If he only had a brain: Man, 76, confesses to stealing Dorothy’s ruby slippers
A 76-year-old man fessed up to snatching the iconic ruby red slippers Dorothy wore in “The Wizard of Oz” from a museum back in 2005.
Terry Jon Martin pleaded guilty to a single count of theft of major artwork in federal court in Duluth, Minnesota.
Martin confessed to using a hammer to smash the glass of the door and display case at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn., and pilfering the memorabilia.
But when he realized there were no real rubies on the slippers that could be sold, he said he promptly got rid of them.
“His involvement was that two-day period in 2005,” said Martin’s attorney, Dane DeKrey, according to reports.
The FBI did not recover the shoes until a sting operation in 2018 in Minneapolis.
Martin did not say what he did with them so where exactly they were in the years they were a long way from home remains unknown.
No one was arrested until Martin, who lives near Garland’s hometown of Grand Rapids, was charged earlier this year.
Martin will likely not spend time behind bars due to his poor health.
He appeared in court in a wheelchair and connected to an oxygen tank related to chronic pulmonary disease and struggles breathing, DeKrey said.
In 1988, Martin was convicted for receiving stolen goods.
The lifted slippers were insured for $1 million, but prosecutors estimate the current value at about $3.5 million.
They remain in the FBI’s custody, according to reports.
The prop belongs to Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum, and he said they were in “pristine condition” when he got them back in 2018, CBS reported at the time.
With Post wires
