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An additional male has been accused of involvement in the robbery of a set of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the film “The Wizard of Oz” in 2005, according to a released indictment on Sunday.

At the age of 76, Jerry Hal Saliterman from Crystal was accused of stealing a valuable piece of art and tampering with a witness. During his initial court appearance on Friday, he chose not to plead.

The slippers, adorned with sequins and glass beads, were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, nearly 20 years ago and their whereabouts remained a mystery until 

The FBI discovered them in 2018..

In October, the individual confessed to stealing a valuable piece of artwork. They admitted to breaking the museum’s door and display case with a hammer while trying to make a final successful theft. This decision to commit a crime was described by their lawyer as a last attempt, as they had previously strayed from a life of unlawful activities. The individual has since been charged and found guilty.sentenced in January

He was released from prison due to his declining health.

Martin’s lawyer 

According to the court filings

An individual who used to work with Martin and has ties to the mafia informed him that the shoes needed to be embellished with authentic gemstones in order to justify their insured value of $1 million.

During an October court proceeding, Martin, a resident in close proximity to Grand Rapids, mentioned that his plan was to extract what he believed to be genuine rubies from the shoes and make a profit by selling them. However, he further revealed that a fence, an individual who traffics in stolen items, informed him that the rubies were not authentic. As a result, Martin disposed of the slippers.

Defense lawyer Dane DeKrey stated in legal paperwork that an ex-partner of Martin’s convinced him to steal the slippers as a final act, despite Martin appearing to have overcome his troubles after being released from his prior incarceration almost a decade prior.

However, it was difficult for him to break old habits and the idea of a “final score” caused him to lose sleep, according to DeKrey.

In DeKrey’s memorandum, it was mentioned that Martin was not aware of the cultural importance of the ruby slippers and had not watched the movie “The Wizard of Oz.”

The recently revealed records do not specify any potential connection between Martin and Saliterman.

In the well-known musical from 1939, Garland’s character Dorothy needed to tap her ruby slippers together three times while saying, “There’s no place like home,” in order to go back to Kansas from Oz. She used multiple pairs during production, but currently, only four genuine pairs are in existence.

The exact method used by the FBI to locate the slippers has not been revealed. According to the bureau, a man came forward in 2017 offering assistance in their recovery, but requested a higher amount than the $200,000 reward being offered. The slippers were eventually recovered in Minneapolis during an FBI operation in the following year. The market value of the slippers has been estimated by federal prosecutors to be around $3.5 million.

Michael Shaw, a collector of Hollywood memorabilia, lent the shoes to the museum before they were stolen by Martin. The remaining pairs are in the possession of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and a private collector. The museum’s founding director, John Kelsh, stated that the slippers were returned to Shaw and are now being held by an auction house for sale.

In 1922, Frances Gumm, also known as Garland, was born. Until the age of 4, she resided in Grand Rapids, which is approximately 200 miles north of Minneapolis, before her family relocated to Los Angeles. She passed away in 1969. According to the Judy Garland Museum, which features the residence she once inhabited, it boasts the largest assortment of her possessions and items related to the film “The Wizard of Oz”.

Source: cbsnews.com