WEBVTT
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The Roaring Lion. Hundreds visited the
photograph every day as it hung on the
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wall, as it had for decades. It scowled back at them. Considered
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a masterpiece that captured one of the
most iconic moments of the decade, maybe
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even the century. It was more
than a simple portrait. It was a
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symbol, a reminder of a steadfast
stand against tyranny. But one day someone
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took a closer look at it in
detail. Something about it seemed a bit
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off. Maybe the frame was a
bit off center. More than that,
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the frame was entirely different, different
from all the other photographs. What could
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this mean? They had to tell
someone, and when they did, panic
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set in the frame was the least
of their worries. The priceless portrait was
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a fake. Hello and welcome to
Maple Moose Mysteries, the podcast where we
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take a look at unsolved Canadian mystery
and crimes, providing you with the context,
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history and theories to draw your own
conclusions. Today we bring you the
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theft of a photographic portrait of the
former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
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Winston Churchill. You probably heard of
him. The theft was an original print
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of The Roaring Lion, a photo
captured after an empowering speech that Churchill gave
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to the citizens of Canada. Housed
for decades in a hotel in Ottawa known
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as the Fairmont Chateau Laurier. The
theft surprisingly went unnoticed for months. This
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was thanks to an elaborate execution that
has yet to be fully understood and has
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left authorities baffled. How does one
of the most coveted photos of all time
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go missing? Let's dive in the
photo to truly appreciate the prestige that this
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photo brings. We take you back
to the era of the Second World War,
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to December thirtieth, nineteen forty one, to be exact. This photo
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was taken only a few weeks after
the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United
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States long awaited entry into the war. Whinston Churchill eaven an infamous speech in
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the Canadian House of Commons. His
words echoed throughout the room to the sound
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of thunderous applaud as he thanked Canadians
for their contributions to the war. He
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assured those in attendance that the British
would continue to stand toe to toe against
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Hitler if the Nazis were going to
ask for total war, they would get
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it. Canada played a unique role
in Churchill's eyes due to the country's relationship
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with the United States. His message
served as a reminder and an encouragement.
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His speech highlighted a need for unrelenting
zeal and that the war's efforts would surge
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in preparation, liberation, and destruction
of their enemies. It also contained one
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of his more famous quotes. When
France was overtaken, their generals expressed that
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Britain's army would be floundering. They
stated that in three weeks England will have
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its neck wrung like a chicken.
Churchill's response, considering how they were faring
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in the war, some chicken some
After the chicken speech, the last thing
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he probably wanted to do was stick
around and post for a photo, but
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Parliamentary photographer use Of Karsh persisted.
Karsh was born in modern day Turkey,
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and at a young age, he
and his family left their homeland behind during
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the Armenian Massacre in nineteen twenty two. Karsh was sent to live with his
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uncle in Quebec, who was a
photographer. Karsh then discovered his gift for
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the lens. Despite coming to Canada, speaking no English, his talent was
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cultivated by his uncle and other mentors. Over the years, his striking portraits
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would go on to garner him national
acclaim across Canada. He eventually opened up
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his own studio in nineteen thirty two, where he established a reputation as an
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elite photographer whose goal was to capture
what he called the essence of extraordinary people.
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His drive led him to dive deeply
into the background of the subjects he
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hoped to snap a photo of and
connect with them on a personal level.
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His portraits were characterized by grit,
experimentation, and vulnerability, but it was
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his encounter with Churchill that took his
career to new heights. In his own
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words, it changed his life.
He recounts catching Churchill by surprise after the
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speech as follows. I waited in
the speaker chambers, where the evening before
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I had set up lights and a
camera. Sir, I hope I will
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be fortunate enough to make a portrait
worthy of this historic occasion. Churchill glanced
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at me and demanded, why was
I not told? He lit a fresh
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cigar, puffed at it with a
mischievous air, and then magnanimously relented,
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you may take one. His cigar
was ever present. I waited. He
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continued to chomp vigorously at a cigar. I waited. Then I stepped toward
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him, and without premeditation, but
ever so respectively, I said, forgive
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me, sir, and pluck the
cigar out of his mouth. By the
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time I got back to my camera, he looked so belligerent he could have
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devoured me. It was that instant
that I took the photograph. What resulted
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for Karsh was a photo of Churchill
with a rather intense look on his face,
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and it became a hit. The
photograph not only changed Carsha's light,
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but the pieved Churchill photo became a
symbol of the war effort, of the
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spirit of Britain, and it became
one of the most reproduced images in the
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world. It's even on some of
the UK's money. The story behind it,
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it seems, is just as popular. After being rocketed to stardom,
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Karsh spent time capturing the essence of
legends that included Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway,
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Albert Einstein, and Queen Elizabeth.
His Churchill photo was the lynchpin.
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Later in his career, he would
move his portrait studio to an underused seven
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room suite in the luxurious hotel known
as the Chateau Laurier in downtown Ottawa,
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described by many as the heart of
Ottawa since nineteen twelve. The hotel and
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Karsh were a perfect match. He
brought the hotel all kinds of fame and
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got a pretty nifty home base that
was centralized and as much of a city
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icon as Karsh himself. He and
his wife would spend night nineteen years here
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and were appreciative of how the hotel
treated them during this time. After they
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finally moved, they donated fifteen of
Karsh's original prints to the hotel, which
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were framed and put on display.
Included was a Churchill portrait, which was
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not just one of the thousands of
reproductions, but one made from the original
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negative and signed by Karsh himself.
Other original prints of the Churchill portrait exist,
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but are pretty rare. Today.
Many items related to Churchill fetch a
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high price in the market, with
everything from a half smoke cigar to his
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false teeth being put up for sale. Another one of the original Churchill prints
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sold in twenty twenty for sixty two
five hundred dollars, and some of the
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even estimated that these prints could go
for as high six figures. Karsh approved
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all produced prints from the original negative. The original negative is stored in the
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Library and Archives of Canada, and
since his studio's closure in nineteen ninety two,
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no more prints were allowed to be
made. The marsh unfortunately passed away
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in two thousand and two, leaving
behind his estate to handle the use of
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existing portraits, which were publicly donated. Chateau Laurier was fortunate to have one
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of their own. It hung in
the reading lounge for twenty five years,
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a living history, until someone managed
to steal it under everyone's noses. The
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theft. How this actually happened,
no one really knows, at least publicly.
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There was no bombastic heist that took
place. Whenever the theft occurred,
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it was under the cover of a
COVID lockdown, and hotel staff were none
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the wiser. The fake portrait was
only discovered on August sixteenth, twenty twenty
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two, when one of the maintenance
staff at the hotel took an interest in
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the portrait's frame. It looked different
from others in the Karsh collection, the
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frame was too dark and the overall
size of it was too small. It
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started as a simple comment to other
staff, raising concerns with them. Upon
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closer inspection, the hotel decided that
their worries warranted contacting members of the Karshon
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state for confirmation on the piece's authenticity. They connected with Jerry Fielder, who
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worked alongside Karsh as his curator throughout
his life. Fielder could tell a false
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Carsh signature without even seeing it in
person, having seen it written thousands of
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times before. He asked for a
photo of the signature that was on the
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portrait and was stunned. He was
able to confirm in a moment that the
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signature, in by extension, the
entire portrait was fake. Police were called
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in before the public were made aware
to begin their investigation. As reports of
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the theft flooded the media, everyone
was asking the same question, how did
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this happen? And how long was
the fake photo sitting on that wall.
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The answer to the latter question was
found after some detective work and help from
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the public. The hotel, now
that they knew what they were looking for,
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could easily tell the false frame from
the real one, even in photos.
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It being so popular, they appealed
to the public. Tourists and guests
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who had visited the hotel over the
years and had taken their photo with the
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Churchill port They were asked to send
in the photo for a comparison. With
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this, they were able to narrow
down the timeframe that the theft may have
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taken place. The last known confirmed
photo with the original frame was identified to
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have been taken on Christmas Day twenty
twenty one. Afterwards, a photo taken
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on January sixth, twenty twenty two
contained the new frame and false photo.
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The Churchill portrait had been stolen and
replaced sometime over the holiday season, within
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a twelve day period and with hotel
traffic at an all time love due to
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COVID, but restrictions and mask mandates
created a unique challenge and may have made
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the perfect opportunity for a plan of
this nature to unfold. Once the switch
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had occurred, whenever that had been
the copy then served its purpose for over
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eight months. Where the original was
now was anyone's guests. Police called on
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the public for any leads or witnesses, and they began combing the art market
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for any Churchill pictures experts were brought
in to give their sets of this high
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profile case. The staff were interviewed, records of who handled the photo were
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reviewed. Security surveillance was collected,
though it seems that direct surveillance may not
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have been in place for the portrait. The theft was quickly labeled as a
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targeted attack by the media and not
just some random burglary. The fake portrait
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was taken down permanently and analyzed,
all parts being examined for fingerprints and the
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hope that perhaps the frame or photo
could be identified or tracked down. The
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car's exhibits across the hotel were also
taken down temporarily as media outlets and art
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connoisseurs reacted worldwide to the theft.
The strange circumstances of its discovery made police
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have the work backward, and there
was simply too much of a head start
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for the thief. No arrests or
public announcements have been made since the theft,
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as the search for the culprit remains
active, though many details and leads
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remain under wraps as a result of
it being an ongoing investigation. There are
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some details and plenty of a pain
as we can go over the hunt,
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reactions from the public were shocking and
brutal. Some were met at the hotel
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and questioned the security measures that they
had in place. How valuable could the
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portrait even be, and if it
were so coveted, why was there not
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more security in place to protect it. Where were the videotapes of the portrait?
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Couldn't they just look through everything and
find out who had taken it?
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It wasn't that easy. Other critics
piled on and asked how the piece had
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been missing for so long before anyone
realized it was a fake. It sounded
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like the staff were just begging for
it to be stolen. Experts appear more
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lenient, acknowledging that the fake was
just good enough to get by. The
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staff were not art experts by any
means, and they were not able to
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notice the subtle differences if they didn't
know to look for them. The Chateau
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Laurier was no art gallery or museum
and were not prepared for a heist with
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this level of sophistication. As a
hotel, they were more concerned with their
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day to day activities. Perhaps the
staff thought that no one would be brazen
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enough or even knew how to take
one of the portraits. Even the manager
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of the hotel noted that she walked
by the photo every day and that the
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fake was similar enough that she never
noticed it. There was also the fact
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that the frames had been securely stationed
on the walls of the hotel since nineteen
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ninety eight without instant Essentially, the
portrait was bolted to security locks in the
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wall with four unique metal anchors,
locked in with a special tool that required
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the knowledge to cleanly remove it.
A potential thief would need to have the
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tool remove the anchors from the wall, bring down the portrait, conceal the
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original portrait and frame, and then
reinstalled the fake portrait and frame into the
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same wall, at least well enough
for it not to be noticed for eight
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months. How long would that take
the plan and then pull off all without
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being noticed or raising some kind of
alarm bells as they transported the stolen portrait
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out the door. They left no
trace of their work, and it was
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only a sharp eyed maintenance worker that
eventually found them out. All of these
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variables seemed to scream inside job,
or at least someone with inside information to
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pull off such a heist at a
popular tourist site, even at the height
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of COVID. It was likely that
the thief or thieves had access to inside
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information about the hotels procedures and systems. They may have felt emboldened by the
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opportunity presented by a hotel with lower
attendance. Either the thief was a professional
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of some kind or they got very
lucky. They also took the time to
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make sure the fake copy of the
portrait was not too different with the whole
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fake signature to tie the piece together. Chemical analysis of the fake did not
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find any forensic evidence as far as
we know that have led to any arrest.
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Art theft experts consulted by the media
suspect an inside job as well,
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someone who may have gone unnoticed being
present in the hotel and could have been
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going about their business without much fear
of being caught. Most art thefts are
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committed by either employees or art collectors
who know what they're after. This was
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nothing, if not elaborate, something
that the Chateau Laurier is still recovering from,
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but you can only make that mistake
once and after this occurred, the
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Churchill portrait spot remained with a letter
inside the frame before being removed. Entirely
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aside from its Winston Churchill nameplate.
Additional security measures have since been put in
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place, including video surveillance, as
the other cash pieces returned to the hotel
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walls. Media and citizens continue to
visit the hotel to this day trying to
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piece together what happened. Experts believe
that for now the thief will lay low.
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If the portrait has not been destroyed
or already sold, there's a high
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likelihood that it will eventually be sold
on the market considering its value. Even
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though there are several other original prints
in the wild, any Churchill portrait of
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the Roaring Line being sold would be
sure to raise red flags. No legitimate
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dealer would touch it. There is
the possibility that the portrait has been sold
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to a legit collector before it was
recognized as being stolen, or that it
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was exchanged through illegitimate means for money, drugs, or whe At the very
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least, the art world has now
been notified to check their recent purchases for
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Churchill pictures, and if anyone brags
about having a Churchill portrait in their possession
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to the wrong person, it could
be found sooner. A scared thief may
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be thinking twice about keeping the portrait
on hand, but a patient one looking
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to get their money's worth will have
to take their time to avoid raising any
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eyebrows and trying to sell it too
soon. We could be waiting years even,
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but there's hope that it's only a
matter of time before it pops up
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again. Estra Ledakharsh, the widow
of Yusuf, gave her thoughts on the
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shocking theft. Speaking about the Chateau
Laurier, she said, I loved it
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because the hotel is like a little
city sealing. The photograph is a sad
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00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:48.919
and stupid thing. I hope they
apprehend this person. So what do you
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00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.799
think of the theft of the Roaring
Lion? Is it only a matter of
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00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:56.879
time before the portrait is found or
will it be lost forever? Let me
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00:15:56.919 --> 00:16:00.559
know what you think by following me
on Instagram at maple Moose Mystery and sending
213
00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.320
me a message. If you want
more mysteries crimes Unsolved Canadian stories, be
214
00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.960
sure to follow this podcast maple Moose
Mysteries and give me a rating. It
215
00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:11.440
really helps me out and I appreciate
it. If you do, Hey,
216
00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.960
maybe we can grab a poutine sometime
and talk about other Canadian stereotypes. I
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00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.720
love maple, I love mooses.
I'd love to see you next time when
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00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.679
I have a new mystery to share
with you all.
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The Roaring Lion. Hundreds visited the
photograph every day as it hung on the
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wall, as it had for decades. It scowled back at them. Considered
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a masterpiece that captured one of the
most iconic moments of the decade, maybe
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even the century. It was more
than a simple portrait. It was a
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symbol, a reminder of a steadfast
stand against tyranny. But one day someone
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took a closer look at it in
detail. Something about it seemed a bit
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off. Maybe the frame was a
bit off center. More than that,
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the frame was entirely different, different
from all the other photographs. What could
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this mean? They had to tell
someone, and when they did, panic
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00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:54.000
set in the frame was the least
of their worries. The priceless portrait was
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a fake. Hello and welcome to
Maple Moose Mysteries, the podcast where we
12
00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:02.399
take a look at unsolved Canadian mystery
and crimes, providing you with the context,
13
00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:07.120
history and theories to draw your own
conclusions. Today we bring you the
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00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:11.200
theft of a photographic portrait of the
former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
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Winston Churchill. You probably heard of
him. The theft was an original print
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00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:21.599
of The Roaring Lion, a photo
captured after an empowering speech that Churchill gave
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to the citizens of Canada. Housed
for decades in a hotel in Ottawa known
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as the Fairmont Chateau Laurier. The
theft surprisingly went unnoticed for months. This
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was thanks to an elaborate execution that
has yet to be fully understood and has
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left authorities baffled. How does one
of the most coveted photos of all time
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go missing? Let's dive in the
photo to truly appreciate the prestige that this
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photo brings. We take you back
to the era of the Second World War,
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to December thirtieth, nineteen forty one, to be exact. This photo
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was taken only a few weeks after
the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United
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States long awaited entry into the war. Whinston Churchill eaven an infamous speech in
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the Canadian House of Commons. His
words echoed throughout the room to the sound
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of thunderous applaud as he thanked Canadians
for their contributions to the war. He
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assured those in attendance that the British
would continue to stand toe to toe against
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Hitler if the Nazis were going to
ask for total war, they would get
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it. Canada played a unique role
in Churchill's eyes due to the country's relationship
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with the United States. His message
served as a reminder and an encouragement.
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His speech highlighted a need for unrelenting
zeal and that the war's efforts would surge
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in preparation, liberation, and destruction
of their enemies. It also contained one
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of his more famous quotes. When
France was overtaken, their generals expressed that
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Britain's army would be floundering. They
stated that in three weeks England will have
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its neck wrung like a chicken.
Churchill's response, considering how they were faring
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in the war, some chicken some
After the chicken speech, the last thing
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he probably wanted to do was stick
around and post for a photo, but
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Parliamentary photographer use Of Karsh persisted.
Karsh was born in modern day Turkey,
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and at a young age, he
and his family left their homeland behind during
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the Armenian Massacre in nineteen twenty two. Karsh was sent to live with his
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uncle in Quebec, who was a
photographer. Karsh then discovered his gift for
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the lens. Despite coming to Canada, speaking no English, his talent was
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cultivated by his uncle and other mentors. Over the years, his striking portraits
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would go on to garner him national
acclaim across Canada. He eventually opened up
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his own studio in nineteen thirty two, where he established a reputation as an
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elite photographer whose goal was to capture
what he called the essence of extraordinary people.
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His drive led him to dive deeply
into the background of the subjects he
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hoped to snap a photo of and
connect with them on a personal level.
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His portraits were characterized by grit,
experimentation, and vulnerability, but it was
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his encounter with Churchill that took his
career to new heights. In his own
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words, it changed his life.
He recounts catching Churchill by surprise after the
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speech as follows. I waited in
the speaker chambers, where the evening before
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I had set up lights and a
camera. Sir, I hope I will
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be fortunate enough to make a portrait
worthy of this historic occasion. Churchill glanced
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at me and demanded, why was
I not told? He lit a fresh
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00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:32.319
cigar, puffed at it with a
mischievous air, and then magnanimously relented,
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you may take one. His cigar
was ever present. I waited. He
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00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.240
continued to chomp vigorously at a cigar. I waited. Then I stepped toward
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him, and without premeditation, but
ever so respectively, I said, forgive
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me, sir, and pluck the
cigar out of his mouth. By the
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time I got back to my camera, he looked so belligerent he could have
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devoured me. It was that instant
that I took the photograph. What resulted
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for Karsh was a photo of Churchill
with a rather intense look on his face,
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and it became a hit. The
photograph not only changed Carsha's light,
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but the pieved Churchill photo became a
symbol of the war effort, of the
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spirit of Britain, and it became
one of the most reproduced images in the
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world. It's even on some of
the UK's money. The story behind it,
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00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:21.480
it seems, is just as popular. After being rocketed to stardom,
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Karsh spent time capturing the essence of
legends that included Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway,
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Albert Einstein, and Queen Elizabeth.
His Churchill photo was the lynchpin.
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Later in his career, he would
move his portrait studio to an underused seven
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room suite in the luxurious hotel known
as the Chateau Laurier in downtown Ottawa,
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described by many as the heart of
Ottawa since nineteen twelve. The hotel and
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Karsh were a perfect match. He
brought the hotel all kinds of fame and
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got a pretty nifty home base that
was centralized and as much of a city
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icon as Karsh himself. He and
his wife would spend night nineteen years here
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and were appreciative of how the hotel
treated them during this time. After they
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finally moved, they donated fifteen of
Karsh's original prints to the hotel, which
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were framed and put on display.
Included was a Churchill portrait, which was
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not just one of the thousands of
reproductions, but one made from the original
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00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:25.439
negative and signed by Karsh himself.
Other original prints of the Churchill portrait exist,
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but are pretty rare. Today.
Many items related to Churchill fetch a
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high price in the market, with
everything from a half smoke cigar to his
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00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:38.199
false teeth being put up for sale. Another one of the original Churchill prints
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sold in twenty twenty for sixty two
five hundred dollars, and some of the
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00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:46.360
even estimated that these prints could go
for as high six figures. Karsh approved
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all produced prints from the original negative. The original negative is stored in the
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Library and Archives of Canada, and
since his studio's closure in nineteen ninety two,
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no more prints were allowed to be
made. The marsh unfortunately passed away
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in two thousand and two, leaving
behind his estate to handle the use of
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00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:09.959
existing portraits, which were publicly donated. Chateau Laurier was fortunate to have one
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of their own. It hung in
the reading lounge for twenty five years,
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a living history, until someone managed
to steal it under everyone's noses. The
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00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:25.959
theft. How this actually happened,
no one really knows, at least publicly.
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There was no bombastic heist that took
place. Whenever the theft occurred,
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00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:34.040
it was under the cover of a
COVID lockdown, and hotel staff were none
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00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:39.680
the wiser. The fake portrait was
only discovered on August sixteenth, twenty twenty
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00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.920
two, when one of the maintenance
staff at the hotel took an interest in
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the portrait's frame. It looked different
from others in the Karsh collection, the
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00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:49.839
frame was too dark and the overall
size of it was too small. It
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started as a simple comment to other
staff, raising concerns with them. Upon
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closer inspection, the hotel decided that
their worries warranted contacting members of the Karshon
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00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:05.879
state for confirmation on the piece's authenticity. They connected with Jerry Fielder, who
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00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.639
worked alongside Karsh as his curator throughout
his life. Fielder could tell a false
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00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.920
Carsh signature without even seeing it in
person, having seen it written thousands of
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00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:18.439
times before. He asked for a
photo of the signature that was on the
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portrait and was stunned. He was
able to confirm in a moment that the
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signature, in by extension, the
entire portrait was fake. Police were called
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in before the public were made aware
to begin their investigation. As reports of
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00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:35.480
the theft flooded the media, everyone
was asking the same question, how did
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this happen? And how long was
the fake photo sitting on that wall.
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The answer to the latter question was
found after some detective work and help from
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the public. The hotel, now
that they knew what they were looking for,
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could easily tell the false frame from
the real one, even in photos.
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It being so popular, they appealed
to the public. Tourists and guests
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who had visited the hotel over the
years and had taken their photo with the
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Churchill port They were asked to send
in the photo for a comparison. With
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00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.519
this, they were able to narrow
down the timeframe that the theft may have
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00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.799
taken place. The last known confirmed
photo with the original frame was identified to
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00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:16.639
have been taken on Christmas Day twenty
twenty one. Afterwards, a photo taken
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00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:22.039
on January sixth, twenty twenty two
contained the new frame and false photo.
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The Churchill portrait had been stolen and
replaced sometime over the holiday season, within
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00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:31.639
a twelve day period and with hotel
traffic at an all time love due to
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00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:35.879
COVID, but restrictions and mask mandates
created a unique challenge and may have made
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00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:41.120
the perfect opportunity for a plan of
this nature to unfold. Once the switch
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had occurred, whenever that had been
the copy then served its purpose for over
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eight months. Where the original was
now was anyone's guests. Police called on
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the public for any leads or witnesses, and they began combing the art market
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00:09:54.279 --> 00:10:00.879
for any Churchill pictures experts were brought
in to give their sets of this high
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00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:05.399
profile case. The staff were interviewed, records of who handled the photo were
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00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:11.000
reviewed. Security surveillance was collected,
though it seems that direct surveillance may not
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00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:15.720
have been in place for the portrait. The theft was quickly labeled as a
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targeted attack by the media and not
just some random burglary. The fake portrait
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00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:24.840
was taken down permanently and analyzed,
all parts being examined for fingerprints and the
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00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:30.480
hope that perhaps the frame or photo
could be identified or tracked down. The
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00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:35.799
car's exhibits across the hotel were also
taken down temporarily as media outlets and art
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00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:41.159
connoisseurs reacted worldwide to the theft.
The strange circumstances of its discovery made police
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00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.759
have the work backward, and there
was simply too much of a head start
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00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:48.080
for the thief. No arrests or
public announcements have been made since the theft,
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00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:52.840
as the search for the culprit remains
active, though many details and leads
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00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:58.200
remain under wraps as a result of
it being an ongoing investigation. There are
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00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:03.120
some details and plenty of a pain
as we can go over the hunt,
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00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.399
reactions from the public were shocking and
brutal. Some were met at the hotel
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and questioned the security measures that they
had in place. How valuable could the
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00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.919
portrait even be, and if it
were so coveted, why was there not
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00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.080
more security in place to protect it. Where were the videotapes of the portrait?
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00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:22.879
Couldn't they just look through everything and
find out who had taken it?
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00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:26.960
It wasn't that easy. Other critics
piled on and asked how the piece had
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00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:31.320
been missing for so long before anyone
realized it was a fake. It sounded
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00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:35.480
like the staff were just begging for
it to be stolen. Experts appear more
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00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.279
lenient, acknowledging that the fake was
just good enough to get by. The
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00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:43.759
staff were not art experts by any
means, and they were not able to
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00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:46.679
notice the subtle differences if they didn't
know to look for them. The Chateau
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00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:52.080
Laurier was no art gallery or museum
and were not prepared for a heist with
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00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:56.240
this level of sophistication. As a
hotel, they were more concerned with their
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00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:00.480
day to day activities. Perhaps the
staff thought that no one would be brazen
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00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:03.879
enough or even knew how to take
one of the portraits. Even the manager
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00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:07.200
of the hotel noted that she walked
by the photo every day and that the
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00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:11.320
fake was similar enough that she never
noticed it. There was also the fact
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00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:16.360
that the frames had been securely stationed
on the walls of the hotel since nineteen
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00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:20.720
ninety eight without instant Essentially, the
portrait was bolted to security locks in the
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00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:26.679
wall with four unique metal anchors,
locked in with a special tool that required
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00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:30.399
the knowledge to cleanly remove it.
A potential thief would need to have the
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00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:33.399
tool remove the anchors from the wall, bring down the portrait, conceal the
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00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:39.399
original portrait and frame, and then
reinstalled the fake portrait and frame into the
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00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:43.039
same wall, at least well enough
for it not to be noticed for eight
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00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:48.039
months. How long would that take
the plan and then pull off all without
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00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:52.600
being noticed or raising some kind of
alarm bells as they transported the stolen portrait
170
00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:54.559
out the door. They left no
trace of their work, and it was
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00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.399
only a sharp eyed maintenance worker that
eventually found them out. All of these
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00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:03.320
variables seemed to scream inside job,
or at least someone with inside information to
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00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.480
pull off such a heist at a
popular tourist site, even at the height
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00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:11.120
of COVID. It was likely that
the thief or thieves had access to inside
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00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:16.279
information about the hotels procedures and systems. They may have felt emboldened by the
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00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:22.120
opportunity presented by a hotel with lower
attendance. Either the thief was a professional
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00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.279
of some kind or they got very
lucky. They also took the time to
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00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:28.960
make sure the fake copy of the
portrait was not too different with the whole
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00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:33.279
fake signature to tie the piece together. Chemical analysis of the fake did not
180
00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:37.519
find any forensic evidence as far as
we know that have led to any arrest.
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00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:43.600
Art theft experts consulted by the media
suspect an inside job as well,
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00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:48.360
someone who may have gone unnoticed being
present in the hotel and could have been
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00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:52.840
going about their business without much fear
of being caught. Most art thefts are
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00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:56.720
committed by either employees or art collectors
who know what they're after. This was
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00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:01.000
nothing, if not elaborate, something
that the Chateau Laurier is still recovering from,
186
00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:05.399
but you can only make that mistake
once and after this occurred, the
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00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:09.559
Churchill portrait spot remained with a letter
inside the frame before being removed. Entirely
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00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:15.519
aside from its Winston Churchill nameplate.
Additional security measures have since been put in
189
00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.120
place, including video surveillance, as
the other cash pieces returned to the hotel
190
00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:24.720
walls. Media and citizens continue to
visit the hotel to this day trying to
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00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:28.480
piece together what happened. Experts believe
that for now the thief will lay low.
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If the portrait has not been destroyed
or already sold, there's a high
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likelihood that it will eventually be sold
on the market considering its value. Even
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though there are several other original prints
in the wild, any Churchill portrait of
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the Roaring Line being sold would be
sure to raise red flags. No legitimate
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00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:52.000
dealer would touch it. There is
the possibility that the portrait has been sold
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00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:56.440
to a legit collector before it was
recognized as being stolen, or that it
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00:14:56.519 --> 00:15:01.399
was exchanged through illegitimate means for money, drugs, or whe At the very
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00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.039
least, the art world has now
been notified to check their recent purchases for
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00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.879
Churchill pictures, and if anyone brags
about having a Churchill portrait in their possession
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to the wrong person, it could
be found sooner. A scared thief may
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be thinking twice about keeping the portrait
on hand, but a patient one looking
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00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.919
to get their money's worth will have
to take their time to avoid raising any
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00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:26.000
eyebrows and trying to sell it too
soon. We could be waiting years even,
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00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:28.240
but there's hope that it's only a
matter of time before it pops up
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00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:33.120
again. Estra Ledakharsh, the widow
of Yusuf, gave her thoughts on the
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00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:39.200
shocking theft. Speaking about the Chateau
Laurier, she said, I loved it
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00:15:39.240 --> 00:15:43.360
because the hotel is like a little
city sealing. The photograph is a sad
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00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:48.919
and stupid thing. I hope they
apprehend this person. So what do you
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00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.799
think of the theft of the Roaring
Lion? Is it only a matter of
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00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:56.879
time before the portrait is found or
will it be lost forever? Let me
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00:15:56.919 --> 00:16:00.559
know what you think by following me
on Instagram at maple Moose Mystery and sending
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00:16:00.600 --> 00:16:04.320
me a message. If you want
more mysteries crimes Unsolved Canadian stories, be
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00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.960
sure to follow this podcast maple Moose
Mysteries and give me a rating. It
215
00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:11.440
really helps me out and I appreciate
it. If you do, Hey,
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00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.960
maybe we can grab a poutine sometime
and talk about other Canadian stereotypes. I
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00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.720
love maple, I love mooses.
I'd love to see you next time when
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00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.679
I have a new mystery to share
with you all.
