Famous Churchill Portrait Stolen During Pandemic Will Return to Ottawa From Italy, Police Say

Fairmont Chateau Laurier General Manager Genevieve Dumas looks on as Ottawa Police Services Detective Akiva Gellar speaks about the stolen Yousuf Karsh portrait of Winston Churchill, during a news conference in the hotel in Ottawa, Canada, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP

A renowned portrait of Sir Winston Churchill photographed by famed Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh and stolen from an Ottawa hotel will be returned to Canada after being recovered in Italy.

The Ottawa Police Service said two investigators will go to Rome later this month to retrieve the Karsh portrait of Churchill, which was reported stolen from the Fairmont Château Laurier in August 2022.

Police said their two-year investigation determined that the portrait, dubbed The Roaring Lion, had been taken sometime between Dec. 25, 2021, and Jan. 6, 2022, according to a Sept. 11 Ottawa Police Service (OPS) news release.

Estrellita Karsh, wife of legendary photographer Yousuf Karsh, stands in front of the iconic 1941 photograph of Winston Churchill taken by her husband in the Speaker of the House of Commons' chambers, on July 14, 2009. The Canadian Press/Fred Chartrand

At a Sept. 11 media conference, the general manager of the hotel, Geneviève Dumas, said the COVID-19 pandemic made it possible to determine the dates.

“Everything was closed, and we narrowed the gap to 12 days,” Dumas said. “There was nobody in the hotel and we discovered it only eight months later.”

Detective Akiva Gellar did not offer specifics about the investigation but said it was “very extensive” and that much of it remains “very sensitive because the matter is before the courts.”

“A lot of the details about how we found it, and further details will be released during the ceremony in Rome,” he said. “And later down the road, once we have the portrait back in Canada, we will be able to speak more about that.”

In May 2022, the portrait was sold through a London auction house to Italian lawyer Nicola Cassinelli. Neither the auction house nor the buyer had been aware the piece had been stolen.

Cassinelli paid £5,292 pounds (about $9,440) for the portrait. The auction house contacted him in October 2022, telling him not to sell or transfer the portrait as there was a police investigation.

Police said public tips, forensic analysis, and international collaboration helped them identify the suspect.

Jeffrey Iain James Wood, 43, of Powassan, Ont., has been charged with stealing and trafficking the portrait, Ottawa police said. He was arrested on April 25 and faces charges of forgery, theft over $5,000, mischief exceeding $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000.

Arrangements have been made for Cassinelli to hand over the portrait to police at a ceremony in Rome, the release said. The portrait will then be brought back to Canada and returned to the Fairmont Château Laurier, where it be be displayed again.

The image was taken by Karsh when Churchill visited the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. The photographer was renowned for taking thousands of portraits of notable people including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, and Queen Elizabeth II.

Karsh died in 2002.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.