A reformed mobster who has admitted stealing a pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in The Wizard Of Oz gave into the temptation of “one last score” after an old associate led him to believe the famous shoes must be adorned with real jewels to justify their insured value.
Terry Jon Martin’s defence lawyer finally revealed the 76-year-old’s motive for the 2005 theft from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in a new memo filed ahead of his sentencing later this month.
The FBI recovered the shoes in 2018 when someone else tried to claim an insurance reward on them, but Martin was not charged with stealing them until last year.
He pleaded guilty in October to using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and display case to take the slippers.
He had hoped to harvest real rubies from the shoes and sell them. But a fence, a person who deals in stolen goods, informed him the rubies were glass and Martin got rid of the slippers less than two days after he took them, he said.
Lawyer Dane DeKrey said in his memo that an unidentified former mob associate tempted Martin to steal the shoes, even though he had not committed a crime in nearly 10 years after his last prison stint.
Mr DeKrey said: “At first, Terry declined the invitation to participate in the heist. But old habits die hard, and the thought of a ‘final score’ kept him up at night.
“After much contemplation, Terry had a criminal relapse and decided to participate in the theft.”
Mr DeKrey and prosecutors are recommending the judge sentences Martin to time served because he is physically incapable of presenting a threat to society.
Martin is in hospice care with a life expectancy of less than six months. He needs oxygen at all times because of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and was in a wheelchair for his most recent court appearance. Even if he was sentenced to prison, his poor health might be grounds for a compassionate release.
Mr DeKrey said Martin had no idea about the cultural significance of the ruby slippers and had never seen the movie.
Instead, his lawyer said, he was just looking for one last big score, and the “old Terry” with a lifelong history of crimes like burglary and receiving stolen property beat out the “new Terry” who seemed to “finally put his demons to rest” after being released from prison in 1996 and became “a contributing member of society”.
Mr DeKrey urged the judge to consider the major events of Martin’s life when deciding whether a lenient sentence is appropriate.
Martin suffered under a cruel stepmother who mistreated him and his three brothers so badly for several years that he left home at the age of 16 and began drinking and stealing.
While on parole from prison, Martin’s girlfriend became pregnant with twins, but he missed their birth after his parole was revoked. Right after his girlfriend brought the one-month-old twins to prison to meet him, they died after a train struck her vehicle.
“This was truly the turning point in Terry’s life – his villain origin story – and the reason he not only went down his dark path but accelerated towards it,” Mr DeKrey wrote.
“His son said it best: ‘the twins’ death made (my dad) just give up on life; he decided on a life of crime.’”
Garland wore several pairs of ruby slippers during filming of the classic 1939 musical, but only four authentic pairs are known to remain. They were key props in the film, with Garland’s character, Dorothy, having to click the heels of the slippers three times and repeat “There’s no place like home”, to return to Kansas.
The stolen slippers were insured for 1 million US dollars (£790,000), but federal prosecutors put the current market value at about 3.5 million (£2.7 million).
The FBI said a man approached the insurer in 2017 and claimed he could help recover them but demanded more than the 200,000 US dollar (£157,000) reward being offered.
The slippers were recovered during an FBI sting in Minneapolis. The FBI has never disclosed how it tracked down the slippers, which remain in the agency’s custody.
Martin will be sentenced in Duluth, Minnesota, on January 29.