Ontario man sentenced in theft of iconic Winston Churchill portrait
Posted May 27, 2025 5:40 am.
An Ontario man who pleaded guilty to stealing an iconic portrait of former British prime minister Winston Churchill from Ottawa’s Chateau Laurier hotel was sentenced to two years less a day in jail.
Jeffrey Wood admitted earlier this year that he stole the portrait and committed forgery.
Renowned photographer Yousuf Karsh snapped the celebrated portrait in 1941 in the Speaker’s office just after Churchill delivered a rousing wartime address to Canadian lawmakers.
The theft happened in late 2021 or early 2022 and was only discovered months later, launching a lengthy international investigation.
In August 2022, a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly, leading to the discovery of the fake. The hotel then asked members of the public to share photos they’d taken at the hotel; those photos narrowed down the window for the theft to a short period between Christmas and early January 2022.
The real portrait was eventually tracked to Genoa, Italy. It had been sold through an auction house in London to a private buyer. Neither the seller nor the buyer was aware that it had been stolen, police said.
Wood was arrested in April 2024.
