Raider who took Judy Garland’s slippers ‘to get the rubies’ could evade jail

A DYING thief who stole a pair of ruby slippers Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz because he wanted to pull off “one last score” is expected to stay out of prison after he is sentenced.

Terry Jon Martin, 76, stole the slippers in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in her home town of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

He gave in to temptation after an old associate told him the shoes were adorned with real jewels to justify their insured value of $1m, his lawyer said.

The FBI recovered the shoes in 2018 when someone else tried to claim a reward. Martin was not charged with stealing them until last year.

He pleaded guilty in October to theft of a major artwork and admitted using a hammer to smash the glass of the museum door and display case to take the slippers. But his motivation remained mostly a mystery until defence lawyer Dane DeKrey revealed.

Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, said he hoped to remove what he thought were real rubies from the shoes and sell them.

But a person who deals in stolen goods informed him the rubies were glass, Martin said. So he got rid of the slippers.

Mr DeKrey wrote that Martin’s unidentified former mob associate persuaded him to steal the slippers as “one last score”, even though Martin had seemed to have “finally put his demons to rest” after finishing his last prison term nearly 10 years ago.

Both sides are recommending that chief US district judge Patrick Schiltz should sentence Martin to time served, because he is housebound under hospice care and is expected to die within six months.

He requires constant oxygen for chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and was in a wheelchair when he pleaded guilty.