WASHINGTON: United States prosecutors have charged a man with stealing the popular red slippers worn by Judy Garland’s character Dorothy in the 1939 movie ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
The valuable shoes were found in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) operation in 2018 – after being taken from the museum in August 2005 – but no arrests were made.
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Minnesota man Terry Martin, 76, with theft of a significant artwork. The slippers recovered are one of four pairs in existence.
The famous shoes were taken from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, by the thief who had smashed through a window in the building’s back door to get inside. According to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, no fingerprints were left behind, and no alarm went off.
They’re found in the sting operation started by the FBI. The case is being handled by federal prosecutors and the FBI’s Minneapolis Division.
The famous red shoes are central to ‘The Wizard of Oz’. When Dorothy clicks the heels of the red shoes together and says, “There’s no place like house,” she is transported back to Kansas.
Charging documents released Tuesday contained no information about what led to Martin’s arrest. On Wednesday, Martin said: “I gotta go on trial. I do not want to talk to you.”
The newspaper notes that Martin lives about 12 miles from a museum, which is located at the childhood house of Judy Garland.
Janie Heitz, Museum executive director, said she doesn’t think the suspect was ever a worker of the museum.
The treasured goods of Hollywood memorabilia have been valued at 3.5m dollars, said the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota. He said that they were insured for 1m dollars when they were stolen nearly 18 years ago.
