New York — The estranged husband of a prominent New York City art dealer was convicted Friday of hiring a hitman to kill him in Brazil.
Daniel Sikkema, 55, faces a mandatory life sentence. Brent Sikkema, 75, was found stabbed to death in his home in Rio de Janeiro in January 2024.
Daniel Sikkema, an American and Cuban citizen living in New York, was arrested in April 2024. He was convicted in federal court in Manhattan on charges including conspiracy to murder for hire resulting in death.
The alleged killer was arrested in Brazil, where he remains imprisoned.
“In the midst of contentious divorce proceedings with his then-husband, Daniel Sikkema used a burner phone line to cruelly order the murder of his husband,” said US Attorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan.
Clayton called the killing of Brent Sikkema a “senseless, cold-blooded murder” and said the sentence achieved a “meaningful measure of justice.”
A message seeking comment was left for Danielle Sikkema’s attorney.
Brent Sikkema had amassed a multimillion-dollar estate and owned a contemporary art gallery in Manhattan that became known as Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, which says on its website that it has been representing international artists such as Kara Walker, Vic Muniz and Arturo Herrera for nearly 30 years.
Prosecutors said Daniel Sikkema had frequent contact with the alleged killer before and after the killing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Pavlis told the jury in an opening statement that Daniel Sikkema wired more than $10,000 to the man and promised him more money.
Meanwhile, Pavlis said, Daniel Sikkema bragged to others that he would get more money from his wife’s death than he would from the divorce. He and Brent Sikkema had a teenage son.
“After his husband was brutally murdered, the defendant tried to cover his tracks and get paid,” Pavlis said.
Daniel Sikkema’s lawyer, Florian Medel, told the jury in an opening statement that the case was built on circumstantial evidence and that there was no evidence to prove his client’s guilt.
“Life is messy. The truth is not always clear,” Medel said.