Estranged husband of NYC art dealer is indicted in murder-for-hire plot in Brazil

NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors have indicted the estranged husband of a slain New York City art dealer in a murder-for-hire plot, saying he made multiple payments to the man arrested for the killing in Brazil during a contentious divorce.

Daniel Sikkema, 54, of New York was indicted Tuesday on murder conspiracy charges, as well as passport fraud.

''The defendant allegedly hired a hitman to facilitate the international murder of his husband and attempted to conceal his involvement in this callous plan," FBI Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy said in a statement.

Sikkema's lawyer said his client is confident he will ultimately be cleared of the charges.

''Mr. Sikkema has maintained his innocence consistently. And he is entirely confident that he'll be vindicated at trial,'' his attorney Richard Levitt told The Associated Press by phone on Wednesday.

Sikkema's husband, Brent Sikkema, then 75, was found stabbed to death in January 2024 in his townhouse in Rio de Janeiro, where he regularly traveled. Brent Sikkema, who prosecutors said had amassed a multimillion-dollar estate, co-owned the contemporary art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in Manhattan.

The gallery represents international artists including Jeffrey Gibson, Kara Walker and Vik Muniz.

Shortly after the killing, Rio state police arrested a man who they identified as Alejandro Triana Trevez near the city of Uberaba, in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais. The man was on the run and found resting in a gas station.

Trevez was not referred to by name in the indictment unsealed Wednesday. According to Brazilian media he had previously worked as the victim's bodyguard.

According to the indictment, Daniel Sikkema, a U.S. and Cuban citizen, sent multiple payments to Trevez and his romantic partner in Cuba, from mid-2023 to January 2024. Prosecutors claim Sikkema used a stolen identity or an intermediary to make the payments while concealing his own identity.

If convicted, he faces a mandatory penalty of life in prison or death.