St. Paul — An indictment released Sunday charges a second man with stealing Judy Garland's “The Wizard of Oz” ruby slippers in 2005. Jerry Hal Saliterman, 76, of Crystal, Minnesota, was charged with witness tampering and substantial artwork theft. He made his first appearance Friday in St. Paul U.S. District Court without a plea.
The sequined and glass-beaded slippers were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, over 20 years ago. The FBI found them in 2018.
The accusation states that Saliterman “received, concealed, and disposed of an object of cultural heritage”, “an authentic pair of ‘ruby slippers’ worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie ‘The Wizard of Oz.’” from August 2005 to July 2018. The indictment states that Saliterman knew the slippers were stolen and threatened to leak a woman's sex tape and “take her down with him” if she didn't keep quiet about them.
Saliterman appeared in court Friday in a wheelchair and on oxygen. He nervously bounced his knee during hearing breaks as his oxygen machine hummed. When U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright questioned if he understood the charges, he stated “yes,” but he did not elaborate.
The court did not discuss the case. While the magistrate ordered the indictment unsealed Friday, it wasn't released until Sunday. After Friday's hearing, Saliterman's attorney, John Brink, said, “He's not guilty. He's done nothing wrong.” After being freed on his own recognizance, Saliterman declined to comment to The Associated Press outside the courthouse.
Terry Jon Martin, 76, who stole the slippers, pleaded guilty to theft of a major artwork in October. His attorney said he used a hammer to smash the museum's door and display case to get “one last score” after turning away from crime. Due to his health, he was sentenced to time served in January.
Martin's lawyer stated in court filings that an old mob contact informed him the shoes needed actual gems to justify their $1 million insured value. At an October hearing, Grand Rapids resident Martin said he wanted to sell what he thought were real rubies from the shoes. Martin said a fence, who trades in stolen goods, told him the rubies were fake. So he removed the slippers.
In court filings, defense counsel Dane DeKrey stated that Martin's anonymous former associate convinced him to steal the slippers as “one last score” after he had “finally put his demons to rest” nearly 10 years previously. “But old habits die hard, and the thought of a ‘final score’ kept him up at night,” DeKrey wrote.
Martin had never seen “The Wizard of Oz” and was unaware of the ruby slippers' cultural importance, according to DeKrey's memo. The records released Sunday do not explain Martin and Saliterman's relationship. To return to Kansas from Oz in the 1939 musical, Garland's Dorothy had to click her ruby slippers three times and say, “There's no place like home.” Only four authentic pairs exist from her filming wardrobe
The FBI never revealed how it found the slippers. In 2017, a man approached the insurer telling him he could help retrieve them but sought more than the $200,000 prize. The following year, an FBI sting in Minneapolis found the slippers. Federal authorities estimate the slippers' value at $3.5 million.
Martin took the pair from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who lent them to the museum. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Smithsonian Museum of American History, and private collector have the other pairs. John Kelsh, founding director of the museum, said the slippers were returned to Shaw and are with an auction house that will sell them.
Born 1922, Garland was Frances Gumm. She lived in Grand Rapids, 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, until her family moved to Los Angeles at age 4. In 1969, she died. The Judy Garland Museum, which includes her home, claims to have the world's largest Garland and “Wizard of Oz” collection.
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