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The Brazilian justice system ordered the arrest and preventive detention of the Cuban-American Daniel Sikkema, for the murder of his ex-husband, the 75-year-old American gallerist Brent Sikkema, in Rio de Janeiro last January.
The judge Tula Correa de Mello, head of the Third Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro, ordered that the arrest warrant for the Cuban be sent to Interpol's Red Notice, through the competent channel of the Federal Police, as the accused is currently abroad, reported a statement from the Rio de Janeiro Court, as cited by local media.
The judicial mandate also ordered preventive detention for the Cuban Alejandro Triana Prevez, who was arrested on January 18, accused of being the material author of the murder.
Daniel, 53 years old and a resident of New York, is accused of being the "mastermind and main party involved in the crime." The note from the Judiciary also states that Daniel hired Triana, 30 years old, with the promise of paying 200,000 dollars for committing the crime.
On the night of January 15, Brent Sikkema, co-owner of the gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in New York, was found dead with stab wounds in an apartment he owned on Rua Abreu Fialho, number 15, in the exclusive Jardim Botânico neighborhood. Initially, the police treated the crime as a robbery followed by murder.
According to authorities, Triana allegedly traveled from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, where he monitored Sikkema's home for 14 hours before committing the crime. With the keys that the former partner of the gallery owner supposedly sent him from the United States, he entered the residence on January 14 at 3:43 a.m. and stabbed him about 18 times, mainly in the neck and chest, according to a report from Daily Mail.
The Cuban stayed in the apartment for about 15 minutes and, upon leaving at around 3:57 a.m., he took off some gloves and put them in his pocket, as shown by security cameras in the area.
The Homicide Police Department of Rio de Janeiro stated that footage captured by cameras located outside Sikkema's residence aided in identifying the suspect, who was arrested with the assistance of the Federal Highway Police and the Civil Police of São Paulo.
Triana was found at a gas station located between the cities of Uberlândia and Uberaba, in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais, in possession of 3,000 dollars (equivalent to over 14,000 reais).
According to the Court of Justice of Rio, the investigation into the death of the 75-year-old gallery owner remains confidential.
The Civil Police reported this Friday that the Homicide Police of the Capital concluded their investigation on Wednesday the 7th and charged the ex-husband, in addition to the suspect in the crime.
Brent and Daniel Sikkema were married for 15 years and were undergoing a complicated divorce process. They have a 14-year-old son.
The American founded the art gallery in 1991 under the name Wooster Gardens, referencing its original location on Wooster Street in SoHo. In 1999, the exhibition space was expanded, relocating to its current address at 530 West 22nd Street in New York. Sikkema Jenkins & Co. hosts exhibitions of paintings, illustrations, photographs, sculptures, and installations.
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