3.5 million dollars… Prison for Thief of America’s Most Expensive Cinema Shoe
The court sentenced an American man to one year in prison, suspended, for stealing a famous red shoe.
According to the ruling, the renowned red shoe was worn by actress Judy Garland in the film “The Wizard of Oz” 20 years ago. Terry Martin, who confessed to the theft, received a previous prison sentence.
Due to his fragile health condition, 76-year-old Martin will remain under parole, requiring palliative care in the hospital, with an expected lifespan of no more than six months, according to the New York Times. The prosecution did not request a jail term for the defendant, who attended court in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank.
The sequined ruby shoe mysteriously disappeared in 2005 from Judy Garland’s museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, the actress’s hometown.
In 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation returned the valuable shoe, one of four pairs remaining after the 1939 film’s production.
Martin admitted to stealing the shoe, believing it was adorned with real ruby stones, and attempted to sell it on the black market.
Over the years, the reward for recovering the shoe significantly increased, with a million-dollar offer for its discovery, estimated to be worth around $3.5 million.
The Department of Justice noted that the red shoe is considered “one of the most famous accessories in the history of American cinema.”
In the musical film “The Wizard of Oz,” adapted from the novel of the same name, the young protagonist, Dorothy, wears the shoe three times to fulfill her wish to return home to Kansas.
