A Brazilian judge has filed an “urgent” extradition request for the estranged husband of Brent Sikkema—the multimillionaire New York City art dealer who authorities say was murdered by a hitman in Rio de Janeiro in January, the New York Post reported. Brazilian authorities allege it was Daniel Garcia Carrera, 53, who paid $200,000 to have his ex murdered while they were in the middle of divorce proceedings that included a nasty custody battle. Sikkema, 75, was brutally stabbed to death inside his Rio winter home in January— a murder that was staged to appear like a violent robbery, Brazilian authorities said. In reality, however, Brazilian prosecutors said that Carrera called on a fellow Cuban national to carry out the killing, with evidence left at the scene—and security footage—allegedly showing that Sikkema’s murder wasn’t a random attack. Carrera has already been detained in New York City on passport fraud charges, but was permitted to be out on bail so long as he wore an ankle monitor. Documents obtained by the Post showed that Carrera is due in a Rio court on June 3 in connection to the killing if the U.S. approves an extradition request that’s yet to be formally made.
