A New York man has been hit with federal charges for allegedly hiring an assassin who killed his estranged husband, a prominent American art dealer, inside his apartment in Brazil last year.
Prosecutors say Daniel Sikkema hatched his plan in 2023, using a stolen identity and intermediaries to send money to the alleged killer and his romantic partner in Cuba.
The art dealer, the co-owner of the Sikkema Jenkins & Co. gallery in Manhattan, had amassed a multi-million dollar estate, and the pair were also reportedly locked in a custody battle over their son.
Brent Sikkema was a figure in the New York art world for decades, opening his first gallery in 1991.
The killing took place in the midst of “contentious divorce proceedings” between Daniel and Brent Sikkema, according to the Justice Department.
