The “Wizard of Oz” heist of an elderly mobster was sparked by a misunderstanding about the rainbow.
Terry Jon Martin, 76, got his hands on possibly the most coveted accessory in movie history when he stole the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” but mistakenly thought the shoes were covered in real gemstones. CBS reported.
In 2005, a former associate allegedly convinced Martin to come out of retirement for “one last score,” his attorney wrote in a court memo before 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 soon discovered that the stones were actually made of glass.
Martin was not charged with the theft until 2023.
Retired mobster Terry Jon Martin, 76, is on trial for the 2005 theft of Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the 1939 musical “The Wizard of Oz.” AP
In October 2023, Martin pleaded guilty and said he used a hammer to smash through the door of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, before smashing a display case and fleeing with the Hollywood artifacts. The shoes were insured for $1 million.
Martin said that after learning the score was a flop, 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 recover them, but demanded $200,000 more than the reward offered, according to CBS.
Martin’s attorney said a former associate convinced him to steal the sneakers from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. AP
The sneakers are still in the possession of the office, which has never revealed how they managed to locate them.
Dane DeKrey, Martin’s attorney, wrote in the memo that it was the first time the former mobster broke the law in nearly a decade, claiming he had abandoned a life of crime after his latest prison sentence.
“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 awake at night,” DeKrey wrote. “After much contemplation, Terry had a criminal relapse and decided to participate in the robbery.”
DeKrey claimed his client was unaware of the cultural significance of the slippers and had never seen the groundbreaking 1939 musical.
Both DeKrey and Duluth prosecutors recommend that Martin be given a sentence of time served due to his deteriorating health.
The ailing thief is said to be in palliative care with less than six months to live and requires oxygen at all times due to his chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. He was in a wheelchair at his last court appearance.
The sneakers are one of the most famous and recognizable accessories in film history, with an estimated value of $3.5 million. Everett Collection
The sneakers Martin stole were one of four pairs Garland wore during production of the beloved film and are widely considered the holy grail of Hollywood memorabilia.
Near the end of the film, Garland’s character Dorothy sped back to Kansas by clicking her heels three times while repeating “There’s no place like home.”
One pair of ruby slippers is preserved in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, another in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and a third set is owned by a private collector.
Federal prosecutors put the current market value of the sneakers at around $3.5 million.
With post cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn