The Shocking Twist in the Ruby Slippers Heist!
Just months after a career criminal was sentenced in the theft of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale in the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz,” a second man has been charged in connection with the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby slippers, according to reports.
Charges Laid Against Jerry Hal Saliterman
In an indictment made public Sunday and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 76, of Crystal, Minnesota, was charged with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering.
Connection with the Stolen Ruby Slippers
The indictment alleges that from August 2005 to July 2018 Saliterman “received, concealed, and disposed of an object of cultural heritage” — specifically, “an authentic pair of ‘ruby slippers’ worn by Judy Garland in ‘The Wizard of Oz,” according to CBS 42.
Threats and Extortion Allegations
The indictment also claims Saliterman knew they were stolen, and that he threatened to release a sex tape of a woman and “take her down with him” if she didn’t keep quiet about the slippers, CBS 42 reported.
Legal Proceedings and Defense
He did not enter a plea when he made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, according to reports.
Impact on the Museum and Community
Dorothy’s ruby slippers were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum, located in Garland’s birthplace of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in the same year that they were loaned to the museum by their owner, Michael Shaw. The 2005 theft of the sequined candy-apple-red shoes broke the hearts of legions of fans, and launched an international investigation to find the shoes and thieves. The ruby slippers were recovered in a sting operation in Minneapolis in 2018. And then last year, Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded guilty to stealing the shoes.
Valuation and Future Implications
As for Saliterman, it is unknown what involvement he may have had in connection with the theft of the historic slippers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Salilterman appeared in a wheelchair and used an oxygen tank to aid his breathing while in court Friday, according to MPR News.
After the hearing, Salilterman’s defense attorney John Brink told reporters his client “hasn’t done anything wrong,” and plans to enter a not guilty plea.
Rebuilding and Moving Forward
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to Brink for comment on this case and has not heard back.
The museum is still recovering from the caper, Janie Heitz, the museum’s executive director, told Inside Edition Digital last month after Martin’s sentence.
“We’re a small town and It seems like a lot of people, most of the time in small towns, it’s like everybody kind of knows everybody. But that was not the case. A lot of people didn’t know who this person was. It was hard to find anybody that knew who it was,” she says. “Clearly, he was pretty low laying.”
“[The slippers] were here for three months,” she said. “The Judy Garland Museum has been around for a long time. We had really great collections at that time and great connections to people that had Judy Garland collections. Things were really going well. Then the slipper heist happened.”
“We looked back on our financials and it’s just, things stopped,” she continues. “Not that people stopped coming here, but just we didn’t have the slippers to sort of help generate that extra traffic. So financially things got pretty tough, and … there was bills we had to pay and things that needed to happen. And I think the reality of operating a museum in our rural community became real.”
The museum’s reputation was also damaged because of the theft.
“Our credibility in the industry was pretty much gone because of the ruby slipper stealing,” she says. “So you kind of look back and it’s like, imagine what could have been. It was the perfect time to sort of capitalize on that ruby slipper opportunity and other opportunities. And now a lot of those people that have those collections almost 20 years later are old and dying and can’t travel. And so that is the part that kind of got taken away from the museum.”
The slippers, which were previously valued at $3.5 million, might be worth even more now because of the heist.
“I’m certainly not the expert on the value of items, but I believe I’ve heard that they are worth more now,” Heitz says. “And that’s coming from people in the industry [like] auction houses … I mean they’re going to be worth more because of the intrigue of it.”
And moving forward, the Judy Garland Museum wants to capitalize on that intrigue as well.
“I think this story is just part of our museum’s history now, and we have to commemorate that and own up to our mistakes. But embrace, to be honest, publicity is publicity, whether it’s good or bad,” Heitz says. “Unfortunately we’ll always be known infamously of the museum of where the ruby slippers were stolen. We have to find that fine line of sharing that story, but also remembering that we are the Judy Garland Museum, and we’re here just to share her life and legacy, which is very fascinating in and of itself.”