Judy Garland birthplace. The white house is restored next to the museum. Admission $10 to $15.

Thief’s error: “I thought the rubies were real”

DULUTH, Minn. — A Grand Rapids man pleaded guilty to a 2005 museum heist in which the ruby-red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the movie “Wizard of Oz” were stolen. Terry Jon Martin, 76, was released on his own recognizance by federal Judge Patrick Schiltz pending a sentencing in December. Martin, now in ill health, was indicted in July and first pleaded innocent. In changing his plea, Martin said he used a hammer to smash a display case at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids and took the slippers. He said he thought the slippers had real rubies and that he had hoped to sell the gems. When he realized that the rubies were glass, he fenced hem. Martin said didn’t remember the purchaser. The FBI recovered the slippers in 2017 in Minneapolis – 12 years after the crime. A man apparently was trying to cash in on a $1 million insurance  policy. In his court appearance Martin was in a wheelchair with supplemental oxygen for chronic pulmonary disease. Federal prosecutors registered no objection to Martin being released fro the time being.  He faces as much as 10 years in prison, but Judge Schiltz could waive serving any time at all.

Martin. Heading to court with oxygen tank. A petty thief from Grand Rapids. His record includes a1988 conviction for receiving stolen goods.

Museum profile

The actress Judy Garland was born in Grand Raids as Frances Ethel Gumm. Her parents booked vaudeville acts into a local theater. When she was 4 the family moved to Los Angeles. The home where she was born has been preserved and the museum built next door. The collection includes a pair of red skippers that Garland wore n the 1939 film “Wizard of Oz.” There were four pairs custom-made for the movie, all the same. The other  are held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Museum of America History, and a private collector. Their value today: $3.5 million but not for the rubies. They’re glass.