A man who admitted to stealing the iconic ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the classic film The Wizard of Oz has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of burglary and theft. The shoes, valued at up to $5 million, were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 and recovered by the FBI in 2018.
On Friday, Martin made a deal that could keep him out of prison due to his failing health, but only cleared up some of the mystery that dates back 18 years.
No one was arrested until Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, was charged this year. During his change-of-plea hearing in federal court in Duluth, Martin recounted how he had made off with the legendary slippers that are an important artifact of American culture. Garland wore several pairs of ruby slippers during filming of the classic 1939 musical, but only four authentic pairs are known to remain. The stolen slippers were insured for $1 million, but federal prosecutors put the current market value at about $3.5 million.
The slippers were on loan to the museum from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw when Martin stole them. Three other pairs that Garland wore in the movie are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a private collector.
He said he used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and display case to take the slippers. Martin thought the slippers had real rubies and that he had hoped to sell the gems. But when a fence told him the rubies were glass, he said he got rid of the shoes, though he failed to disclose to whom he gave them. Being so famous, they clearly could not have been easy to fence or dispose of. He also did not mention where they had been for over 18 years.
He did say that the theft had nothing to do with trying to get insurance money, as some have speculated.
“Terry has no idea where they were and how they were recovered,” Martin’s attorney, Dane DeKrey, said afterward. “His involvement was that two-day period in 2005.”
Under the plea agreement, DeKrey and federal prosecutor Matt Greenley recommended that Martin not face any time behind bars because of his age and poor health. Martin, who appeared in court in a wheelchair with supplemental oxygen, has advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and struggles to breathe, DeKrey said. The proposed sentence would let Martin die at home, the attorney said.
“He’s basically slowly suffocating to death,” DeKrey said.
U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, the chief federal judge for Minnesota, ordered a presentence investigation and said he’d likely schedule the sentencing for about 2 1/2 months from now.
Schiltz told Martin that he isn’t legally bound by the sentencing recommendation by the defense and prosecution. According to DeKrey, the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines recommended eight to 10 years in similar cases.
The U.S. attorney’s office said it would have no comment until after Martin is sentenced.
The FBI said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and said he could help get them back. The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis. The FBI has never disclosed how it tracked down the slippers, which remain in the agency’s custody.
