Daniel Sikkema was sentenced to life in prison for arranging the 2024 killing of his former husband, art dealer Brent Sikkema. (Foto: Instagram)
Daniel Sikkema, 56, was sentenced to life in prison in the United States for arranging the killing of his former husband, New York art dealer Brent Sikkema, 75. A federal court in Manhattan handed down the sentence Wednesday, Nov. 4. Daniel was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after serving his prison term, according to U.S. authorities.
Daniel was found guilty in May after a two-week trial. The three convictions were for murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country. Prosecutors said he planned and financed the attack on Brent, who was found dead with 18 stab wounds at his home in Rio de Janeiro’s Jardim Botânico neighborhood on Jan. 14, 2024.
Investigators and evidence presented at trial indicated that Daniel began organizing the killing in 2023, during a contentious divorce. The two had been married for about 15 years and had one child. Investigators said Daniel hired Cuban national Alejandro Triana Prevez to carry out the attack and made 11 money transfers to Prevez and his partner, who was in Cuba.
Prosecutors said Daniel used the identities of friends, relatives and employees to conceal the source of the payments. They also said he arranged a secret phone for communicating with Prevez as the plan took shape. On the night Brent was killed, the assailant entered his home and stabbed him 18 times. He then called Daniel several times using a number arranged in advance. Daniel sent him $5,000 after the killing and promised additional payments, according to the account presented in the case.
Brazilian authorities arrested Prevez on Jan. 18, 2024, four days after Brent’s death. The case against him is still pending in Brazil. The investigation involved Brazilian and U.S. authorities, including the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police and the FBI; cooperation between the two countries helped advance the investigation and led to Daniel’s prosecution in the United States.
Jamie McDonald, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement after sentencing that Daniel had been held accountable for a murder planned and carried out for payment. McDonald said Daniel manipulated people close to him to make the killing possible.
Brent was a prominent American art dealer and owned a well-known Manhattan gallery. During his career, he helped bring attention to contemporary artists, including American artist Kara Walker and Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. He founded Sikkema Jenkins & Co., later renamed Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, and maintained a home in Rio de Janeiro, a city he was fond of. His killing drew international attention and prompted a cross-border investigation.
