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Dying thief who stole 'Wizard of Oz' ruby slippers from Minnesota museum will likely avoid prison
kare11.com ^ | Associated Press

Posted on 01/29/2024 10:17:08 AM PST by V_TWIN

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — A dying thief who confessed to stealing a pair of ruby slippers that 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's sentenced Monday.

Terry Jon Martin, 76, stole the slippers in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. He gave into temptation after an old mob associate told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value, his attorney revealed in a memo to the federal court ahead of his sentencing in Duluth.

(Excerpt) Read more at kare11.com ...


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"Martin, who lives near Grand Rapids, said at the October hearing that he hoped to remove what he thought were real rubies from the shoes and sell them. But a person who deals in stolen goods, known as a fence, informed him the rubies were glass, Martin said. So he got rid of the slippers"

OOPS 🫢

1 posted on 01/29/2024 10:17:08 AM PST by V_TWIN
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To: V_TWIN

Criminals: morons doing bad things badly.


2 posted on 01/29/2024 10:20:23 AM PST by Seruzawa ("The Political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence" - Marx the Smarter (Groucho))
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To: V_TWIN
As I recall there were more than one pair of Ruby Slippers made for the movie.

I saw a pair at the Smithonian in Washington, D.C. over a decade ago.

From Wikipedia:

The ruby slippers are a pair of shoes worn by Dorothy Gale as played by Judy Garland in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film The Wizard of Oz. Because of their iconic stature, they are among the most valuable items of film memorabilia. A number of pairs were made for the film, though the exact number is unknown. Five pairs are known to have survived; one pair was stolen from a museum in 2005 and recovered in 2018.

3 posted on 01/29/2024 10:21:49 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: V_TWIN

Minnesota?

Last time I looked those ruby slippers were at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

And I don’t think there were duplicates.


4 posted on 01/29/2024 10:22:18 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (A truth that’s told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent ~ Wm. Blake)
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To: Yo-Yo

I also saw them at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Didn’t get to see Archie Bunker’s chair though, lol.


5 posted on 01/29/2024 10:23:02 AM PST by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966 )
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To: Responsibility2nd

Oh. Disregard Post 4. See Post 3.


6 posted on 01/29/2024 10:23:41 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (A truth that’s told with bad intent, Beats all the lies you can invent ~ Wm. Blake)
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To: Yo-Yo

“I saw a pair at the Smithonian in Washington, D.C. over a decade ago”

IIRC I saw those at the Smithonian in 1978! Lol!


7 posted on 01/29/2024 10:27:45 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: V_TWIN

Maybe they should just send the flying monkeys after him?


8 posted on 01/29/2024 10:28:51 AM PST by rey
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To: Responsibility2nd

See post 3

“A number of pairs were made for the film, though the exact number is unknown. Five pairs are known to have survived”


9 posted on 01/29/2024 10:29:11 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: V_TWIN

Not real rubies? You probably can’t cluck your heels and be transported home either. How disappointing.


10 posted on 01/29/2024 10:29:57 AM PST by rey
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To: V_TWIN
He gave into temptation after an old mob associate told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value

Doesn't the mob associate realize that those shoes are worth $1 million because any Size 3 woman could put them on and teleport home at any time? Heck, it's almost as good as Bilbo's ring!
11 posted on 01/29/2024 10:30:41 AM PST by Dr. Sivana ("If you can’t say something nice . . . say the Rosary." [Red Badger])
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To: Responsibility2nd

I do remember seeing a show about this heist some years ago. It was a real mystery how it was pulled off because the thief had to bypass some security.

That’s all I really remember, I don’t know what program it was.


12 posted on 01/29/2024 10:31:29 AM PST by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: rey

I know right?

There’s a reason criminals don’t have real jobs......usually not the brightest of bulbs.


13 posted on 01/29/2024 10:31:38 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: V_TWIN

They were found by Josh Gates,of Expedition Unknown on The Discovery Channel in 2018.


14 posted on 01/29/2024 10:33:00 AM PST by Smittie (Just like an alien I'm a stranger in a strange land)
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To: Dr. Sivana

Yeah, but they only take her to Kansas.


15 posted on 01/29/2024 10:33:09 AM PST by Billthedrill
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To: V_TWIN

Well, I don’t think they’re in Kansas anymore….


16 posted on 01/29/2024 10:33:29 AM PST by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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To: V_TWIN

As usual, criminals walk without having to accept any responsibility for their lawbreaking, and on the other hand President Trump is being prosecuted, and found guilty for things he never did. What a country!!


17 posted on 01/29/2024 10:34:32 AM PST by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: V_TWIN

Stolen in 2005 in Minnesota and recovered in 2018.
Were they found in Kansas maybe?


18 posted on 01/29/2024 10:34:44 AM PST by Rio
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To: Dr. Sivana

What those knuckleheads (especially the fence) missed is there was more than likely someone out there that would have purchased the shoes in tact for a tidy sum.

Art thieves do the exact same thing. Sell to an anonymous person that just wants to appreciate the item in private.

I guess those idiots never saw The Thomas Crown Affair movie.


19 posted on 01/29/2024 10:38:08 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: Responsibility2nd

See #3


20 posted on 01/29/2024 10:42:35 AM PST by TexasGator
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