Man behind Churchill portrait heist going to jail

CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 3:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

The antheral down an planetary creation heist that began successful Ottawa is going to jail.

Some clip betwixt Christmas 2021 and aboriginal January 2022, Jeffrey Wood stole the world-famous representation of a scowling, wartime Winston Churchill, titled The Roaring Lion, from Ottawa's Château Laurier hotel, replacing it with a fake. 

In March, Wood pleaded blameworthy to forgery, theft implicit $5,000 and trafficking spot obtained by crime. Three further charges were withdrawn. 

At the Ottawa Courthouse connected Monday, Wood was sentenced to 2 years little a time successful custody. He was past placed successful handcuffs and taken into custody. 

Before stealing the portrait, Wood had reached retired to Sotheby's auction location astir selling a people of The Roaring Lion from the Karsh estate. He besides posted connected societal media astir his plans to permission Canada, and days earlier the theft he placed a two-minute telephone telephone to the hotel.

The framed representation had been affixed to a partition with peculiar bolts that required circumstantial cognition and unsocial tools to unfasten.

The transgression went unnoticed until the pursuing August when a edifice unit subordinate saw thing amiss with the replacement portrait. 

The theft made planetary headlines and launched an Ottawa constabulary probe spanning respective countries and 2 continents.

Investigators yet determined that a antheral successful Genoa, Italy, had purchased the representation done a London auction house.

The purchaser had nary thought helium had acquired a cherished portion of Canadian past — fto unsocial a stolen 1 — and erstwhile contacted by police, he rapidly agreed to instrumentality it.

In his decision, the justice noted the representation had been damaged arsenic a effect of the theft.

Hotel blessed to person representation back

Genevieve Dumas, the Château Laurier's wide manager who attended respective of Wood's tribunal appearances, said the representation "means a batch much than conscionable a people that's disposable anyplace else." 

"We're blessed to spot that Canadian past is recognized," she said. "So I'm precise happy." 

Shortly aft Wood was taken into custody, his lawyer told reporters the determination was "unnecessarily harsh" and would beryllium appealed. 

Wood's defence had argued the condemnation should beryllium served successful the assemblage due to the fact that the theft amounted to a spot crime. They besides argued Wood is simply a first-time offender who pleaded guilty.  

His lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said Wood had been prepared for immoderate determination coming his way. 

"He wasn't amazed by what had occurred," Greenspon said Monday.