A federal jury found Daniel Sikkema guilty for his role in a murder-for-hire plot targeting his estranged husband, New York art dealer Brent Sikkema. Brent Sikkema was stabbed 18 times in his Rio de Janeiro townhouse in the early hours of January 14, 2024. The main suspect, Alejandro Triana Prevez, a Cuban security guard and delivery driver in Brazil, was arrested four days later after claiming he was contracted by Sikkema. Prevez remains in prison awaiting trial. Sikkema was arrested in Manhattan in March 2024 on passport fraud charges and later faced conspiracy charges related to murder-for-hire in a foreign country. Prosecutors presented evidence including voice messages, a selfie taken in Sikkema’s kitchen, and phone calls using a burner phone.
"A federal jury has found Daniel Sikkema guilty for his role in the murder-for-hire of his estranged husband, the New York art dealer Brent Sikkema. The 75-year-old gallerist was stabbed 18 times in his Rio de Janeiro townhouse in the early hours of January 14, 2024, in a brutal crime that shocked the art world and left Sikkema's loved ones searching for answers."
"The main suspect was soon identified as Alejandro Triana Prevez, a Cuban security guard and delivery driver living in Brazil who claimed that he had been contracted by Daniel Sikkema to commit the crime. He was arrested by Brazilian law enforcement four days after the incident. Prevez remains in prison awaiting trial."
"During the five-day trial this week, prosecutors accused Daniel Sikkema of hiring a hitman and plotting Brent's murder amid contentious disagreements over money and a prolonged, acrimonious divorce. In a December 2023 voice note, one of several messages cited in court, Daniel Sikkema allegedly said, "Well, he can take all the time he wants. Let's see if ... instead of getting divorced, I end up a widower, which would suit me much better.""
"Police reports said they had found a selfie Prevez had taken in Sikkema's kitchen and that the investigation also confirmed phone calls between Prevez and Daniel Sikkema using a burner phone."
#murder-for-hire #federal-conviction #art-world-crime #brazil-investigation #conspiracy-to-commit-murder
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