Autopsy records detail brutal attack at center of Brent Sikkema case in Brazil

Brazilian autopsy records show Brent Sikkema died from internal and external bleeding after 18 cutting and piercing actions to his face and torso, with wounds to his heart and left lung and no defensive injuries on his arms.

The forensic findings are now part of a fight in Rio de Janeiro over whether Alejandro Triana Prevez, the alleged Cuban hitman accused of carrying out the killing on orders of the art dealer’s estranged husband, Daniel Sikkema, should face a cruelty allegation if the Brazilian case goes to a jury.

The autopsy report, completed January 16, 2024, two days after Sikkema was killed inside his Rio home, said the 75-year-old New York art dealer died from “internal and external hemorrhage, lung and heart injury, incised and piercing wounds to the face and trunk.” The report said the wounds were caused by cutting and piercing action.

“The victim was targeted by 18 actions by an instrument with point and edge,” the medical examiner wrote. “The blows came from the front of the victim.” The report also found “no defensive injuries.”

The report also noted other marks on Sikkema’s body separate from the knife wounds, including bruising on his left thigh, right leg and scrotum. It also described circular yellow-brown marks on his back that the medical examiner said could be related to therapeutic cupping treatment at least 48 hours before death.