MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥� and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction Saturday.
Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum.
Including the Dallas-based auction house's fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million.
Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.
The sparkly red heels were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum鈥檚 door and display case.
Their whereabouts remained a mystery until Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn't publicly exposed as the thief in May 2023. He He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was to time served because of his poor health.
His attorney, Dane DeKrey, explained ahead of sentencing that Martin, who had a long history of burglary and receiving stolen property, was attempting to pull off 鈥渙ne last score鈥� after 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. But a fence 鈥� a person who buys stolen goods 鈥� later told him the rubies were just glass, DeKrey said. So Martin got rid of the slippers. The attorney didn't specify how.
The alleged fence, Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal, . He was also in a wheelchair and on oxygen when he made his first court appearance. He's scheduled to go on trial in January and hasn't entered a plea, though his attorney has said he's not guilty.
The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, 鈥淭here鈥檚 no place like home.鈥�
As Rhys Thomas, author of 鈥淭he Ruby Slippers of Oz,鈥� put it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen 鈥渕ore twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.鈥�
Over 800 people had been tracking the slippers, and the company鈥檚 had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the auction house.
Among those bidding to bring the slippers home was the Judy Garland Museum, which posted on Facebook shortly after that it did not place the winning bid. The museum had campaigned for donations to supplement by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual and the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.
After the slippers sold, the auctioneer told bidders and spectators in the room and watching online that the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million, for the white dress Marilyn Monroe famously wore atop a windy subway grate.
The auction also included other memorabilia from 鈥淭he Wizard of Oz,鈥� such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West. That item went for $2.4 million, or a total final cost to the buyer of $2.93 million.
鈥淭he Wizard of Oz鈥� story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that of the Wicked Witch of the West.
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Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa.
Steve Karnowski And Hannah Fingerhut, The Associated Press
