Federal officials charged Daniel Sikkema on Tuesday with conspiring to murder his estranged husband, the renowned art dealer Brent Sikkema, who was found stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro townhouse in January 2024.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the charges via a news release, in which Danielle R. Sassoon, the office’s lead attorney, accused Daniel Sikkema of a “cold-blooded plot to murder” his ex-husband.
Daniel Sikkema, 54, is accused by federal investigators of hiring a hit man in 2023, while he and Brent Sikkema, the founder of Sikkema Jenkins & Co. art gallery in New York, were in the midst of a contentious divorce.
Daniel Sikkema is charged with one count of murder-for-hire conspiracy, one count of murder-for-hire resulting in death, one count of conspiracy to murder and maim a person in a foreign country and one count of passport fraud. The U.S. attorney’s office said Daniel Sikkema could face life in prison if convicted.
Daniel Sikkema’s attorney Richard Levitt didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but told the New York Times that his client “now as always maintains his innocence and looks forward to his complete vindication at trial.”
Brazilian authorities arrested Alejandro Triana Prevez, Brent Sikkema’s former bodyguard, days after the 75-year-old gallerist’s body was discovered on Jan. 14, 2024. Surveillance footage had shown Prevez entering and exiting Brent Sikkema’s home the day of the murder.
While Prevez confessed to stabbing Brent Sikkema, his lawyer maintained that it was a “crime of command” in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Globo. (Prevez later told police he was offered $200,000 for the killing.)
The federal indictment accuses Daniel Sikkema of wiring money to Prevez as early as July 2023. The day after the art dealer’s murder, Daniel Sikkema is alleged to have arranged a $5,000 payment to the alleged hit man through an intermediary, according to the court document.
Brazilian police have said that at the time of his death, Brent and Daniel Sikkema were locked in a battle over visitation rights for their son, with Daniel Sikkema seeking millions of dollars from his estranged husband.
Before his death, Brent Sikkema had amassed a sizable fortune through his art world dealings. As a gallerist, his roster included famed artists such as Kara Walker and Jeffrey Gibson. His renowned Manhattan gallery recently renamed itself Sikkema Malloy Jenkins.