Daniel Sikkema was sentenced to life in prison for the murder-for-hire of art dealer Brent Sikkema.

Life in prison is the term the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Wednesday. The Associated Press account of the May verdict said he faces a mandatory life sentence. Faces, on that May page, and was sentenced, on Wednesday's release, are not the same status. Fifty-six, on the release, and 55, in that Associated Press account, are not the same age.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, in a release dated Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, and numbered 26-313, said United States Attorney Jamie McDonald and FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. announced that Daniel Sikkema was sentenced to life in prison for the Jan. 14, 2024, murder of his husband, Brent Sikkema, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos. It said he was convicted on May 22, 2026, after a two-week trial, of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country. It said that in addition to prison, Sikkema, 56, of New York, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release. It quoted McDonald: "Today's life sentence holds Daniel Sikkema accountable for a cold, calculated murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the murder of his husband, Brent Sikkema." The next sentences on the release say that for months he manipulated friends, family, and employees to execute a killing driven by greed, that his actions demonstrated a profound disregard for human life and the rule of law, and that the sentence reflects the seriousness of the crime and the strength and perseverance of the victim's community and law enforcement partners. It quoted Barnacle that the scheme "has culminated in a life behind bars." ARTnews, by Hikmat Mohammed, timed November 4, 2026, 4:28 p.m., with no zone printed, reported that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York announced the life sentence on Wednesday. A court announcement, and an announcement by the U.S. attorney and the FBI, are not the same attribution. ARTnews reported he was sentenced for his role in the murder. For his role, and for the Jan. 14, 2024, murder, are not the same object of the sentence. ARTnews printed the same three charge names and the May conviction after a two-week trial. It did not print Judge Ramos, age 56, New York, New York, five years of supervised release, or Barnacle.

The release said that, according to the superseding indictment, public filings, and the trial evidence, Sikkema agreed beginning in 2023 to pay Alejandro Prevez to kill his estranged husband in Brazil. It said the two were in contentious divorce proceedings, that Brent Sikkema owned a well-known art gallery in Manhattan, and that he regularly stayed at a residence he owned in Rio de Janeiro. It said Daniel Sikkema, a U.S. and Cuban citizen, sent eleven payments to Prevez and to Prevez's romantic interest in Cuba, and concealed the source of each payment by using the identities of unwitting friends, employees, and family members. It said that on Jan. 14, 2024, Prevez murdered Brent Sikkema at that residence by stabbing him 18 times, that minutes later Prevez called Daniel Sikkema multiple times on a secret phone number arranged for the plot, and that shortly after the murder Daniel Sikkema secretly sent a $5,000 payment for the murder, with a promise of more. It said Brazilian law enforcement arrested Prevez on Jan. 18, 2024, and that his criminal case remains pending in Brazilian courts. Pending in Brazilian courts is the release's status for Prevez. It is not a U.S. sentence. ARTnews reported Brent Sikkema was stabbed to death 18 times in Brazil at age 75 on January 14, 2024. Age 75 is not on the Wednesday release. ARTnews reported prosecutors argued the killing was planned after a bitter divorce and a custody dispute. Bitter, and contentious, are not the same adjective. A custody dispute is not a sentence on the Wednesday release. ARTnews reported he hired Alejandro Prevez, promising to send Prevez and a romantic interest money, and that he sent 11 payments in total. Eleven payments to Prevez and a romantic interest in Cuba, on the release, and 11 payments with the place of the romantic interest unprinted, on ARTnews, are not the same payment line. ARTnews reported the secret $5,000 payment after the murder, the Jan. 18 arrest, and that the case remains pending in Brazilian courts. It did not print the secret phone calls minutes after the killing, the year 2023, or the word unwitting. It reported Brent Sikkema founded his gallery in 1991, named Kara Walker, Vik Muniz, Jeffrey Gibson, and Sheila Hicks, and said that after his death Sikkema Jenkins & Co. was renamed Sikkema Malloy Jenkins. The Wednesday release says a well-known art gallery in Manhattan and does not print 1991, those four names, or the rename.

The May accounts are the conviction, not Wednesday's sentence. The New York Post, by Khristina Narizhnaya and Anna Young, published May 22, 2026, at 6:33 p.m. ET, reported a federal jury took two hours to find Daniel Sikkema guilty, and that Brent Sikkema was 77. Seventy-seven, and 75, are not the same age. Two hours is not a figure on the Wednesday release. The Post's lede said the victim was stabbed nearly two dozen times. A later sentence said Alejandro Triana Prevez stabbed him 18 times in the face, chest, and throat. Nearly two dozen, and 18, are both on that page. Alejandro Triana Prevez, and Alejandro Prevez, are not the same fullness of the name. The Post reported jurors found him guilty of murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death, murder-for-hire resulting in death, and conspiracy to murder or maim a person in a foreign country, and that he faces life in prison. Those three count names are not the three names on Wednesday's release. Faces life, on May 22, is not the life term imposed Nov. 4. The Post reported he funneled about $9,000 to Prevez. About $9,000, and eleven payments plus a later $5,000 payment, are not the same figure. The Post reported defense attorney Richard Levitt said a $5,000 transfer before the murder was not payment for a planned hit. Before, in that defense argument, and shortly after, on the Wednesday release, are not the same time. NBC News published the Associated Press story on May 23, 2026, at 9:58 a.m. EDT. The Associated Press page did not load on its own, so this account is the text on that NBC News page. That text says Daniel Sikkema, 55, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison, that Brent Sikkema, 75, was found stabbed to death in his Rio de Janeiro townhouse in January 2024, and that Daniel Sikkema, a U.S. and Cuban citizen who lived in New York, was arrested in April 2024. Fifty-five, and 56, are not the same age. A townhouse, a residence he owned, and a vacation home, which is the Post's place word, are not the same place. It said he was convicted of charges including murder-for-hire conspiracy resulting in death. Including, with one count named, is not the three-count list. It said the alleged hitman was arrested in Brazil and remains jailed. Remains jailed, and a case that remains pending, are not the same status. It does not print Prevez's name. It quoted Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton on a burner phone line. A burner phone line, in that May quotation, and a secret phone number, on Wednesday's release, are not the same words, and Clayton is not the prosecutor who announced Wednesday's sentence. It reported Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Pavlis told the jury Daniel Sikkema had funneled over $10,000 to the man. Over $10,000, about $9,000, and eleven payments, are three figures. It reported defense lawyer Florian Miedel said they were disappointed, plan to appeal, and that "Daniel is staying strong and hopes to be vindicated in the end." The Wednesday release does not print an appeal. It reported the gallery became Sikkema Malloy Jenkins and named Kara Walker, Vik Muniz, and Arturo Herrera. Arturo Herrera, and Jeffrey Gibson and Sheila Hicks, are not the same list. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.