Artist Connected To Michelle Obama Stabbed To Death, Suspected Killer Was Reportedly Offered 200k For The Hit

A high-profile art dealer with connections with the American elite, such as Michelle Obama, was found stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro, Brazil home.

On January 15th, Brent Sikkema, 75, was found stabbed to death just days before the art dealer was planning to head back to the United States.

Daniel Garcia Carrera, 53, has been accused of murder in what authorities are calling a murder-for-hire scheme.

Daniel Carrera, 53, claims Sikkema’s estranged husband, Alejandro Triana Prevez, 30, ordered the hit in exchange for $200,000.

Murder suspect claims Brent Sikkema’s ex offered him $200K to kill the NYC art dealer https://t.co/EQwfCP8sky pic.twitter.com/f3TUQAZSQ5

— New York Post (@nypost) February 9, 2024

The Western Journal had these details to report:

More than three months after the murder of a high-profile art dealer who flew in the same partying circles as former first lady Michelle Obama, the art dealer’s former husband is facing extradition to Brazil in connection with the crime.

Daniel Garcia Carrera, 53, has been accused in a murder-for-hire scheme that led to the Jan. 15 death of Brent Sikkema, 75, who was found stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro home, according to the New York Post.

The murder came just before Sikkema was planning to return to the U.S.

To extradite Garcia Carrera, Brazil must make a formal request to U.S. authorities. A hearing on the extradition request will be held on June 3.

Garcia Carrera was arrested by FBI on March 20 in New York City, according to the New York Post.

Artist with Michelle Obama Connection Stabbed to Death Just Before Returning to US https://t.co/VzsutCuDDo

— Dawn Wildman (@WildmanDawn) April 8, 2024

Per The New York Post:

The suspect in the brutal murder of Brent Sikkema told Brazilian police that the Manhattan art dealer’s estranged husband ordered the hit and offered him $200,000 to finish the job, according to Brazilian press reports.

Alejandro Triana Prevez, 30, claimed to authorities that Daniel Carrera Sikkema, 53, ordered the January murder of Brent Sikkema, 75. The gallerist, whose Chelsea firm represents artists Vik Muniz and Kara Walker, among others, was found dead in his tony Rio de Janeiro row house on Jan. 15 with 18 stab wounds to his face, chest and throat, according to police.

The statement alleging Carrera’s involvement was first reported Thursday by the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, which also reported that Rio’s Public Ministry has demanded Carrera, who lives in Manhattan with the couple’s 14-year-old son, be immediately remanded in custody.

Carrera was born in Cuba and worked as a male prostitute in Havana and Madrid before his marriage to Sikkema 15 years ago, according to a memoir he wrote in the late 1990s about his flight from the Communist island.