Whodunit: The Case of the Missing Churchill

It all began with a cigar plucked from Winston Churchill's lips in 1941, setting the scene for Yousuf Karsh's famous 'Roaring Lion' photograph. Now, more than 80 years later, the portrait's story took an unexpected turn when an original signed copy mysteriously vanished. Like a classic 'whodunit', the intrigue unfolded in a hotel lobby in Ottawa, Canada, but this time, the case was cracked with the help of the OSCE.

On a mid-August day in 2022, an employee of the luxurious Fairmont Château Laurier hotel noticed that their Churchill portrait seemed a little different. It hung a little too far off the wall and the frame didn't quite match the other nearby prints in the hotel's famous Yousuf Karsh photography collection. It was odd.

The collection had been displayed in the hotel since 1998. It was a gift from the photographer himself, who had lived in the Château for 20 years. Visitors from across the globe had since been flocking to see the photographs, with the iconic 'Roaring Lion' portrait as a star of the show.

Rise to fame

While Karsh is now considered one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century, he was still a little-known photographer when he took the 'Roaring Lion' photo in December 1941.

Story has it that Karsh snapped the iconic photo moments after he boldly leaned over his camera and politely snatched the cigar from Churchill's lips. The fierce scowl that followed would go on to shape the public's view of Churchill as Britain's wartime Prime Minister and one of the 20th Century's most prominent leaders. Today, the 'Roaring Lion' is one of the most reproduced portraits in the world and features on the British five-pound note.

So, naturally, when the hotel management got word that their rare Churchill print may have been tampered with, they were concerned.

They called in Jerry Fielder, the director of Karsh's estate. With his expert eye, Fielder immediately noticed something was off. The signature was wrong. The photo was too small. The frame was different. He confirmed all the hotel's fears: the portrait was a fake.

The Château Laurier issued a statement and quickly locked up the rest of the collection for safekeeping. The Ottawa Police Service launched a full-scale investigation.

The news spread fast. Front-pages blazed with headlines about the mysterious Churchill art heist. Everyone was asking, 'Who did it?' 'Why did they do it?' 'How did they pull it off?' 'When did the original vanish?'

Hunt for answers

Early in the investigation, an image analysis using photos collected from the public's visits to the portrait revealed that the heist had occurred between 25 December 2021 and 6 January 2022. The forgery had hung in the lobby unnoticed for eight months.

Eight months. The thief had a major head start.

But now the Ottawa Police also knew that the portrait had been stolen during a strict COVID-19 lockdown when almost no one was in the hotel. The police were able to narrow down the initial suspects to a handful of hotel employees.

As the authorities collected evidence and carried out interviews and polygraphs, new clues came rolling in. They chased leads across Canada and into two continents overseas.

While many were dead ends, one thing did become clear: this was a global hunt that would require a global response.

And that's where the OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force came in.

The Ottawa Police tapped into the Task Force's vast network of law enforcement, border officers and cultural heritage experts to find specialists in art trafficking patterns in the EU and the UK. Their expert knowledge helped the police pursue an early lead suggesting the portrait may have been sold in the UK.

When another lead suggested the portrait could be moving through Canada, the police turned again to the Task Force for their expertise in international customs laws and trafficking pattern analysis while also co-ordinating police information sharing to track parcels with Canada Post.

Despite their efforts, the leads dried up, and the case went cold for months.

Until spring 2024.

New clues pointed Ottawa Police to a listing of a limited-edition copy of the 'Roaring Lion', which had gone up for sale at Sotheby's auction house in London in 2022. The winning bid went to a private collector from Genoa, Italy. While the buyer became the proud owner of the print, he had no idea what was about to unfold.

Following due diligence procedures, officers of the Italian Carabinieri Command for Protection of Cultural Property, who are also part of the Task Force's network, carried out background checks on the Sotheby's print. The Ottawa Police then conducted a forensic analysis to uncover any hidden clues. The results were clear: the auctioned print was the original portrait stolen from the Château Laurier.

The Ottawa Police teamed up with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Italian Carabinieri and the OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force to work with the buyer to recover the print and store it safely in the Carabinieri's facilities. They also helped him recoup his money from Sotheby's.

Finally going home

After more than two years, the portrait is now finally on its way home. On 19 September 2024, the Château Laurier's print was officially handed over to the Ottawa Police during a ceremony at the Embassy of Canada in Rome organized with support of the OSCE Task Force and the Carabinieri.

The portrait will return to Canada as an official object of national importance for Canadian Cultural Heritage and once again be displayed in the hotel. But this time the portrait will have new and improved security measures to better ensure its protection, according to the hotel's general manager, Geneviève Dumas.

And the thief?

Shortly before the ceremony, the Ottawa Police officially announced that they had used a variety of information sources and support of their partners to arrest Jeffrey Iain James Wood, a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April 2024. The suspect has been charged with multiple offences, including forgery, theft, and trafficking in stolen property. The court proceedings are still ongoing.

Untangling a complex case

Speaking to journalists, the Ottawa Police Service's Acting Detective Sgt. Akiva Geller described the global hunt for the 'Roaring Lion' as one of the most complex cases he has ever handled. He cited how the investigation involved a range of forensics work, public engagement and support from international organizations.

The complexity of the 'Roaring Lion' case is not unusual in the world of art and cultural heritage crimes. These cases generally require expertise that goes beyond just law enforcement or museum specialists.

And that's why the OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force was created.

The Task Force's unique network of law enforcement, border officials, financial cyber and forensic investigators, state prosecutors and museum experts across 35 countries and organizations are in constant contact to help solve cases, provide training, and stop the trafficking in art and cultural property.

Billion-dollar crime business

Stealing a painting or sculpture may seem like a 'harmless' theft, but it quickly becomes fuel for trafficking in weapons, drugs, and even people worldwide. With up to an estimated 6 billion dollars-worth of art and cultural heritage items illegally changing hands each year, trafficking in art and cultural property is one of the top and fastest growing sources of illicit funds for criminals and terrorists worldwide.

The money it generates not only perpetuates corruption, crime and terrorism, but it also undermines the significance and sanctity of peoples' cultures and histories. And when cultures and histories are threatened, tensions, instability and conflict can grow.

So, each case the OSCE-led Heritage Crime Task Force helps to crack and each training course it delivers is one less chance for crime and instability to spread and one step closer to a safer, more secure world for us all.