now after an international investigation roaring lion has been located cdv's Judy Trin has the details on how the hotel's prize possession was lost and found Judy Sandy now that a man from Northern Ontario has been charged the staff at the shat laer are celebrating the imminent return of this iconic portrait and so is the man once considered the prime suspect so where was it taken from in here in the reading room y stolen nearly 3 years years ago this iconic portrait of Sir Winston Churchill by the renowned photographer Yousef K will soon be returned to the Chateau laer this is the best day of our life we've been dreaming about this it was hanging on this side crooked on a wire and those pictures are not hung on a wire Bruno Lair a maintenance worker discovered that the original photograph of the British prime minister dubbed the roaring lion had been replaced by a fake the theft happened around January 2022 during covid lockdowns and wasn't reported stolen until months later Ottawa Police initially considered Lair the prime suspect well because I found it and they thought it was an inside job so basically because I worked in maintenance I knew how the picture was hung cuz basically I hung the picture so I could undo it I never believed that he could be a suspect after a 2-year investigation that stretched from England to Italy and back to Norther norn Ontario Al police arrested a 43-year-old man in April we work very closely um at different steps with the London Metropolitan Police um and with the carban are the London metropolitan police were um effectively are are right hand in getting a lot of the information that was required about um that we required to uh to identify the subjects the real suspect a man from paasen Ontario has been charged with theft forgery and art trafficking his identity is under a publication ban police say the thief gave the Churchill portrait to a London auction house it was sold to an Italian buyer the auction house and the buyer didn't know it was stolen after Renovations are complete it will hang once again on these walls where Lair will watch over it again no longer a suspect but an unsung hero when it does come back I'm rehanging it oh my God you get dibs yeah I got dibs on it next next week Ottawa Police and the general manager of the Chateau Laurer will travel to Rome for an official announcement of this successful investigation but it will be a few more months before the portrait is actually shipped back to Ottawa Sandy what a story okay Judy thank you