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Crime, Law and Justice
Dan Kraker
Duluth

Alleged accomplice in ruby red slippers heist plans to plead guilty

a man is wheeled out of a court
Jerry Hal Saliterman, of Crystal, is wheeled out of U.S. District Court in St. Paul, on March 15 after he made his initial appearance on charges connected to the 2005 theft of a pair of ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Steve Karnowski | AP

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A man charged in connection with the theft of a pair of ruby slippers worn in the iconic film “The Wizard of Oz” plans to plead guilty next week in federal court in Minneapolis.

In March 2024, a federal grand jury indicted Jerry Hal Saliterman of Crystal for his role in the infamous heist of the slippers from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, in 2005.

A change of plea hearing in the case has been scheduled for Friday, Jan. 10 at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis. Saliterman’s attorney, John Brink, said the 77-year old will plead guilty.

Saliterman is the second man charged in connection with the theft of the slippers. Terry Jon Martin admitted in 2023 to stealing the slippers from the museum in Grand Rapids, the hometown of Judy Garland. Martin was sentenced in early 2024 to time served.

The federal government hasn’t disclosed details of Saliterman’s alleged role in the theft.

He’s charged with a felony count of theft of a major artwork. He also faces a count of witness tampering for allegedly threatening to “distribute sex tapes” of a woman in an effort to prevent her “from communicating information to the FBI relating to the theft.”

The slippers were recovered by the FBI in a sting operation in 2018. Last month they were sold at auction for $28 million. They're one of four surviving pairs of slippers adorned with red sequins worn by Garland during the making of “The Wizard of Oz” in 1939.