Man accused of robbing museum A pair of ruby slippers pass through Judy Garland The “Wizard of Oz” star is expected to change his plea in court on Friday, unraveling a detective mystery that stretches back 18 years.
Terry Jon Martin, 76, was indicted in May on charges of stealing a significant piece of art. Shoes from the film were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in the actress’ hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and were recovered by the FBI in 2018.
No one had been arrested in the case until Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, was charged earlier this year. Martin’s attorney, Dane DeKrey, said his client was in poor health but had been cooperating with authorities.
“I think Terry is facing his own mortality, and I think when people get to that point in their lives, they stop making small talk and talking about turkey,” DeClay said in an interview ahead of Friday’s scheduled hearing.
The one-page indictment did not detail how investigators found Martin. Martin was convicted of receiving stolen property in 1988 and was free on his own recognizance. Much of the government’s evidence is protected by protective orders prohibiting public disclosure.
Garland wore several pairs of ruby slippers while filming the classic musical in 1939, but only four authentic pairs are known to survive. The slippers were insured for $1 million, but federal prosecutors believed the current market value was about $3.5 million when they announced the indictment.
The FBI said a man contacted the insurance company in 2017 and offered assistance in recovering the insurance.slippers are Discovered in Assassination by FBI Art Crime Team Starting a business in Minneapolis. They remain in the custody of the bureau.
Decker said the plea agreement, reached “after thorough negotiation” between Decker and federal prosecutor Matt Greenlee, would provide a “factual basis” for his client’s plea.
DeCray expects Minnesota’s chief federal judge, U.S. District Judge Patrick Hiltz, to set a sentencing date in about three months. He declined to disclose the sentencing recommendations from both sides but noted that non-binding federal sentencing guidelines recommend 10 to 12 years in prison for similar cases.
DeCray said he was grateful Hiltz agreed to hold the hearing in Duluth instead of having Martin travel to the Twin Cities.
“My client is a patient. He will need oxygen and be in a wheelchair,” DeClay said.
The slippers were loaned to the museum by Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw after someone climbed through a window and broke a display case.Three other pairs of shoes worn by Garland in the film are in the collection of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Smithsonian Museum of American History and a private collector.
Over the years, rewards have been offered for solving the mystery.Anonymous donor from Arizona Invest 1 million US dollars 2015.
The ruby slippers were a key prop in the 1939 film. Garland’s Dorothy mysteriously lands in the colorful land of Oz after her farm in Kansas is hit by a tornado, where she must click her slipper heels three times and repeat “There’s no place like home.” to return.
The slippers are made from about a dozen different materials, including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic and glass. Most of the ruby color comes from sequins, but the shoe’s bow contains red glass beads.
Garland was born Francis Gumm in 1922. Living in Grand Rapids, Located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis until she was 4 years old, the family moved to Los Angeles. She died of a barbiturate overdose in 1969.
this Judy Garland Museum, The museum, which opened in 1975 in the house where she lived, is said to have the world’s largest collection of “Garland” and “The Wizard of Oz” memorabilia.
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