A New York City art gallery owner who was murdered in his Rio de Janeiro mansion was in the midst of a messy $6 million divorce from his husband.
Brent Sikkema, 75, co-owner of Sikkema, Jenkins & Co, was stabbed 18 times in the chest and face on Sunday by his alleged killer, Cuban national Alejandro Triana, 30.
Triana was arrested on Thursday after he was found sleeping in a car at a petrol station in Ureaba, Minas Gerais, 980 kilometers from the Jardim Botânico murder scene.
Alexandre Herdy, head of the Rio de Janeiro homicide police station, said officers are trying to transfer Triana’s custody to Rio de Janeiro.
They also want to know more about his possible relationship with Sikkema’s husband Daniel, who is also Cuban.
Brent Sikkema, co-owner of the contemporary art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in New York, said friends in Brazil were trying to finalize a divorce with his husband Daniel Sikkema
Brent was seen on a security camera at 4.36pm on Saturday walking back to his home in Rio de Janeiro before he was allegedly killed by Cuban national Alejandro Triana
Alejandro Triana (photo) was arrested by police in Brazil on Thursday morning in connection with the murder of New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema
Police said Triana migrated to Brazil in 2022 and applied for refugee status. He lived in São Paulo and met the art gallery owner in Rio de Janeiro in 2023.
Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo Brent Sikkema told friends that Rio de Janeiro was so safe that he didn’t mind leaving the door open.
But he confided he was disappointed his husband wouldn’t agree to an amicable divorce because he was looking for $6 million.
Friends of the art gallery owner told the news station that Daniel had taken out a court order preventing him from seeing their 12-year-old son.
Brent reportedly spent a night in a New York City jail after disobeying the order.
Triana was spotted on a surveillance camera on Saturday in the Jardim Botânico neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, where Brent owned a house
At 3:57 a.m. Saturday, a man was caught on camera leaving the home of art gallery owner Brent Sikkema in Rio de Janeiro. Sikkema was found dead on Monday
Brent Sikkema, a prominent New York City art gallery owner, with former First Lady Michelle Obama
DailyMail.com was able to obtain surveillance camera footage from Gabriel Security Company that showed Triana allegedly inspecting Sikkema’s home on Saturday.
The Cuban murder suspect is said to have parked his car at Sikkema’s house at 2:30 PM and drove forward at 2:54 PM to be much closer.
Sikkema could be seen wearing a T-shirt, shorts and slippers while carrying a large tote bag as he approached his home, entering at 4:36 p.m. and never walking out again.
Triana remained in the car until 10:42 p.m. and was seen walking around the neighborhood with her head down.
He is said to have returned to his car at 10.52pm and remained there until the early hours of Sunday, when he got out of the vehicle and entered Sikkema’s home at 3.43am.
He is accused of spending 14 minutes inside and walking out at 3:57 am. He was seen taking off a pair of gloves and walking back to the car before driving away.
Authorities say Triana stole $30,000, 30,000 Brazilian reals ($6,078) and a gold chain from Sikkema’s home.
Herdy said Triana returned to São Paulo, where he abandoned the vehicle he used to flee Sikkema’s home and bought a new car as part of his plan to evade capture.
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
Police said Sikkema had recently bought a second home in Rio de Janeiro’s Leblon neighborhood and kept the money in his home to buy new furniture.
Sikkema’s lawyer and friend Simone Nunes told news channel O Globo that he had applied for permanent residency in Brazil and was considering moving from New York.
Sikkema, who is survived by his husband and 12-year-old son, 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.