DULUTH — Two months after a man was sentenced to time served for his role in the theft of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” a second Minnesota man with a history of stealing has also been indicted by a federal grand jury.
Jerry Hal Saliterman of Crystal is charged with theft of a major artwork — the same charge Terry Jon Martin pleaded guilty to in late 2023. According to a redacted document unsealed Sunday night, Saliterman also threatened a woman with knowledge of the theft that he would distribute sex tapes to her family if she shared information about the case with the FBI.
Saliterman’s initial appearance in federal court was on Friday in St. Paul, but the court documents were not unsealed until Sunday. He was released on the conditions that he not violate any laws, he must offer up his DNA and appear for scheduled court dates, and he cannot move or change his phone number without contacting the court.
Saliterman, 76, was most recently convicted of misdemeanor theft in 2016 after attempting to steal nearly $700 worth of merchandise from an Apple Store in Roseville.
Martin pleaded guilty to stealing the ruby slippers in federal court in October 2023. He revealed spare details of taking a sledgehammer to the emergency exit and a plexiglass display case at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn., in August 2005. He said he believed the famed slippers were made with real gems — until an unidentified jewelry fence told him they were made of glass. The true value of the slippers was cultural: They were one of several pairs worn by Garland in the 1939 classic film.
Martin claimed he didn’t know what happened to the slippers after that meeting; he didn’t want anything to do with them, he said.
Martin was sentenced to time served in January. He will be on supervised probation for a year and has been ordered to make restitution payments of $300 per month to the Judy Garland Museum. In recent months, he has been on home hospice care and a mix of prescription drugs. Aside from alcohol-related infractions, he has seemingly lived a crime-free life in rural Grand Rapids for more than a decade.