The estranged husband of a well-known New York City art dealer has been convicted of orchestrating his spouse’s murder in Brazil. Daniel Sikkema, aged 55, now faces a mandatory life imprisonment sentence. His husband, Brent Sikkema, aged 75, was found fatally stabbed in his Rio de Janeiro residence in January 2024.
Daniel Sikkema, holding both American and Cuban citizenship, resided in New York and was apprehended in April 2024. A federal court in Manhattan found him guilty of charges such as conspiracy to murder for hire resulting in death. The supposed hitman was caught in Brazil and remains incarcerated.
During heated divorce proceedings, Daniel Sikkema used a disposable phone line to ruthlessly commission his husband’s murder, according to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. Clayton characterized Brent Sikkema’s death as a ‘senseless, cold-blooded murder’ and stated that the verdict offers a ‘meaningful measure of justice.’
Sikkema’s attorney, Florian Miedel, expressed disappointment with the verdict and disclosed plans to appeal. ‘Daniel is staying strong and hopes to be vindicated in the end,’ Miedel remarked.
Prosecutors detailed how Daniel Sikkema maintained frequent contact with the alleged hitman around the time of the murder. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Pavlis highlighted how Sikkema sent over $10,000 to the hitman, with promises of further payment. Pavlis added that Sikkema boasted about benefiting more financially from his spouse’s death than through divorce. The couple shared a teenage son. ‘Following his husband’s brutal murder, the defendant tried to cover his tracks and profit,’ Pavlis observed.
Miedel, in his opening statement, argued that the case relied on circumstantial evidence lacking concrete proof of Sikkema’s guilt. ‘Life is messy. The truth is not always obvious,’ Miedel contended.
Brent Sikkema had built a multimillion-dollar estate and owned a contemporary art gallery in Manhattan, later known as Sikkema Malloy Jenkins. This gallery, representing international artists like Kara Walker, Vik Muniz, and Arturo Herrera, has operated for nearly 30 years.
Starting his career in 1971 with the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, Brent Sikkema worked as the director of exhibitions. He opened his first gallery in Boston in 1976. In 2021, during a visit to Zurich, Sikkema described himself on Instagram as a ‘chaos kind of guy’ and expressed a preference for destinations like Brazil and Cuba.
Longtime friend Yancey Richardson, who owns a neighboring art gallery, remarked to the New York Times on Sikkema’s death: ‘Brent had a terrific eye and thought outside of the box.’ In an interview with IdeaFix in 2022, Brent noted that although he mostly lived in New York, he considered his Rio de Janeiro apartment an urban ‘oasis.’