DULUTH — A woman with ties to an organized retail theft ring has told federal investigators that Jerry Hal Saliterman, the second man accused of stealing ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz," had the famous shoes buried in his backyard for at least seven years.
The unnamed woman, who is described as a "cooperating defendant," saw the slippers in a grocery bag, according to court documents. Instead of anonymously returning them — like she said she asked — they were put in a clear plastic container with a white lid and buried near a shed on the south side of Saliterman's lawn in Crystal.
They were treated in an ultraviolet sanitizer cabinet, the woman told authorities, to remove traces of DNA.
Saliterman, who has a long history of stealing, was recently charged with the theft of a major artwork for his alleged role in snatching the ruby slippers. The movie memorabilia was stolen in 2005 from a Grand Rapids, Minn., museum named for the actor who briefly lived in the city. The slippers were recovered in a sting operation in 2018.
But the case had been quiet for years, until Terry Jon Martin, who had long lived 15 miles away from the museum, pleaded guilty to stealing the slippers in 2023.
Martin, who admitted to taking a sledgehammer to the slippers' display case during the museum's off-hours, testified that he believed the shoes were decorated with real gems. After his fence — someone who helps move stolen goods — told him the "rubies" were glass, he said he gave up the shoes and never saw them again.
Martin was sentenced in federal court to a year of probation and remains in his rural mobile home on hospice care. He also was ordered to pay $300 a month in restitution to the Judy Garland Museum.
Saliterman is scheduled for a jury trial that starts May 20 in Minneapolis.
According to court documents, when the FBI searched his home in 2023 he did not deny there were stolen goods on his property — only that they weren't recently stolen.
"I haven't done nothing for years," he reportedly told investigators, adding, "Whatever's down there is so [expletive] old."
Federal investigators gave the Crystal Police Department photographs of an area beneath Saliterman's staircase blocked off with a padlocked fence door. Among the items visible in the enclosure were a Nikon camera still in the box, Coravin Model 2 Elite Pro wine pourers, Wüsthof knives, Weber grills, artwork and crystal glass pieces.
Original artwork, candelabras and other goods were recovered from a storage shed.
The FBI also found an estimated $30,000 in cash bound with rubber bands and stored in disposable food containers wrapped with tinfoil. Also discovered: booster coats — apparel with additional large hidden pockets for ease of shoplifting.
Crystal police used the information from the FBI to secure a search warrant in December 2023 and, according to court documents, recovered 49 pieces of evidence related to an organized theft ring. In mid-March, police returned and chronicled 178 pieces of evidence ranging from urns to snowboards.
Federal and local investigators met with the woman who admitted to being involved in the theft ring with Saliterman. She described hundreds of thefts from such stores as Williams Sonoma, Gabbert's, and Apple. The ring reportedly operated for more than a decade and pulled in up to $15,000 a year.
The ring's crime spree ended around 2022, the woman reportedly told investigators.
