and witness tampering. He didn’t enter a plea when he made his first look Friday in U.S. District Courtroom in St. Paul.
The slippers, adorned with sequins and glass beads, had been stolen from the Judy Garland Museum within the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, almost 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 “obtained, hid, and disposed of an object of cultural heritage” — particularly, “an genuine pair of ‘ruby slippers’ worn by Judy Garland within the 1939 film ‘The Wizard of Oz.’” The indictment says Saliterman knew they had been stolen, and that he threatened to launch a intercourse tape of a girl and “take her down with him” if she didn’t maintain her mouth shut concerning 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 “sure,” when U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose Elizabeth Cowan Wright requested whether or not he understood the costs towards him, however he mentioned nothing concerning the allegations.
The case was not overtly mentioned in court docket. The Justice of the Peace ordered Friday that the indictment be unsealed, but it surely didn’t change into publicly obtainable till Sunday.
Saliterman’s legal professional, John Brink, mentioned after Friday’s listening to that he couldn’t say a lot concerning the case, however: “He’s not responsible. He hasn’t finished something incorrect.” Saliterman, who was launched on his personal recognizance, declined to remark to The Related Press exterior the courthouse.
The person who stole the slippers, Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded responsible in October to theft of a significant paintings, admitting to utilizing a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and show case in what his legal professional mentioned was an try to drag off “one final rating” after turning away from a lifetime of crime. He was sentenced in January to time served due to his poor well being.
Martin’s lawyer mentioned 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, mentioned at an October listening to that he hoped to take what he thought had been actual rubies from the sneakers and promote them. However an individual who offers in stolen items, referred to as a fence, knowledgeable him the rubies weren’t actual, Martin mentioned. So he removed the slippers.
Protection legal professional Dane DeKrey wrote in court docket paperwork that Martin’s unidentified former affiliate persuaded him to steal the slippers as “one final rating,” regardless that Martin had appeared to have “lastly put his demons to relaxation” after ending his final jail time period almost 10 years earlier.
“However outdated habits die onerous, and the considered a ‘closing rating’ stored him up at night time,” DeKrey wrote.
Based on DeKrey’s memo, Martin had no concept concerning 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 might have been related.
Within 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 dwelling,” 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 mentioned a person approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he might assist recuperate them however demanded greater than the $200,000 reward being provided. The slippers had been recovered throughout an FBI sting in Minneapolis the following 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 opposite pairs are held by the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American Historical past and a non-public collector. Based on John Kelsh, founding director of the museum, the slippers had 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.
