Ruby Slippers fromThe Wizard of OzBeing Auctioned for $800,000 After Being Stolen by Former Mobster

Mar. 15, 2025

PerHeritage Auctions, the glamorous heels are currently bidding at $812,500, with the next minimum bid set at $825,000. There are currently 31 days left of bidding, with the auction continuing through Dec. 7.

The slippers being put up for auction comes nearly two decades after they werestolenfrom Minnesota’sJudy Garland Museumin 2005.

They were found in 2018, with the FBI sharing in apress releasethat they discovered the shoes in Minneapolis while investigating a scheme to defraud and extort the Markel Corporation, which owns the item.

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Shaw’s slippers are the “cross-matched sister shoes to the pair at The Smithsonian Institution,” according to Heritage Auctions.

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“The bows are made of hand-cut buckram cloth and are slightly different in size,” the description continues. “Rhinestones rim the bows, which are filled with bugle beads surrounding three center jewels.”

Terry Jon Martin leaving the federal courthouse in Duluth, Minn., on Oct. 13, 2023.Dan Kraker/Minnesota Public Radio via AP

Dan Kraker/Minnesota Public Radio via AP

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When Martin pleaded guilty, he said he wanted to sell rubies from the slippers,

Martinreceived one year of probationand an order to pay around $23,000 to Minnesota’s Judy Garland Museum.

source: people.com