Prosecutors say Minnesota man accused of hiding stolen ruby slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz' is dead

The original ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz are displayed in London ahead of being offered for auction on Dec. 7, at Heritage Auctions in the U.S., Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A federal judge dismissed the charges Monday against a Minnesota man accused of hiding a stolen pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in the 1939 musical “The Wizard of Oz” after prosecutors informed the court that he died on Sunday.

Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of Crystal, who had been in poor health with lung disease and other ailments, had been scheduled to change his plea to guilty in January but that hearing was postponed indefinitely after he was hospitalized.

Federal prosecutor Matthew Greenley notified the court in a one-page motion Monday that Saliterman died Sunday but did not say how or where. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz granted the request and dropped the charges.

Defense attorney John Brink confirmed Monday that his client had died but declined to give details. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Fargo, North Dakota, which is handling the case, did not immediately return a phone call seeking further information.

According to court filings, Saliterman was hospitalized in early January “for inability to walk and sepsis,” an infection that can be life-threatening. He attended his arraignment three days later via video from what looked like a hospital room. In an update to the court late last month, Brink told the court that his client had been discharged to a hospice facility and that his prognosis was poor. An accompanying letter from his doctor listed severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring supplemental oxygen and Parkinson’s disease.

Saliterman was in a wheelchair and on oxygen last March when he made his first court appearance. He was charged then with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering for his role in the ruby slippers case.

The sequined red slippers were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids. Their whereabouts remained a mystery for nearly 13 years until the FBI recovered them in 2018. They fetched a record for movie memorabilia of $32.5 million in December, according to Heritage Auctions. The slippers were one of several pairs Garland wore during the filming. Only three other pairs remain.

Terry Jon Martin, now 78, of Grand Rapids, used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case to steal them. According to his attorney, an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. But he got rid of the slippers when he learned they were fake, and they ended up with Saliterman. Martin pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.

Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press