A Minnesota man has been indicted on prices that he stole a pair of the famed ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn., the actress’s hometown, almost 18 years in the past.
The red-sequined pumps had been recovered in a sting operation that led to Minneapolis in 2018, however the authorities mentioned on the time that their investigation was persevering with and they didn’t title any suspects.
On Tuesday, a federal indictment in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota charged Terry Jon Martin of Minnesota with stealing an genuine pair of the slippers, which officers estimated have a market worth of $3.5 million, from the museum someday between Aug. 27 and Aug. 28 of 2005. Mr. Martin was indicted on one depend of theft of a significant art work.
The one-page indictment didn’t present any additional particulars in regards to the case. It was not instantly clear if Mr. Martin had a lawyer and he couldn’t be reached at numbers listed beneath his title. Mr. Martin informed The Minneapolis Star Tribune on Wednesday that he needed to go to trial, and added: “I don’t want to talk to you.” The newspaper reported that Mr. Martin lived about 12 miles south of the museum.
Janie Heitz, govt director of the Judy Garland Museum, mentioned in an interview on Wednesday that she was researching to seek out out if Mr. Martin had any connection to the museum, though she was sure that he had not been an worker.
“It’s a break in the case, which is good,” she mentioned. “We are excited, speechless, anxious.”
The slippers had been stolen by somebody who had damaged in by means of a again entrance and smashed the plexiglass show case holding the footwear. With no fingerprints or safety digicam footage to go by, the police had been left with few clues. The solely factor left behind was a lone crimson sequin.
Federal, native and personal investigators pursued a wide range of theories over time, and ultimately a personal donor supplied a $1 million reward for finding the footwear, which had been amongst a number of worn by Garland in filming the 1939 film. Three different pairs utilized in filming had been identified to outlive.
A break within the search got here in 2018 when somebody approached the insurance coverage firm that owned the footwear, claiming to have details about the slippers and the way they may very well be returned. It rapidly turned clear, officers mentioned, that the particular person was making an attempt to extort cash from the corporate.
Investigators from the F.B.I.’s artwork crime unit, together with different federal brokers in Chicago, Atlanta and Miami, organized a sting operation to get well the slippers. The authorities mentioned that they had not paid any reward cash.
Seyward Darby, a co-host of “No Place Like Home,” a podcast in regards to the theft, mentioned that Mr. Martin’s title had not come up in her reporting.
“However, as our podcast discusses, there was a strong suspicion that there was a ‘local connection’ to the crime — someone with knowledge of the museum, the fact that the slippers were on loan there in the summer of 2005, and how easy they were to steal,” Ms. Darby mentioned in an e mail. “What’s interesting is that Martin is just one piece of the puzzle. Over the 13 years the slippers were missing, it is possible — likely, even — that they exchanged hands.”
The indictment, Ms. Darby mentioned, raised questions on whether or not Mr. Martin may need acted alone or whether or not he may need been commissioned by a legal syndicate.
“Much like ‘The Wizard of Oz’ itself, this story keeps on giving,” she mentioned. “Every time there’s a new development, there are more mysteries.”
Rhys Thomas, the creator of “The Ruby Slippers of Oz,” a ebook in regards to the footwear used within the movie, mentioned that Mr. Martin “certainly wasn’t on my radar.”
“I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Mr. Thomas mentioned. “I don’t think a single individual would have opportunistically grabbed the shoes and then sat on them for 13 years and then gotten himself involved in an extortion case.”
When the footwear had been stolen, they belonged to a collector in North Hollywood, Calif., and had been on mortgage to the museum, which opened in 1975 in the home the place Garland lived as a younger youngster.
The Judy Garland Museum had put the footwear on show in 2005 throughout an annual pageant celebrating the actress. Strictly talking, they aren’t a pair; the left and proper footwear are barely completely different sizes, and are thought of to be the mates of the left and proper footwear housed on the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
In “The Wizard of Oz,” Ms. Garland, taking part in Dorothy, clicks the heels of the ruby slippers thrice and utters the phrases, “There’s no place like home,” magically transporting herself again residence to Kansas.
Ms. Heitz mentioned on Wednesday that, though the footwear had been recovered in 2018, that they had remained in federal custody, as proof within the case. She mentioned she hoped that they may someday be returned to the museum and displayed once more. They are broadly thought of to be among the many most recognizable cultural objects in American movie.
“It’s just such an iconic item that means so much to so many people,” Ms. Heitz mentioned, including that, to many, the slippers characterize residence and a way of place. “It would be a shame for them to stay in a locked case for the rest of time.”
Source: www.nytimes.com