MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nearly two decades after a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz” were stolen from a Minnesota museum, the iconic shoes are set to be auctioned off to the highest bidder Saturday.
Heritage Auctions estimates the slippers will fetch $3 million or more. Online bidding began last month and reached $1.55 million as of Friday, or $1.91 million including buyer’s premium, a commission the buyer pays, said Robert Wilonsky, vice president from the Dallas-based auction house. More than 800 people were following the slippers and the company’s web page for the auction had reached nearly 43,000 page views as of Thursday, he said.
As Rhys Thomas, author of the book “The Ruby Slippers of Oz,” says, the sequinned shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have had “more twists and turns than the yellow brick road.”
They were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to break the glass in the museum’s door and display case.
Their fate remained a mystery until the FBI tracked them down in 2018. Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, was not publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplemental oxygen when he was sentenced last January to prison due to his poor condition health.
His lawyer, Dane DeKrey, explained before the sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglaries and receiving stolen property, was trying to make “one last score” after a former associate with ties to the Crowd told him that the shoes had to be adorned with real jewelry to justify their insured value of $1 million. But a receiver — a person who buys stolen goods — later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid of the slippers. The lawyer did not specify how.
The alleged rector, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of Crystal, a Minneapolis suburb, was indicted in March. He was also in a wheelchair and on oxygen during his first court appearance. His trial is scheduled for January and he has not pleaded guilty, although his lawyer has said he is not guilty.
The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of many pairs Garland wore during filming, but only four pairs are known to survive. In the movie, to get back from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.” »
Among the candidates will be the Judy Garland Museum. The city of Grand Rapids raised money for the slippers during its annual Judy Garland Festival to supplement the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.
The story of the “Wizard of Oz” has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the film “Wicked,” an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reinvents the character of the wicked witch from the West.
The auction also includes other “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia, including a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original role of the Wicked Witch of the West.