Man Admits to Stealing Wizard Of Oz Dorothy Red Slippers, Is Upset The Rubies Weren't Real

A 76-year-old man has admitted to stealing the ruby red slippers that Dorothy wore in The Wizard of Oz. He stole them nearly 20 years ago.

Terry Jon Martin of Duluth, Minn., plead guilty to a single count of theft last month as the once Cowardly Criminal Lion finally became Courageous and owned up to stealing the legendary movie slippers in 2005.

Dorothy's ruby red slippers on display. (Jill Connelly/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

WIZARD OF OZ WAS NOMINATED FOR 6 ACADEMY AWARDS

Martin said that one night he drove to the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan and took a hammer and smashed the front of the door to gain entry inside before he then began smashing the display cases.

He says he saw Dorothy's slippers and immediately grabbed them.

Why?

Because he thought they actually had REAL rubies on them. Talk about movie magic. Yeah let's just have Judy Garland parading around a movie set and doing dances and running from flying monkeys and the Wicked Witch of The West with damn rubies breaking off all over the place.

A silhouette of the Wicked Witch. (Getty Images)

JUDY GARLAND PASSED AWAY IN 1969

Martin says that once he later realized that the slippers in fact did not have any sort of monetary value, he sold them. The FBI later recovered them 13 years later in 2018. (I wasn't even aware they were missing in the first place?)

Cops arrested Martin once he admitted to the crime although he's not likely to face any jail time due to his declining health. The slippers however still remain in the FBI's custody and were originally insured for $1 million but are now believed to be worth much more.

... also what is the FBI doing still holding onto a damn movie prop from a film that was created in 1939?

Regardless, good for Martin for having a brain and doing the right thing in the end.