An iconic Churchill photo stolen in Canada and found in Italy is ready to return

ROME (AP) — Canadian and Italian dignitaries on Thursday marked the successful recovery of a photo portrait of Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion," stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.

At a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italian carabinieri police handed over the portrait to the Canadian ambassador to Italy, Elissa Goldberg, who praised the cooperation between Italian and Canadian investigators that led to the recovery.

The 1941 portrait of the British leader taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh is now ready for the last step of its journey home to the Fairmont Château Laurier, the hotel in Ottawa where it was stolen and will once again be displayed as a notable historic portrait.

Canadian police said the portrait was stolen from the hotel sometime between Christmas 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a forgery. The swap was only uncovered months later, in August, when a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly and looked different than the others.

Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer in Genoa, Italy, purchased the portrait in May 2022 at an online Sotheby’s auction for 5,292 British pounds. He says he got a phone call from the auction house that October advising him not to sell or otherwise transfer the portrait due to an investigation into the Ottawa theft.

Cassinelli, who attended Thursday’s ceremony, said he thought he was buying a regular print and quickly agreed to send the iconic Churchill photograph home when he learned its true story.

“I immediately decided to return it to the Chateau Laurier, because I think that if Karsh donated it to the hotel, it means he really wanted it to stay there, for the particular significance this hotel had for him, and for his wife too,” Cassinelli told The Associated Press.

The famous image was taken by Karsh during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. It helped launch Karsh’s career, who photographed some of the 20th century’s most famed icons, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth.

Karsh and his wife Estrellita gifted an original signed print to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in 1998. The couple had lived and operated a studio inside the hotel for nearly two decades.

Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Château Laurier, said on Thursday she felt immensely grateful.

“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to everybody involved in solving this case, and ensuring the safe return of this priceless piece of history.”

Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April and have charged him with stealing and trafficking the portrait. The man, whose name is protected by a publication ban, faces charges that include forgery, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000.

Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister, Isabelle Mondou, left, and Andrea Clark-Grignon, Head of Public Affairs, unveil a photographic portrait known as 'The Roaring Lion', taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1941 of Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, stolen in Canada in 2022, and returned during a ceremony at the Canada's embassy in Rome, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

From left, Nicola Cassinelli, an Italian lawyer and occasional art collector, Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister, Isabelle Mondou and Ambassador of Canada to Italy, Elissa Golberg, pose next to of a photographic portrait known as 'The Roaring Lion', taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1941 of Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, stolen in Canada in 2022 and returned during a ceremony at the Canada's embassy in Rome, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Canadian Cultural Heritage Deputy Minister, Isabelle Mondou, left, and Andrea Clark-Grignon, Head of Public Affairs, unveil a photographic portrait known as 'The Roaring Lion', taken by photographer Yousuf Karsh in 1941 of Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, stolen in Canada in 2022, and returned during a ceremony at the Canada's embassy in Rome, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)