Investigators find blood in apartment and vehicle of man who ‘murdered’ New York City art gallery owner
- Brazilian police say they have found traces of blood in clothing recovered from murder suspect Alejandro Triana’s apartment and in his abandoned car
- Triana is said to have murdered New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema in his home in Rio de Janeiro last Sunday
- According to the police, Triana stabbed Sikkema eighteen times in the face and chest
Brazilian authorities announced Friday that they found blood in the vehicle and apartment of the Cuban migrant who allegedly murdered a New York City art gallery owner in his Rio de Janeiro mansion last weekend.
São Paulo investigators said they discovered bloodstains in a shirt and cap that Alejandro Triana, 30, left at his home while trying to evade arrest after stabbing Brent Sikkema, 75, last Sunday.
The officers, who assisted their counterparts in Rio de Janeiro, also saw traces of blood in the abandoned car that Triana drove to and from Sikkema’s two-story apartment.
Triana was arrested on Thursday after police found him sleeping in a new vehicle at a gas station in Ureaba, Minas Gerais.
He was expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Friday and spend the night at the Capita homicide police station in the western Barra da Tijuca neighborhood.
Brent Sikkema, co-owner of the contemporary art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in New York, told friends in Brazil that he was trying to finalize a divorce from his husband Daniel Sikkema
Cuban national Alejandro Triana was arrested on Thursday for the alleged murder of New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema
Triana will be interrogated for the first time on Saturday morning and then transferred to a local jail.
Police officials said at a news conference Thursday that they will question Triana about possible connections to Sikkema’s husband, Daniel Sikkema, who is also Cuban.
Investigators have also not ruled out that the gruesome murder was planned by someone else.
Brent Sikkema, co-owner of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in Chelsea, traveled to Rio de Janeiro for the holidays in December and was expected to return to New York this week.
Brent Sikkema, a prominent New York City art gallery owner, with former First Lady Michelle Obama
He had recently told friends that he was in the middle of a nasty divorce settlement with Daniel Sikkema, who was demanding $6 million, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
The prominent art gallery owner was also concerned about being banned from seeing the couple’s 12-year-old son, Lucas Sikkema, after his husband obtained a court order.
Brent Sikkema reportedly spent a night in a New York City jail after disobeying the order.
Investigators have learned that Triana migrated to Brazil in 2022 and applied for refugee status. He is said to have met Sikkema in Rio de Janeiro in 2023.
DailyMail.com was able to obtain surveillance camera footage from Gabriel Security Company that showed Triana allegedly inspecting Sikkema’s home on Saturday.
Brent Sikkema bought his two-story home in Rio de Janeiro about 10 years ago and had recently purchased a second home in the city
He spent nearly 14 hours in the area before entering the home and spent 14 minutes inside.
Police said Triana stabbed Sikkema 18 times in the face and chest, and stole both $30,000 and 30,000 Brazilian reals ($6,078) and a gold chain.
Sikkema was born in Morrison, Illinois, and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute.
The prominent art gallery owner was director of exhibitions at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester in 1971.
He later served as director of Vision Gallery in Boston from 1976 to 1980 and as owner from 1980 to 1989.
Sikkema founded his art gallery in New York City in 1991 as Wooster Gardens in Soho. In 1999, the art gallery was moved to its current location in Chelsea.