MINNEAPOLIS -- A pair of ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago fetched $28 million in an auction Saturday.
Heritage Auctions estimated the slippers would sell for $3 million or more. Online bidding opened last month and by Friday had reached $1.55 million, or $1.91 million including the buyer's premium, a commission that the buyer pays, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the Dallas-based auction house. Over 800 people were tracking the slippers, and the company's web page for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, he said.
"The sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen 'more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road,'" as Rhys Thomas, author of "The Ruby Slippers of Oz," puts it.
They were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum's door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018. Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn't publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.
His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin had attempted to pull off "one last score" after an old associate with connections to the mob told him that real jewels adorned them to justify their $1 million insured value. However, a fence later informed him they were just glass rubies. So Martin got rid of them without specifying how.
The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman from Crystal suburb Minneapolis was indicted in March. He appeared for court also using wheelchair and oxygen support; his trial is set for January with no plea entered yet though claiming innocence through his attorney.
The shoes returned February this year back into hands memorabilia collector Michael Shaw who lent them originally; only four pairs survived film production among several worn during shooting scenes where Dorothy clicked heels thrice saying “There's no place like home” returning Kansas away Oz land adventures
"The Wizard Of Oz story gains renewed attention weeks past due release movie 'Wicked', adaptation megahit Broadway prequel reimagining Wicked Witch West character."
Auction included other memorabilia like Margaret Hamilton’s hat original Wicked Witch role too adding interest collectors beyond iconic footwear piece itself