Individual Pleads Guilty to 2005 Theft of ‘Wizard of Oz’ Ruby Slippers, Leaving Many Questions Unanswered

A man identified as Terry Jon Martin, aged 76, has admitted guilt for a solitary charge related to the theft of a significant artwork: a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the iconic film “The Wizard of Oz.” Stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, back in 2005, the shoes were eventually retrieved by the FBI in 2018.

Martin, a resident of an area near Grand Rapids, was only charged this year. During his plea change hearing at a federal court in Duluth, he admitted to employing a hammer to break the museum’s door glass as well as the display case to secure the slippers. Martin explained his motivation was the assumption that the slippers contained authentic rubies he could sell. However, upon learning from a fence that the rubies were mere glass, he discarded them.

Yet, details regarding how and to whom he dispensed the slippers remain undisclosed, maintaining the enigmatic nature of the shoes’ location during the intervening years. Martin refuted the notion that the theft was related to any insurance fraud schemes, as some had speculated.

According to Dane DeKrey, Martin’s attorney, “Mr. Martin has no knowledge about the slippers’ whereabouts post-theft or the manner in which they were recovered. His involvement was restricted to the two-day period in 2005.”

Due to Martin’s deteriorating health and advanced age, both the defense and federal prosecutor Matt Greenley proposed that he not be incarcerated. Appearing in court with a wheelchair and supplemental oxygen, Martin suffers from advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, leaving him with substantial breathing difficulties. The suggested sentence would permit him to spend his remaining days at his residence.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, the chief federal judge for Minnesota, ordered a presentence investigation and is expected to schedule sentencing in approximately two and a half months. Judge Schiltz also made it clear that he is not legally obligated to follow the sentencing recommendations from either side. The nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines suggest an eight to ten-year imprisonment for comparable cases.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment until after Martin’s sentencing has been finalized.

Only four authenticated pairs of the ruby slippers exist. The stolen pair had an insurance value of $1 million, but their current estimated market worth is around $3.5 million, according to federal prosecutors.

The shoes were recovered as part of an FBI operation in Minneapolis in 2017, following a tip from an individual who approached the insurer. However, the FBI has yet to reveal how it successfully located the slippers, which continue to be held in the agency’s custody.

On loan from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw at the time of the theft, three other authentic pairs are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and a private collector.

Over the years, multiple rewards have been offered in an attempt to solve the mystery of the stolen slippers, which played a critical role in the 1939 film. In it, Garland’s character Dorothy had to click the heels of these shoes three times while saying, “There’s no place like home,” to be transported back to Kansas.

Judy Garland, originally named Frances Gumm, was born in Grand Rapids, situated roughly 200 miles north of Minneapolis, in 1922. Her family relocated to Los Angeles when she was four years old, and she passed away in 1969. The Judy Garland Museum claims to possess the world’s most extensive collection of Garland and Wizard of Oz memorabilia.

This article has been updated to correct an error: the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines recommend eight to ten years for similar cases, contrary to previously reported figures of ten to twelve years.

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• Terry Jon Martin Pleads Guilty to Theft of Ruby Slippers
• Recovery of Stolen Ruby Slippers by the FBI
• Background on the Ruby Slippers Heist
• Judy Garland and “The Wizard of Oz”
• Details on the Sentencing Recommendations
• The Value of the Stolen Ruby Slippers
• Other Authentic Pairs of Ruby Slippers
• Rewards Offered in Connection with the Stolen Slippers