Police said on Thursday that a suspect has been arrested in the murder of an American art dealer in Brazil, who was the co-owner of a prominent gallery in Manhattan. Brent Sikkema, 75, was found dead on Monday with 18 stab wounds in his Rio de Janeiro apartment.
Police in Rio de Janeiro arrested the suspect, identified as Alejandro Triana Trevez, near the city of Uberaba, in the neighboring state of Minas Gerais. The man, who according to local media is Cuban, was on the run and was found at a gas station. Detective Felipe Curi, who leads the state police homicide unit, told CBN Rio that the main line of investigation is theft leading to homicide, as Trevez allegedly took $3,000 from Sikkema’s home. Curi said: “Initial findings of our investigation indicate that Alejandro (Trevez) came from Sao Paulo specifically to commit this crime.” He then returned to Sao Paulo, leading investigators to believe he had “some kind of privileged information.” Law enforcement obtained a 30-day prison warrant against Trevez, which Curi said would allow them to answer questions as to whether the two men knew each other.
Sikkema began his career in 1971 at the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York, where he worked as director of exhibitions. He opened his first gallery in 1976 in Boston. He currently co-owned Sikkema Jenkins & Co., originally founded in 1991, which shows works by Jeffrey Gibson, Arturo Herrera, Sheila Hicks, Vik Muniz, Kara Walker and other artists, located on 22nd Street in New York near the Chelsea Piers.
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