Federal investigators have filed charges against the husband of New York gallerist Brent Sikkema for allegedly hiring his killer, the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan announced today, February 11.
The news comes just over a year after the prominent art dealer was found stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro residence, triggering an investigation that both shocked the international art world and gripped the attention of US and Brazilian media outlets.
As the founder of the gallery formerly known as Sikkema Jenkins and Company, Sikkema had developed a respected reputation in the art world, representing a roster of artists throughout his career that included Jeffrey Gibson, Sheila Hicks, Vik Muniz, and Kara Walker.
On January 14, his body was found with 18 stab wounds suspected to have been caused by scissors or a box cutter. Days later, after discovering security camera footage of the suspected killer fleeing the scene, Brazilian authorities arrested 30-year-old Alejandro Triana Trevez in connection with Sikkema’s murder. On January 31, Trevez confessed to stabbing the gallerist with a kitchen knife and accused Sikkema’s ex-husband Daniel of contracting the murder.
According to a superseding indictment unsealed today, Daniel Sikkema paid “approximately $5,000” to his co-conspirator, who went unnamed in the federal announcement. In March, he was arrested in Manhattan on charges of passport fraud.
He now also faces charges of conspiracy to commit a murder-for-hire and conspiracy to murder a person in a foreign country. If convicted, he faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison or death.
“As alleged, Daniel Sikkema and his co-conspirator planned and carried out a cold-blooded plot to murder Sikkema’s husband,” US attorney Danielle R. Sassoon said in a statement.
Daniel Sikkema’s lawyer, Richard Levitt, told the New York Times that his client “now as always maintains his innocence and looks forward to his complete vindication at trial.”
