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Brazilian police investigating the homicide of Brent Sikkema, a outstanding New York artwork vendor who was discovered stabbed to dying final month in his Rio de Janeiro condo, are actually looking for the arrest of his husband, Daniel Sikkema.
It was a surprising twist in a case that has captivated the artwork world. Brent Sikkema represented plenty of main up to date artists, and his gallery was getting ready to assist one among them, Jeffrey Gibson, symbolize the United States this spring on the Venice Biennale, probably the most prestigious exhibition on this planet.
A lawyer for Daniel Sikkema, Fabiana Marques, mentioned that he was harmless and that he remained in New York, the place he was “shocked” by the newest improvement.
When Brent Sikkema was discovered slain in Rio, investigators mentioned that no less than $40,000 had been stolen. After recovering surveillance footage that they mentioned confirmed his former bodyguard, a 30-year-old man named Alejandro Triana Prevez, coming into and exiting the house, they took Mr. Prevez into custody about 600 miles northwest of the town. (The police initially recognized Mr. Prevez with the surname Trevez.)
A lawyer for Mr. Prevez, Gregorio Andrade, mentioned that Mr. Prevez claims that Daniel Sikkema had provided him $200,000 to hold out the assassination. “He manipulated my shopper,” Mr. Andrade mentioned.
The Sikkemas had been married for almost 15 years however have been locked in divorce proceedings since 2022, which included a combat over the custody phrases of their son, who’s now 13.
Daniel Sikkema’s lawyer, Ms. Marques, mentioned her shopper was harmless of the homicide. “It’s vital to notice that Daniel was not given a possibility to be heard by police, regardless of proactively providing himself for questioning through e-mail,” she mentioned.
She questioned Mr. Prevez’s account. “Alejandro’s technique of accusing somebody of being the mastermind behind the crime, particularly whereas being flanked by his attorneys, clearly goals at securing a extra lenient sentence,” she argued.
It was uncommon to see Daniel Sikkema on the openings and closings of the exhibitions his husband staged, based on associates of the artwork vendor. He emigrated to the United States after a troublesome childhood in Cuba and an early maturity working as a male escort in Spain. He chronicled that journey in a 2006 autobiography known as “Ticket to Paradise,” which described how he escaped the island and made a residing.
On a night shortly after Brent Sikkema was discovered dead, Daniel Sikkema posted {a photograph} of a black rose on social media, the place he goes by his delivery identify, Daniel García Carrera. He later wrote a brief publish in Spanish to specific his grief. “Our son and I cry for you with out tears, we cry for you in the way in which that hurts probably the most,” he mentioned.
Friends of the artwork vendor have continued to mourn his dying.
“His coronary heart was within the artwork,” mentioned Arlene Shechet, an artist who was represented by Brent Sikkema’s gallery, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., for a number of years. “Being a businessman was by no means his inspiration.”
The former prime editor of Artforum, David Velasco, had change into near Brent Sikkema, and was planning to go to the vendor in Rio when he realized of the homicide. Mr. Velasco mentioned that Brent Sikkema was elated when he noticed him after the delivery of his son.
“He was a buddy and in some methods a father determine,” Mr. Velasco mentioned.
“Every a part of this,” he added, “is so heartbreaking.”
Ana Ionova contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.
