NEW YORK — Daniel Sikkema was sentenced to life in federal prison Wednesday, November 4, 2026, for arranging the murder of his estranged husband, prominent Manhattan art dealer Brent Sikkema, in Brazil. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos imposed the sentence following a federal jury’s conviction earlier this year in a murder-for-hire case involving financial transfers, secret communications, and an international investigation.

The sentence was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Daniel Sikkema, 56, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release. His punishment follows a two-week trial that concluded on May 22, 2026, when jurors found him guilty of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country.

Brent Sikkema, 75, was killed on January 14, 2024, at his residence in Rio de Janeiro. Prosecutors said Alejandro Prevez, a former security guard associated with the couple, entered the property and stabbed the art dealer 18 times. Brazilian authorities arrested Prevez four days later. His criminal case remains pending in Brazil, according to the Justice Department’s November 4 announcement.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald characterized the killing as a calculated murder-for-hire scheme driven by financial interests. He said Daniel Sikkema had manipulated people close to him over several months to facilitate the crime. The prosecution maintained that the defendant sought to benefit financially from his husband’s death while the couple was engaged in contentious divorce proceedings.

The sentencing represents the most consequential development in the American criminal case since the May conviction. Although the homicide occurred in Brazil, federal prosecutors pursued the conspiracy in New York because substantial elements of the alleged planning and payments were connected to the United States.

According to prosecutors, Daniel Sikkema began arranging the killing in 2023, when his marriage to Brent Sikkema was deteriorating. Brent regularly traveled between New York and Brazil and owned the Rio de Janeiro townhouse where he was eventually murdered. The couple’s separation had generated disputes over financial arrangements and family matters.

Federal authorities said Daniel Sikkema arranged to pay Prevez to carry out the killing. The investigation established that he made 11 payments to Prevez and a person romantically involved with Prevez in Cuba. Rather than consistently sending funds under his own name, prosecutors said Daniel concealed the origins of the transactions by using the identities of unsuspecting friends, employees, and family members.

Investigators also identified communications linking Daniel Sikkema and Prevez. Prosecutors said the defendant had established a secret telephone number to communicate about the planned killing. Within minutes of Brent Sikkema’s death, Prevez made multiple calls to that number, evidence that became part of the government’s account of the conspiracy.

Shortly after the murder, Daniel Sikkema secretly sent Prevez $5,000, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors characterized the transfer as payment for the killing and said additional payments had been promised. The financial records and communications were central to the government’s effort to show that the homicide resulted from an organized arrangement rather than an independently committed robbery.

The defense challenged that account during the May trial. Defense attorney Florian Miedel argued that the prosecution relied heavily on circumstantial evidence and had not proved Daniel Sikkema ordered the killing. The defense presented an alternative explanation involving a robbery and disputed whether the communications and financial transactions established a murder-for-hire agreement.

The jury rejected the defense’s arguments and returned guilty verdicts on all three murder-related counts. Associated Press reporting following the verdict said Daniel Sikkema’s attorney intended to appeal. The November 4 sentence does not itself resolve any potential appellate challenge, and a conviction in federal district court remains subject to the applicable appeals process.

The investigation developed across several jurisdictions. Brazilian law enforcement conducted the initial homicide investigation, while American authorities examined the alleged conspiracy and financial activity. The Justice Department acknowledged assistance from the FBI’s legal attaché office in Brazil, federal prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian police agencies, and authorities in Spain.

The international dimension was particularly significant because Daniel Sikkema held both American and Cuban citizenship, while the killing occurred in Brazil and elements of the payments involved recipients in Cuba. The case illustrates the ability of American prosecutors to pursue qualifying murder-for-hire and overseas murder conspiracies when the necessary legal connections to U.S. jurisdiction are established.

For the New York art world, the sentencing also returns attention to the professional legacy of Brent Sikkema, a dealer whose career helped shape the contemporary gallery landscape over several decades. His business became particularly associated with supporting artists whose work engaged with questions of identity, cultural representation, historical memory, and social change.

Sikkema founded Wooster Gardens in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood in 1991. The gallery moved to Chelsea in 1999 as that district emerged as a major center for New York’s commercial contemporary art market. Over time, the business developed a roster that included prominent American and international artists working in painting, photography, sculpture, installation, and other media.

Among the artists associated with the gallery were Kara Walker, whose work examines race, history, and power; Vik Muniz, known for his inventive photographic and mixed-media practices; and Arturo Herrera, whose art crosses drawing, painting, collage, and abstraction. The gallery also established relationships with artists including Sheila Hicks and Jeffrey Gibson.

Brent Sikkema’s influence extended beyond exhibitions and art sales. His gallery built relationships with major museums and collectors, helping artworks enter public and private collections. Its exhibition history and long-running artist partnerships made the business a recognized institution within New York’s contemporary art community.

Following his death, the gallery continued operations under its surviving leadership. On January 14, 2025, the business announced that Sikkema Jenkins & Co. would become Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, recognizing partner Meg Malloy’s longstanding contributions. The gallery clarified that the renaming had been planned and approved in 2023, before Brent Sikkema’s death.

Michael Jenkins, who joined the gallery as director in 1997 and became a partner in 2003, and Malloy, who joined in 2002 and became a partner in 2005, continued leading the organization. In the announcement, Malloy emphasized the gallery’s commitment to maintaining the artistic independence and support for artists associated with Brent Sikkema’s original vision.

The gallery currently represents more than 30 international artists, according to its official history. Its program has continued through 2026, including exhibitions featuring Heidi Lau, Erin Shirreff, Kara Walker, and other artists. The ongoing activity underscores the continued operation of an institution whose founder’s death became the subject of one of the art community’s most closely followed criminal cases.

The case also raises questions about the relationship between personal disputes, substantial private wealth, and criminal conduct. Prosecutors presented the financial conflict surrounding the couple’s divorce as central to the motive for the killing. Their case depended on demonstrating that the payments and communications were connected to an agreement to commit murder, rather than merely showing that a contentious relationship existed.

The prosecution’s success depended on linking evidence generated across multiple countries to a criminal conspiracy charged in an American court. Transactions involving Cuba, communications connected to the defendant, and the homicide investigation in Brazil were assembled into the federal case that jurors ultimately accepted.

The proceedings against Prevez remain separate from the completed U.S. trial. While American prosecutors identified him as the person who carried out the fatal stabbing, the Justice Department said on November 4 that his criminal case remained pending in Brazilian courts. The American sentencing therefore establishes Daniel Sikkema’s punishment without determining the final outcome of the Brazilian proceedings.

Brent Sikkema’s death also prompted renewed attention to the cultural role played by independent gallery founders. His professional relationships developed over decades, spanning the rise of Chelsea as an international gallery district and a period of substantial change in the visibility of contemporary artists from diverse backgrounds.

The November 4 sentence leaves Daniel Sikkema facing life imprisonment following a unanimous jury conviction, while the gallery founded by his victim continues operating in New York. With the American sentencing complete and the Brazilian prosecution still pending, the case stands as both a major federal murder-for-hire prosecution and a tragedy that continues to resonate within the contemporary art community.