American officials filed charges on Tuesday accusing a New York man of hiring a hit man to kill his husband, Brent Sikkema, a prominent art dealer, in Brazil amid their contentious divorce proceedings.
The acting head of the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, Danielle R. Sassoon, announced the charges in a statement that described the actions of the man, Daniel Sikkema, as “a cold-blooded plot to murder.”
Richard Levitt, a lawyer representing Mr. Sikkema, said in an email that his client “now as always maintains his innocence and looks forward to his complete vindication at trial.”
Last January, Brazilian authorities found Brent Sikkema’s body with 18 stab wounds inside his Rio de Janeiro apartment.
Investigators recovered surveillance footage that they said showed his former bodyguard, a 30-year-old man named Alejandro Triana Prevez, entering and exiting the home. A manhunt resulted in Mr. Prevez’s arrest; his lawyer said that Daniel Sikkema had offered him $200,000 to carry out the assassination.
In March, Mr. Sikkema was arrested in Manhattan on charges of passport fraud.
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