- Alejandro Triana, from Cuba, was arrested Thursday morning in Ureaba, Brazil
- The 30-year-old is suspected of the murder of New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema
Brazilian authorities arrested a man wanted for the murder of New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema on Thursday morning.
Cuban national Alejandro Triana, 30, was taken into custody during a traffic stop on a highway in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, about 900 kilometers from Sikkema’s mansion in Rio de Janeiro, where the murder took place.
Triana allegedly stabbed Sikkema early Saturday morning before fleeing to São Paulo, where police intelligence was able to track him down.
The alleged killer was carrying $3,000 that he stole from Sikkema after stabbing him multiple times.
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
New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema (pictured with former First Lady Michelle Obama) was found murdered Monday in his mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Authorities arrested his alleged killer, Cuban national Alejandro Triana, on Thursday
Triana was driving on highway BR-050, which connects the southern state of São Paulo with the Brazilian capital Brasilia, and authorities believe he was trying to cross into Mato Grosso state.
Rio de Janeiro Civil Police investigators have indicated that Sikkema’s murder was premeditated after Gabriel Security Company surveillance cameras showed Triana inspecting Sikkema’s home in Rio de Janeiro’s affluent Jardim Botânico neighborhood.
Triana arrived at 2:30 PM and parked the car across the street from the two-story home until 4:53 PM.
Sikkema could be seen wearing a t-shirt, shorts and sandals while carrying a large tote bag as he approached his home, entering at 4:36 pm and never walking out again.
Video footage shows the vehicle starting to move at 2:54 p.m. and just a few meters away from the entrance to Sikkema’s home.
Triana remained in the car until 10:42 p.m. and was seen walking around the neighborhood lowering his head to avoid being spotted by surveillance cameras.
He returned to his car at 10:52 p.m. and remained there until 3:43 a.m., when he got out of the vehicle and entered Sikkema’s home.
Triana spent 14 minutes in the home and walked out at 3:57 am. He was seen taking off a pair of gloves and walking back to the car before driving away.
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 Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester in 1971. He later served as director of Vision Gallery in Boston from 1976 to 1980 and was its 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.