New Updates in the Ongoing Murder Investigation of a New York Art Dealer
By Katriona Hannah
Brent Sikkema. Image: artnews.com
The famous 75-year-old New York dealer and gallerist Brent Sikkema was found dead in his Rio-de-Janeiro home on 15th January. The victim suffered 18 stab wounds to his face, throat, and chest from a sharp object, potentially a box cutter or scissors. His gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. has held shows for Kara Walker, Jeffrey Gibson, Amy Sillman, Mark Bradford, Vik Muniz, and many others.
Considering that at the time of his murder, Sikkema was in the middle of a complicated divorce from his husband, the focus quickly turned to 53-year-old Daniel Carrera Sikkema. Born in Cuba, Carrera worked as a prostitute in Havana and Madrid before his marriage to Sikkema. He allegedly refused an amicable divorce and demanded to be paid around $6 million to allow the late gallerist to see their 14-year-old son.
Police arrest Alejandro Triana Prevez for the murder of Brent Sikkema. Image: nypost.com
Several days after the murder, police arrested Alejandro Triana Prevez, a 30-year-old Cuban national who was found to be in possession of money and jewellery stolen from Sikkema’s apartment. Prevez confessed and stated that Carrera had promised to pay him $200,000 for carrying out the murder and also sent him a key to Sikkema’s home by a courier. Afterwards, however, Prevez retracted his statement by telling his lawyers that he did not actually murder Sikkema and that he had been drugged after having a drink at a nearby restaurant just before the dealer was killed.
Rio’s Homicide Bureau stated that they had no doubt that the killing was premeditated. Prevez not only surveyed Sikkema’s property for approximately 14 hours before carrying out the crime but had also left the air-conditioning on, to potentially minimise the attention of the neighbours. Security footage from Brent Sikkema’s apartment shows a man entering and exiting it with ease. Online, many users have pointed out that the man was wearing gloves. A peculiar detail considering that on the day of the murder, the temperature in Rio fluctuated between 27°C to 35°C.
Police believe that Prevez’s motive was robbery, however, his lawyer Greg Andrade states that the murder was planned by a third party. In a recent message to Artnet News, he and Prevez’s sister allege that Daniel Carrera groomed Prevez who is “easy to manipulate” and “economically and emotionally weak” by sending him money and promising to get him a US citizenship.
Following Brent Sikkema’s death, Sikkema Jenkins & Co. have published a short obituary while friends and colleagues from the art world such as Jerry Saltz, Matthias Arndt, Erika Verzutti, and many others have posted on their social media accounts paying their respects to Sikkema’s life and his contributions to the artistic sphere.
Bibliography
Cassady, Daniel. “Focus Turns to Brent Sikkema’s Ex-Husband as Questions about Dealer’s Murder Mount”. ARTnews. 07.02.2024. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/brent-sikkema-ex-husband-murder-investigation-1234695396/
Greenberger, Alex. “Suspect Arrested in Connection with Death of New York Dealer Brent Sikkema”. ARTnews. 18.01.2024. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/brent-sikkema-death-suspect-arrested-1234693225/
Schrader, Adam. “The Family of the Brent Sikkema Murder Suspect Points Fingers at the Gallerist’s Ex-Husband”. Artnet News. 06.02.2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/brent-sikkema-murder-suspect-points-fingers-at-ex-husband-2429127
Vincent, Isabel. “Murder suspect claims Brent Sikkema’s ex offered him $200K to kill the NYC art dealer”. New York Post. 09.02.2024. https://nypost.com/2024/02/09/news/murder-suspect-claims-art-dealers-ex-offered-200k-to-kill/