Daniel Sikkema, the estranged husband of murdered New York artwork supplier Brent Sikkema, was discovered responsible Friday in a Manhattan federal courtroom, in response to the Wall Avenue Journal. Daniel Sikkema confronted costs tied to a murder-for-hire plot that prosecutors mentioned led to the supplier’s killing at his trip residence in Rio de Janeiro in 2024.
The case has gripped the artwork world since Brent Sikkema, the founding father of the Chelsea gallery then often known as Sikkema Jenkins & Co., was discovered stabbed to demise in Brazil at age 75. Prosecutors argued that Daniel Sikkema orchestrated the killing from New York amid a bitter divorce and custody dispute involving the couple’s son.
Federal prosecutors accused Daniel Sikkema of hiring Alejandro Triana Prevez, a Cuban former safety officer dwelling in Brazil, to hold out the homicide. In line with courtroom filings and testimony introduced throughout the trial, Prevez entered Brent Sikkema’s Rio townhouse within the early hours of January 14, 2024, grabbed a kitchen knife, and stabbed the supplier 18 instances whereas he slept.
Jurors convicted Daniel Sikkema on three counts associated to conspiring to rent and pay a hitman. Prosecutors mentioned he secretly transferred roughly $9,000 to Prevez earlier than and after the killing, then tried to hide their connection from investigators and buddies. His legal professionals argued the funds had been unrelated to the homicide and stemmed from previous work Prevez had finished for the couple in Cuba.
The killing surprised the up to date artwork world. Brent Sikkema was broadly revered as a supplier with a pointy eye for rising artists and helped construct the careers of figures together with Kara Walker, Vik Muniz, Jeffrey Gibson, and Sheila Hicks. His gallery later modified its identify to Sikkema Malloy Jenkins following his demise.
The investigation rapidly stretched throughout Brazil and the US. Brazilian authorities arrested Prevez shortly after the killing, and he later claimed Daniel Sikkema had provided him cash to homicide the supplier. Daniel Sikkema was formally charged in New York final yr with murder-for-hire and conspiracy offenses that carried the potential for a life sentence.
Daniel Sikkema now faces a compulsory life sentence. A sentencing date has not but been introduced.
