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Just over a year after the murder of the prominent American gallery owner Brent Sikkema, 75, in Brazil, U.S. authorities announced the arrest of his ex-husband, the Cuban Daniel Sikkema, accused of hiring a hitman to kill him.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported through a statement that D. Sikkema, a 54-year-old resident of New York, was arrested and charged in a “formal indictment” revealed this Tuesday in the Southern District of the state, for hiring someone to kill her ex-husband, the multimillionaire art dealer B. Sikkema, who was murdered in Rio de Janeiro on January 14, 2024.
The Cuban appeared this Tuesday before a judge in the Southern District of New York. The justice system charges him with conspiracy to commit murder for hire, murder for hire, conspiracy to assassinate a person in a foreign country, and passport forgery, the DOJ stated.
If found guilty, “he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison or death.” A judge from a federal district court will determine the sentence after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors, the official communication specified.
According to court documents, starting in 2023, D. Sikkema offered money to another person (referred to in the formal accusation as CC-1) in exchange for killing her ex-husband, with whom she was "involved in a contentious divorce process."
The DOJ also did not mention the name of the victim, but specified that she was a U.S. citizen, "had amassed a multi-million dollar fortune, and often traveled to Rio de Janeiro, where she owned properties."
Authorities indicated that, before the murder of his ex-partner, D. Sikkema sent money to the hitman using a stolen identity and intermediaries, in a clear effort to conceal the source of the payments.
The man hired by the Cuban executed the order to kill Brent Sikkema on January 14, 2024.
The FBI conducted the investigation of the case, which is being handled by litigation attorney Chelsea Schinnour from the Human Rights and Special Proceedings Section of the DOJ's Criminal Division, along with federal assistant prosecutors Meredith Foster and Remy Grosbard from the Southern District of New York.
Richard Levitt, the lawyer representing D. Sikkema, stated in an email that his client "now, as always, maintains his innocence and looks forward to his complete vindication in court," according to the newspaper The New York Times.
Arrest of the perpetrator of the crime in Brazil and warrant for the capture of Daniel Sikkema
On the night of January 15, 2024, members of the Rio de Janeiro Fire Department found American Brent Sikkema dead, with stab wounds, in his apartment on Rua Abreu Fialho, number 15, in the exclusive Jardim Botânico neighborhood of the Brazilian city. Sikkema was a co-owner of the Sikkema Jenkins & Co. gallery in New York.
Three days later, the police arrested the Cuban Alejandro Triana Prevez, 30 years old, as a suspect in the homicide.
According to the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, the alleged murderer reportedly traveled from Sao Paulo to the city to commit the crime, and monitored B. Sikkema's residence for 14 hours before taking action. He was identified through surveillance cameras located at the building's exit.
On February 10, Brazilian authorities ordered the arrest and preventive detention of the Cuban-American D. Sikkema, accused of being the “intellectual author and main interested party in the crime”.
Judge Tula Correa de Mello, head of the Third Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro, ordered that the arrest warrant be sent to the Interpol Red Notice system through the appropriate channel of the Federal Police, as the accused was in another country.
The court order also decreed preventive imprisonment for Triana. A statement from the Judiciary then indicated that D. Sikkema had hired his compatriot, a former bodyguard of B. Sikkema, with the promise of paying him 200,000 dollars to commit the crime.
On January 14, at 3:43 a.m., Triana entered the residence with the keys that D. Sikkema had presumably sent him from the U.S., and stabbed the gallery owner about 18 times, primarily in the neck and chest, according to a report from Daily Mail.
Brent and Daniel Sikkema were married for 15 years and were going through a complicated divorce process. They have a teenage 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, moving to its current location at 530 West 22nd Street in New York, where it hosts exhibitions of paintings, illustrations, photographs, sculptures, and installations. Last January, on the first anniversary of its founder's assassination, the gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. was renamed Sikkema Malloy Jenkins.
D. Sikkema was born in Cuba with the name Daniel García Carrera, emigrated to Spain, and then to the United States. In a 2006 autobiography titled Ticket to Paradise, he recounted that he fled his country after a childhood and youth marked by hardship, and worked in the European country as a male escort.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Brent Sikkema Murder Case
Who is Daniel Sikkema and what is he accused of?
Daniel Sikkema is a Cuban resident in New York, former husband of the American gallerist Brent Sikkema, and has been arrested by U.S. authorities accused of hiring a hitman to murder his ex-partner. He also faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder for hire and passport forgery, with a potential penalty of life in prison or death if convicted.
What was the reason behind Brent Sikkema's murder?
The murder of Brent Sikkema occurred in the context of a contentious divorce lawsuit with his ex-husband Daniel Sikkema. Daniel Sikkema allegedly hired a hitman to kill Brent in Brazil, using a stolen identity and intermediaries to conceal payments to the assassin. The background of the crime appears to be related to the victim's multimillion-dollar estate and the legal disputes between the couple.
What legal measures does Daniel Sikkema face in the United States?
Daniel Sikkema faces a formal charge in the Southern District of New York, where he has been indicted on a charge of contract murder, a charge of conspiracy to commit contract murder, a charge of conspiracy to murder a person in a foreign country, and a charge of passport forgery. If convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment or death. His case is being prosecuted by the Human Rights and Special Proceedings Section of the DOJ and assistant U.S. attorneys.
How was the murder of Brent Sikkema carried out?
The murder of Brent Sikkema occurred on January 14, 2024, in his apartment in Rio de Janeiro. The hitman Alejandro Triana Prevez, also Cuban, allegedly received instructions and keys sent from the U.S. by Daniel Sikkema. Triana monitored the residence for hours before entering and stabbing Brent multiple times, primarily in the neck and chest. He was identified and arrested shortly after the crime due to surveillance camera footage.
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