Prosecutors say that Minnesota’s man accused of hiding Rubí sneakers stolen from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is dead

STREET. Paul, Minn. (AP) – A federal judge dismissed the charges on Monday against a Minnesota man accused of hiding a stolen pair of ruby shoes that Judy Garland had in the 1939 musical “The Wizard of Oz” after prosecutors informed the court that died on Sunday.

Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, from Crystal, who had had poor health with lung disease and other ailments, had been programmed to change your guilt statement In January but that audience was postponed indefinitely After he was hospitalized.

Federal prosecutor Matthew Greenley notified the court on a motion on a page on Monday that Saliterman died on Sunday but did not say how or where. The American district judge Patrick Schiltz granted the request and withdrew the charges.

The defense lawyer John Brink confirmed on Monday that his client had died, but refused to give details. A spokesman for the United States prosecutor in Fargo, North Dakota, who manages the case, did not immediately return a phone call in search of more information.

According to judicial documents, Saliterman was hospitalized in early January “for inability to walk and sepsis”, an infection that can be deadly. He attended his reading charges three days later by video of what looked like a hospital room. In an update of the court at the end of last month, Brink told the Court that his client had been discharged from a hospice center and that his prognosis was poor. An accompanying letter from his doctor listed severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that requires supplementary oxygen and Parkinson’s disease.

Saliterman was in a wheelchair and oxygen last March when he made his first appearance in court. He was loaded then with the theft of a great work of art and alteration of witnesses for their role in the Ruby Slippers case.

The red sequin shoes were stolen in 2005 of the Judy Garland Museum in their hometown of Grand Rapids. His whereabouts remained a mystery for almost 13 years until The FBI recovered them in 2018. They searched An album for souvenir of films of $ 32.5 million In December, according to Heritage Auctions. The sneakers were one of the various couples who wore Garland during the filming. Only three other pairs stay.

Terry Jon Martin, now 78, from Grand Rapids, used a hammer to crush the glass of the door and the museum showcase to steal them. According to his lawyer, an old associated with the connections with the mafia told him that the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their insured value of $ 1 million. But he got rid of the shoes when they knew they were false, and ended up with Saliterman. Martin He declared himself guilty in 2023 And it was sentenced last January at the same time served by your poor health.

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