A New York City art gallery owner who was murdered in his Rio de Janeiro townhouse was in the middle of a messy $6million divorce from his husband.
Brent Sikkema, 75, co-owner of Sikkema, Jenkins & Co, was stabbed 18 times in the chest and face by his alleged killer, Cuban national Alejandro Triana, 30, on Sunday.
Triana was arrested on Thursday after he was found sleeping in a car at a gas station in Ureaba, Minas Gerais, 615 miles from the killing site of Jardim Botânico.
Alexandre Herdy, chief of the Rio de Janeiro Capital Homicide Police Station, said officers are trying to have Triana’s custody transferred to Rio de Janeiro.
They also want to learn more about his relationship with Sikkema’s husband Daniel, if any, who is also Cuban.
Brent Sikkema, who co-owned the contemporary art gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. in New York told friends in Brazil was attempting to finalize a divorce with his husband Daniel Sikkema
Brent was seen on a security camera walking back to his Rio de Janeiro home at 4:36pm Saturday before he was allegedly murdered by Cuban national Alejandro Triana
Alejandro Triana (pictured) was arrested Thursday morning by police in Brazil in connection with the murder of New York City art gallery owner Brent Sikkema
Police said Triana migrated to Brazil in 2022 and applied for refugee status. He was living in São Paulo and met the art gallery owner in Rio de Janeiro in 2023.
Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo reported Brent Sikkema told friends that Rio de Janeiro was so safe he did not mind leaving the door unlocked.
But he confided he was disappointed his husband did not want to reach a cordial divorce because he was seeking $6million.
The art gallery owner’s friends told the news outlet Daniel took out a court order that stopped him seeing their 12-year-old son.
Brent reportedly spent one night in a New York City jail after he disobeyed the order.
Triana was spotted Saturday on surveillance camera walking in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Jardim Botânico, where Brent owned a home
A man was captured on camera leaving the Rio de Janeiro home of New York City art gallery owner Brent Sikkema on Saturday at 3:57am. Sikkema was found dead on Monday
New York City prominent art gallery owner Brent Sikkema with former First Lady Michelle Obama
DailyMail.com was able to obtain surveillance camera videos from Gabriel Security Company that showed Triana allegedly surveying Sikkema’s residence on Saturday.
The Cuban murder suspect is believed to have parked his car near Sikkema’s home at 2:30 pm and moved it forward at 2:54pm to be much closer.
Sikkema could be seen wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip flops while carrying a large tote bag as he approached his home, entering at 4:36pm and never walking out again.
Triana remained inside the car until 10:42pm and was spotted walking around the neighborhood, lowering his head.
He allegedly returned to his car at 10:52pm and remained there until early hours of Sunday, when he stepped out of the vehicle and entered Sikkema’s home at 3:43am.
He is accused of spending 14 minutes inside and walked out at 3:57am. He could be seen removing a pair of gloves and walking back to the car before driving away.
Authorities said Triana stole $30,000 as well as 30,000 Brazilian reals ($6,078) and a gold chain from Sikkema’s home.
Herdy said Triana returned to São Paulo, where he abandoned the vehicle he used to flee from Sikkema’s home and purchased a new car as part of his plan to evade capture.
Brent Sikkema purchased his two-story residence in Rio de Janeiro about 10 years and had recently bought a second home in the city
Police said Sikkema had recently purchased a second home in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Leblon and that he kept the money at his residence to purchase new furniture.
Sikkema’s lawyer and friend Simone Nunes told news outlet O Globo he had applied for permanent residency in Brazil and was looking at moving from New York.
Sikkema, who is survived by his husband and 12-year-old son, was born in Morrison, Illinois, and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute.
The prominent art gallery owner was the director of exhibitions at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester in 1971.
He later served as the director of Vision Gallery in Boston from 1976 to 1980 and was its owner from 1980 to 1989.
Sikkema founded his New York City art gallery in 1991 as Wooster Gardens in Soho. In 1999, the art gallery was moved to its current location in Chelsea.