According to federal prosecutors in North Dakota, an individual has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz”. The shoes were stolen in 2005 and were recovered during an FBI sting operation in 2018, but no arrests were made at the time.
Prosecutors announced that Terry Martin has been indicted with one count of theft of a major artwork, however, no further information was provided about Martin, and there is no record of an attorney for him. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune revealed that Martin, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Martin is 76 and lives 12 miles south of the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. When reached by the newspaper, he said, “I gotta go on trial. I don’t want to talk to you.”
Janie Heitz, executive director of the museum, told The Associated Press she was surprised the suspect lived nearby but said no one who works at the museum knows him.
Garland wore several pairs of the ruby slippers during production of the 1939 musical, but only four authentic pairs remain. When they were stolen, the slippers were insured for $1 million but the current market value is about $3.5 million, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
According to a spokesperson for the US Justice Department in North Dakota, a summons has been issued for Martin and an initial court appearance set for June 1, to be conducted via video. Beyond the one-paragraph indictment, no further information about Martin is available.
The ruby slippers are known for being associated with the classic line from “The Wizard of Oz,” where Garland’s character Dorothy clicks her heels and says, “There’s no place like home.” The shoes are made from various materials, including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic, and glass. Sequins provide most of the ruby color, while the bows of the shoes contain red glass beads.
The other three pairs of shoes Garland wore during the film’s production belong respectively to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian, and a private collector. When the slippers disappeared, they were on loan from memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, according to the museum director, who stated that museum staff hopes they will be returned to Garland’s hometown when the legal case is over.