{"id":229370,"date":"2026-05-13T00:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/229370\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T00:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:55:07","slug":"ex-hooker-accused-of-hiring-hitman-to-kill-nyc-art-dealer-hubby-plays-it-cool-over-corpse-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/229370\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-hooker accused of hiring hitman to kill NYC art-dealer hubby plays it cool over corpse photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ex-hooker who allegedly hired a hitman <\/a>to kill his Chelsea art-dealer hubby coolly sat in Manhattan federal court Tuesday as prosecutors showed jurors grisly photos <\/a>of the victim\u2019s bloodied corpse.<\/p>\n

Daniel Carrera Sikkema, wearing a gray blazer over a white shirt, showed no emotion during opening statements at the kick-off of his trial \u2014 even as prosecutors displayed images of the body of his much older estranged husband, Brent Sikkema, who was riddled with stab wounds<\/a> from the January 2024 killing inside his home in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors alleged that Sikkema, in his mid-50s, hired Cuban national Alejandro Triana Prevez to sneak into his 77-year-old spouse\u2019s Brazilian apartment and fatally stab the prominent dealer while the couple was locked in a bitter divorce <\/a>and custody fight over their young son.<\/p>\n

Sikkema hired Cuban national Alejandro Triana Prevez to kill his husband. Brent Sikkema\/ Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the year 2024, Brent Sikkema was brutally murdered,\u201d Assistant US Attorney Nicholas Pavlis told jurors. \u201cA hitman snuck into his home in Brazil, took a knife and stabbed Brent over and over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The killer \u201cimmediately made a phone call,\u201d Pavlis said. \u201cWho did he call? He called that man, Daniel Sikkema, that man who hired and paid him to kill Brent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pavlis said the defendant \u201corchestrated his husband\u2019s murder from a continent away,\u201d believing he would receive more money as a widower than through the couple\u2019s split.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t want a divorce. He wanted Brent dead,\u201d the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n

Sikkema allegedly funneled thousands of dollars to Prevez and people close to him through a web of intermediaries that included a housekeeper, her daughter, a handyman and even the suspect\u2019s romantic partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant paid the hitman every step of the way, making payment after payment after payment,\u201d Pavlis said.<\/p>\n

Authorities said Prevez was arrested by Brazilian police just days after the slaying and later confessed to stabbing Brent Sikkema 18 times in the face, chest and throat.<\/p>\n

Sikkema allegedly funneled thousands of dollars to Prevez. Sao Paolo Police<\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s trial, prosecutors quoted a series of voice notes they said Sikkema sent to friends and relatives during the couple\u2019s divorce.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t be over until this man passes away,\u201d Sikkema said in one of the recordings, according to Pavlis.<\/p>\n

The suspect said in another, \u201cI\u2019m still fighting with this old bastard who won\u2019t die,\u201d the prosecutor said.<\/p>\n

Sikkema\u2019s lawyer, Florian Miedel, acknowledged there was \u201cno dispute\u201d that Prevez stabbed Brent Sikkema 18 times inside the Rio home \u2014 but insisted prosecutors had no direct proof linking his client to the murder.<\/p>\n

Prevez was arrested by Brazilian police just days after the slaying and later confessed to stabbing Brent Sikkema 18 times. Instagram\/Brent Sikkema<\/p>\n

\u201cDaniel did not hire Alejandro to kill Brent,\u201d Miedel told jurors.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one is going to come into this courtroom and say Daniel did it. No one is going to come into this courtroom and say, \u2018I have personal knowledge that Daniel hired Alejandro to do it.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

The trial\u2019s first witness, family friend Angela Liriano, testified that Daniel Sikkema complained repeatedly about money during the divorce.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was saying that he felt he wasn\u2019t getting enough money,\u201d Liriano testified. \u201c \u2018Six million is not enough \u2014 I want $8 million.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

She also recalled a chilling phone conversation she had with Sikkema while at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him, \u2018Brent was just here. He told me he was going to Brazil.\u2019 [Sikkema] said he wished [Brent] will die.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ex-hooker who allegedly hired a hitman to kill his Chelsea art-dealer hubby coolly sat in Manhattan federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1149,2774,90080,57,238,9,56,63,65,64,58],"class_list":["post-229370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-art","tag-brazil","tag-gay-marriage","tag-metro","tag-murders","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}