The second man is accused of robbery in 2005

A second man has been charged in connection with the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby ​​slippers worn by Judy Garland. wizard of oz, According to the indictment published on Sunday.

Jerry Hal Salterman, 76, of Crystal, Minnesota, was charged with theft of a major work of art and witness tampering. He did not enter a plea when he made his first appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.

The sequined and glass beaded slippers were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, nearly 20 years ago and their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

The indictment says that from August 2005 to July 2018, Salterman “received, concealed and disposed of an item of cultural heritage” — specifically, “an original pair of ‘ruby slippers’ worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film.” Wizard of Oz.The indictment says Salterman 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 her mouth shut about the slippers.

Salterman was in a wheelchair and receiving supplemental oxygen during his court appearance Friday. His oxygen machine was buzzing throughout the hearing, and his knee bounced nervously during breaks during the hearing. He answered “yes” when US Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright asked him if he understood the charges against him, but he did not mention anything about these charges.

The case was not discussed publicly in court. On Friday, the judge ordered the indictment to be unsealed, but it did not become available to the public until Sunday.

John Brink, Salterman’s attorney, said after Friday’s hearing that he couldn’t say much about the case, but that “he’s not guilty. He didn’t do anything wrong.” Salterman, who was released on his own recognizance, declined to comment to The Associated Press outside the courtroom.

The man who stole the slippers, Terry John Martin, 76, pleaded guilty in October to stealing a large work of art, and admitted to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and a display cabinet in what his lawyer said was an attempt to remove the slippers. From “The Last Score” after turning away from a life of crime. He was sentenced in January to time served due to his deteriorating health.

Martin’s attorney said in court documents that an old associate of Martin’s with gang ties told him the shoes had to be embellished with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value.

Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, told a hearing in October that he hoped to take what he believed to be a real ruby ​​from the shoes and sell them. Martin said a person who deals in stolen goods, known as a fencer, told him the ruby ​​wasn’t real. So get rid of the slippers.

Defense attorney Dane Deckery wrote in court documents that Martin’s unnamed former assistant convinced him to steal the slippers as a “final point,” even though Martin appeared to have “finally exorcised his demons” after completing his final prison term of nearly 10 years. previously.

“But old habits die hard,” Deckery wrote, “and the thought of the end result kept him up at night.”

According to Deckery’s memo, Martin had no idea of ​​the cultural significance of ruby ​​slippers and had never seen them before. Wizard of Oz.

The documents revealed Sunday do not indicate how Martin and Salterman are connected.

In the classic 1939 musical, Garland’s character Dorothy has to tap the heel of her ruby ​​slipper three times and repeat the phrase “There’s no place like home” to return to Kansas from Oz. She wore several pairs during filming, but only four original pairs are known to remain.

The FBI never revealed how it tracked down the slippers. The office said a man contacted the insurance company in 2017 and claimed he could help recover it, but demanded more than a $200,000 reward. The slippers were recovered during an FBI operation in Minneapolis the following year. Federal prosecutors estimated the market value of the slippers at $3.5 million.

Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw loaned the pair to the museum before Martin stole them. The other pairs are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and a private collector. According to John Kelsch, the museum’s founding director, the slippers were returned to Shaw and are being held by an auction house that plans to sell them.

Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids, about 200 miles (320 km) north of Minneapolis, until she was four years old, when her family moved to Los Angeles. She died in 1969. The Judy Garland Museum, which includes the house where she lived, says it has the world’s largest collection of Garland’s paintings and sculptures. Wizard of Oz Souvenirs.