Aging mobster who stole iconic ‘Wizard of Oz’ ruby slippers mistakenly thought they were made with real gems: lawyer
An aging mobster’s “Wizard of Oz” heist was sparked by an over-the-rainbow misunderstanding.
Terry Jon Martin, 76, snagged arguably the most coveted prop in movie history when he stole the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” — but he mistakenly thought the shoes were covered in real gemstones, CBS reported.
Martin was allegedly coaxed out of retirement for “one last score” by a former associate in 2005, his lawyer wrote in a court memo ahead of his Jan. 29 sentencing in Duluth, Minnesota.
The thief had planned to strip the famous shoes of their rubies and sell them through a fence, a person who traffics in stolen goods, but he soon found out that the stones were actually made of glass.
Martin wasn’t charged with the theft until 2023.
In October 2023, Martin entered a guilty plea and said he used a hammer to break through the door of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota before smashing a display case and making off with the Hollywood artifacts. The slippers were insured for $1 million.
Martin said after learning the score was a bust he got rid of the slippers, which were in his possession for less than 48 hours. The FBI recovered them in a 2018 sting operation in Minneapolis after a man approached the insurer claiming he could get them back, but demanded $200,000 more than the reward being offered, according to CBS.
The slippers are still in the possession of the bureau, which has never revealed how they managed to track them down.
Dane DeKrey, an attorney for Martin, wrote in the memo that it was the ex-mobster’s first time breaking the law in nearly a decade, claiming he had given up the criminal life after his most recent prison term.
“At first, Terry declined the invitation to participate in the heist. But old habits die hard, and the thought of a ‘final score’ kept him up at night,” DeKrey wrote. “After much contemplation, Terry had a criminal relapse and decided to participate in the theft.”
DeKrey claimed his client was unaware of the slippers’ cultural significance and had never even seen the groundbreaking 1939 musical.
Both DeKrey and Duluth prosecutors are recommending Martin be given a sentence of time served due to his declining health.
The ailing thief is said to be in hospice care with less than six months to live, requiring oxygen at all times due to his chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. He was in a wheelchair at his latest court appearance.
The slippers Martin stole were one of four pairs worn by Garland during production of the beloved film, and are widely considered the holy grail of Hollywood memorabilia.
Near the end of the movie, Garland’s character Dorothy whisked herself back to Kansas by clicking the heels three times while famously repeating “There’s no place like home.”
One pair of the ruby slippers is kept at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, another is held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a third set is owned by a private collector.
Federal prosecutors peg the current market value of the slippers at around $3.5 million.
With Post wires
