A man accused of stealing Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz has finally been indicted following a 2018 sting operation by the FBI.
As reported by The New York Times, Terry J. Martin was indicted on one count of theft of a major artwork after he allegedly stole the shoes from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota back in 2005.
The shoes, one of just four pairs of remaining ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, were on loan to the museum when someone climbed through the window and broke their display case, stealing the shoes which are estimated to be worth around $3.5 million.
Martin currently lives just 12 miles from the Judy Garland Museum and its executive director Jane Heitz said she was “a little bit speechless” that somebody had finally been charged for the theft.
The (yellow brick) road to the recovery of the slippers began in 2017 when a man told the shoes’ insurers that he could help to get them back. This resulted in an FBI sting operation, and while the shoes were recovered in 2018, no arrests were made.
Over the years, multiple appeals offered cash rewards for the recovery of the slippers. Minneapolis Police originally offered $250,000 for the recovery of the items, with a private donor also offering a massive $1 million at a later date. However, in both cases, there were no takers.
Now, on May 17, 2023, a summons was issued for Martin with a court date set for June 1 via video.
The shoes themselves are known as the Travelling Pair – the slippers worn by Judy Garland for the majority of the 1939 classic. Obviously, they’re largely associated with the film’s iconic line, “There’s no place like home,” which saw Garland click her heels together in a magical moment to return to Kansas from the fairy tale land of Oz.
Only three other pairs of ruby slippers remain from the production – one held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, another at the Smithsonian, and another owned by a private collector.
Want to read more about The Wizard of Oz? Check out the weird alphabetized Wizard of Oz remix and find out which legendary director hated the movie.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/the-wizard-of-oz-man-finally-charged-in-relation-to-dorothys-stolen-slippers