A dying thief who confessed to stealing a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” as a result of he needed to tug off “one last score” is predicted to remain out of jail after he’s sentenced Monday.
Terry Jon Martin, 76, stole the slippers in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum within the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He gave into temptation after an outdated mob affiliate informed him the footwear needed to be adorned with actual jewels to justify their $1 million insured worth, his attorney revealed in a memo to the federal court forward of his sentencing in Duluth.
The FBI recovered the shoes in 2018 when another person tried to say a reward. Martin wasn’t charged with stealing them till final yr.
He pleaded guilty in October to theft of a significant art work, admitting to utilizing a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and show case to take the slippers. However his motivation remained principally a thriller till protection legal professional Dane DeKrey revealed it this month.
Martin, who lives close to Grand Rapids, stated on the October listening to that he hoped to take away what he thought have been actual rubies from the footwear and promote them. However an individual who offers in stolen items, often known as a fence, knowledgeable him the rubies have been glass, Martin stated. So he removed the slippers.
DeKrey wrote in his memo that Martin’s unidentified former mob affiliate persuaded him to steal the slippers as “one last score,” regardless that Martin had appeared to have “finally put his demons to rest” after ending his final jail time period practically 10 years in the past.
“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.”
Either side are recommending that Chief U.S. District Decide Patrick Schiltz sentence Martin to time served as a result of he’s housebound in hospice care and is predicted to die inside six months. He requires fixed oxygen remedy for continual obstructive pulmonary dysfunction and was in a wheelchair when he pleaded responsible.
Federal sentencing pointers would usually advocate a sentence of about 4 1/2 years to six years, although somebody with Martin’s prison historical past may get a good long run. However his well being “is simply too fragile,” prosecutors wrote in a court docket submitting. One other prosecution submitting stated each side agreed he ought to be ordered to pay $23,500 in restitution to the museum, regardless that he apparently doesn’t have the cash.
In line with DeKrey, Martin had no concept in regards to the cultural significance of the ruby slippers and had by no means seen “The Wizard of Oz.” As an alternative, DeKrey stated, the “old Terry” with a lifelong historical past involving housebreaking and receiving stolen property beat out the “new Terry” who had change into “a contributing member of society” after his 1996 launch from jail.
After the fence informed Martin the rubies have been faux, DeKrey wrote, he gave the slippers to his outdated mob affiliate and informed him he by no means needed to see them once more. The legal professional stated Martin by no means heard from the person once more. Martin has refused to determine anybody else who was concerned within the theft, and no person else has ever been charged within the case.
The FBI by no means disclosed precisely the way it tracked down the slippers. The bureau stated a person approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he may assist get well them however demanded greater than the $200,000 reward being provided. The slippers have been recovered throughout an FBI sting in Minneapolis the subsequent yr.
Federal prosecutors have put the slippers’ market worth at about $3.5 million.
Within the traditional 1939 musical, Garland’s character, Dorothy, needed to click on the heels of her ruby slippers 3 times and repeat, “There’s no place like home,” to return to Kansas from Oz. She wore a number of pairs throughout filming, however solely 4 genuine pairs are recognized to stay.
Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw had loaned one pair to the museum when Martin stole them. The opposite three are held by the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History and a non-public collector.
Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Minneapolis, till she was 4, when her household moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969.
The Judy Garland Museum, positioned in the home the place she lived, says it has the world’s largest assortment of Garland and Wizard of Ozmemorabilia.
