Brazilian police have apprehended a suspect in relation to the murder of an American art dealer who co-owned a well-known gallery in Manhattan. The arrest was made on Thursday.
On Monday, 75-year-old Brent Sikkema was discovered deceased in his Rio de Janeiro residence with 18 stab wounds.
The Rio state police apprehended a male individual, identified as Alejandro Triana Trevez, in close proximity to the city of Uberaba in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais. According to reports from local media, the man, believed to be of Cuban descent, was fleeing from authorities and was discovered taking a break at a gas station.
According to authorities, Trevez is accused of stealing $3,000 from Sikkema’s residence. Detective Felipe Curi, who heads the state police’s homicide division, stated to CBN Rio that the primary focus of the investigation is on the possibility that the theft resulted in a homicide.
The preliminary results of our investigation suggest that Alejandro [Trevez] traveled from São Paulo with the intention of committing this crime,” stated Curi. Upon returning to São Paulo, investigators suspected that he had access to “privileged information”.
The police obtained a warrant for Trevez to be imprisoned for 30 days. Curi stated that this would give them the opportunity to investigate other potential leads and determine if the two men were acquainted.
Sikkema Jenkins & Co, which was established in 1991, presents pieces by Jeffrey Gibson, Arturo Herrera, Sheila Hicks, Vik Muniz, Kara Walker, and various other artists on 22nd Street in New York City, close to the Chelsea Piers.
In 1971, Sikkema started working at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York as the director of exhibitions. He then established his initial gallery in Boston in 1976.
In 2021, while traveling to Zurich, Switzerland, Sikkema referred to himself on Instagram as a “disorganized individual” and mentioned that he prefers visiting Brazil and Cuba.
Source: theguardian.com
