Toy boy husband wanted for murder of millionaire NYC art gallery owner, 75, who was found stabbed to death in his Brazil home is arrested in New York on passport fraud charges

The husband of the late New York City art gallery owner, Brent Sikkema, is under federal custody in New York on charges of passport fraud.

Daniel Sikkema, who is also wanted in Brazil for the murder of Brent Sikkema on January 16, was arrested on Wednesday.

A court filing by the FBI agent in charge of the investigation found that Daniel Sikkema had “intentionally and knowingly” lied about a lost passport application he filed for the couple’s son.

The filing was filed on or around February 8, three weeks after the prominent art gallery owner was stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro home by Alejandro Triana.

Triana was arrested on January 15 and confessed to the murder, telling investigators that Daniel Sikkema had offered to pay him $200,000 to carry out the murder.

An official from the Southern District of New York told DailyMail.com that Daniel Sikkema was awaiting release with a GPS ankle monitor.

Alejandro Triana of Cuba told Rio de Janeiro authorities that Daniel Sikkema had offered him $200,000 to kill his husband, New York art gallery owner Brent Sikkema. Triana said he used a key that Daniel Sikkema allegedly emailed him from the United States to enter Brent Sikkema’s home in Rio de Janeiro, where he stabbed him to death on January 14.

Daniel Sikkema and Brent Sikkema initiated custody proceedings for their 13-year-old son in May 2023 and began discussing their divorce settlement in January. As part of the custody agreement, Brent Sikkema was in possession of the boy’s Spanish and American passports.

On January 21, Daniel Sikkema’s lawyer visited Brent Sikkema’s apartment and was denied entry by the building management. The lawyer called the executor of the art gallery owner’s estate and requested permission to enter the property to collect the travel documents. The lawyer was informed by the executor that he had taken custody of the passports, placed them in a safe in the apartment and refused to hand them over.

Five days later, Daniel Sikkema emailed the executor to say he needed the boy’s expired Spanish passport.

“I have to order the new passport and as a requirement I have to deliver the expired passport,” wrote Daniel Sikkema.

Brent Sikkema, a prominent New York City art gallery owner, with former First Lady Michelle Obama

Daniel Sikkema (left) and the late Brent Sikkema (right) with their son, who is now 13 years old. Daniel Sikkema was arrested in New York on Wednesday on charges of passport fraud and was expected to be released on bail on Thursday

He added that he also needed the boy’s U.S. passport because they would be traveling abroad.

After Brazilian authorities charged David Sikkema with the murder of Brent Sikkema, the executor appeared in New York State Family Court on February 15 and requested custody of the boy, indicating that he feared David Sikkema was with the boy would flee to Cuba. . The request was rejected by the court on March 5.

The executor later retrieved the passports from the safe in February and handed them over to Daniel Sikkema’s lawyer on March 14.

However, the FBI learned that Daniel Sikkema had filed an application for a U.S. passport on behalf of his son on February 8 and made a declaration on his son’s behalf for a lost or stolen passport.

In the statement, Daniel Sikkema claimed that the boy lost his US passport book while on holiday with his ‘other father’ in Europe in August 2023.

Rio de Janeiro’s civil police and public prosecutor’s office have filed a warrant in state court demanding the arrest of Daniel Sikkema and have contacted the U.S. Department of Justice.

Triana told Brazilian police that Daniel Sikkema did not agree with the amount of money offered to him in the divorce settlement and that he was concerned that Brent Sikkema’s relationship with “a Uruguayan or Paraguayan” man might determine how the couple’s assets would be managed. be split.

Triana met the couple in Cuba and worked for them as a handyman at their properties on the communist island. He told investigators that Daniel Sikkema was also angry because Brent Sikkema was “spending a lot of money on drugs, parties and prostitutes.”

Surveillance camera footage obtained by DailyMail.com from Gabriel Security Company showed that Triana began monitoring Brent Sikkema’s home in Rio de Janeiro’s Jardim Botânico neighborhood on January 13 around 2:30 p.m.

He entered the house on January 14 at 3:43 a.m. with a key that Daniel Sikkema allegedly sent him from the United States.

Triana was able to leave the house at 3:47 a.m. and remove gloves before driving away.

The autopsy showed that Brent Sikkema had been stabbed eighteen times, mainly in the neck and chest.

Triana was arrested on January 15 after police found him sleeping in a car in Ureaba, a city in the southern state of Minas Gerais, which borders Bolivia.