The man who discovered Churchill's picture was stolen was treated like a suspect; now he's being honoured

When the 'Roaring Lion' portrait of Winston Churchill is returned to the Fairmont Château Laurier, a 68-year-old man once considered the prime suspect in the heist will have the honour of replacing it.

When the "Roaring Lion" portrait of Winston Churchill is returned to the Fairmont Château Laurier, a 68-year-old man once considered the prime suspect in the heist will have the honour of mounting the iconic photograph in its oak-panelled home.

The brazen theft took Ottawa Police more than two years to solve. It may have gone unnoticed if not for Bruno Lair, a maintenance worker, who had been employed by the Chateau Laurier since 1988. Instead of lauding his eagle eyes, police initially treated him with suspicion.

“Because I found it, and they thought it was an inside job," he said. " (As if) I hung the picture so I could undo it.”

Lair said he was interviewed by police numerous times after he sounded the alarm.

“It was stressful, but I knew the truth,” he said.

In August 2022 he walked past Churchill’s photograph in the hotel’s dark oak reading room and noticed it was hanging a bit crookedly. 

He took it off the wall and set it aside to rehang later. When he went to mount it, Lair says he noticed there were no lock mechanisms and the frame appeared smaller than he remembered.