Daniel Sikkema sits in a Manhattan federal courtroom facing accusations that he orchestrated the brutal January 2024 killing of his estranged husband, Brent Sikkema, a prominent New York art gallerist whose contemporary gallery showcased major artists including Kara Walker and Vik Muniz.
Prosecutors say Alejandro Triana Prevez, a hitman who allegedly worked as Daniel's security guard, entered Brent Sikkema's Rio de Janeiro townhouse in the predawn hours of January 14, 2024, and stabbed the 75-year-old gallerist 18 times with a kitchen knife before fleeing. Brazilian authorities arrested Prevez four days later, and within two weeks he allegedly confessed that Daniel Sikkema had hired him for the killing.
The motive, according to federal prosecutors, centers on money and a deteriorating divorce. Daniel Sikkema wanted his estranged husband dead to avoid a protracted legal battle over alimony and child support, prosecutors claim. In one recorded voice note from July 2023, Daniel Sikkema allegedly said: "I'm still fighting with this old bastard who won't die."
In another recording from December 2023, less than a month before the murder, Daniel Sikkema allegedly mused: "Let's see if ... instead of getting divorced, I end up a widower, which would suit me much better."
Prosecutor Nicholas Pavlis told jurors that Daniel Sikkema sent his alleged co-conspirator thousands of dollars in payments through intermediaries, including his housekeeper. "The defendant spent over $10,000 on his husband's death," Pavlis said in court.
The couple's relationship, which began roughly two decades ago in Miami, deteriorated after Daniel Sikkema, a Cuban national, allegedly proposed an open marriage and relocation to Cuba in 2019. When Brent rejected both proposals, the marriage unraveled. Daniel filed for divorce in 2022.
Court documents and a wrongful death civil suit paint a picture of escalating conflict. Daniel allegedly attempted to withdraw $200,000 from his husband's account using a forged check but failed. In March 2022, he took their son out of school and absconded to Cuba without informing Brent of their whereabouts, leaving the gallerist without knowledge of his child's location or safety for weeks.
The pattern of accusations continued. Daniel filed false complaints with New York City's child welfare agency in an effort to gain full custody of their son. He also filed a police report claiming wrongful eviction after his husband changed the locks. In one particularly serious allegation, Daniel reportedly told New York authorities that Brent planned to commit mass murder at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Police arrested and detained Brent for 22 hours before determining the claim had no merit and releasing him without charges.
Brent Sikkema founded Wooster Gallery in SoHo around 1991, eventually relocating to Chelsea and renaming it Sikkema Jenkins & Co. The gallery became known for championing diversity among contemporary artists well before the practice became standard. It represented Jeffrey Gibson, the first Indigenous artist to represent the United States solo at the Venice Biennale.
Daniel Sikkema's defense team argues the case relies on circumstantial evidence and hearsay. His lawyer, Florian Miedel, told jurors during opening arguments that no witness will testify to direct knowledge of Daniel hiring Prevez to commit murder. He characterized Daniel's harsh recorded comments about his husband as typical of acrimonious divorces, where people say "things they don't mean" and reveal "the worst versions of themselves." Miedel suggested Prevez had his own motive for the killing, claiming the hitman was "obsessed with a woman in Cuba" and focused on purchasing her a house in Spain.
Though Brent had disinherited Daniel from his will, prosecutors allege Daniel remained fixated on securing money after the killing. In a voice note dated February 8, 2024, roughly three weeks after Brent's death, Daniel allegedly said: "I already have my lawyers who are going to ... at the right time, claim what belongs to me, what I'm entitled to as a widower."
Author James Rodriguez: "The case presents a stark contrast between a celebrated art world figure and the alleged murder plot that has exposed the dark underbelly of a collapsing marriage."
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