Minnesota man accused of hiding stolen ruby slippers from “Wizard of Oz” is dead, prosecutors say

A federal judge dismissed the charges Monday against a Minnesota man accused of hiding a stolen pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in the 1939 musical “The Wizard of Oz” after prosecutors informed the court that he died on Sunday.

Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of Crystal, who had been in poor health with lung disease and other ailments, had been scheduled to change his plea to guilty in January but that hearing was postponed indefinitely after he was hospitalized.

Federal prosecutor Matthew Greenley notified the court in a one-page motion Monday that Saliterman died Sunday but did not say how or where. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz granted the request and dropped the charges.

Defense attorney John Brink confirmed Monday that his client had died but declined to give details. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Fargo, North Dakota, which is handling the case, did not immediately return a phone call seeking further information.

According to court filings, Saliterman was hospitalized in early January “for inability to walk and sepsis,” an infection that can be life-threatening. He attended his arraignment three days later via video from what looked like a hospital room. In an update to the court late last month, Brink told the court that his client had been discharged to a hospice facility and that his prognosis was poor. An accompanying letter from his doctor listed severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease requiring supplemental oxygen and Parkinson’s disease.

Saliterman was in a wheelchair and on oxygen last March when he made his first court appearance. He was charged then with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering for his role in the ruby slippers case.

The sequined red slippers were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids. Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw had loaned his pair to the museum before Terry Jon Martin stole them. Their whereabouts remained a mystery for nearly 13 years until the FBI recovered them in 2018. They fetched a record for movie memorabilia of $32.5 million in December, according to Heritage Auctions. 

The Judy Garland Museum’s efforts to buy back the slippers at auction ultimately failed, despite being bolstered by $100,000 set aside by state lawmakers.

The slippers were one of several pairs Garland wore during the filming. Only three other pairs remain.

Martin, now 78, of Grand Rapids, used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case to steal them. According to his attorney, an old associate with connections to the mob told him the shoes had to be adorned with real jewels to justify their $1 million insured value. Martin’s attorneys described the theft as “one last score” for the aging reformed mobster. But Martin got rid of the slippers when he learned they were fake, and they ended up with Saliterman. Martin pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.

Garland was born Frances Gumm in 1922. She lived in Grand Rapids, about 200 miles north of Minneapolis, until she was 4 years old. She died in 1969. The Judy Garland Museum says it has the world’s largest collection of Garland and “Wizard of Oz” memorabilia.