Federal prosecutors say a man has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing a pair of ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz.” The FBI recovered the slippers in 2018.
A grand jury indicted Terry Martin on Tuesday with one count of theft of a major artwork, federal prosecutors in North Dakota announced Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that in 2005 Martin stole authentic shoes that Garland’s character, Dorothy, wore in the 1939 film.
They were taken from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn., the late actor’s hometown. The shoes are one of four remaining pairs of red slippers Garland wore in the movie.
Online records do not list an attorney for Martin.
Federal prosecutors said in a news release that when the slippers were stolen, they were insured for $1 million, but the current market value is about $3.5 million.
The slippers were on loan to the Judy Garland Museum when someone climbed through a window and broke the display case, prosecutors said when they were recovered.
Over the years, several enticing rewards were offered in hopes that the slippers would turn up, including from an anonymous donor from Arizona who put up $1 million.
The shoes are made from about a dozen different materials, including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic and glass. Most of the ruby color comes from sequins, but the bows of the shoes contain red glass beads.
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