Producers from the Oprah Winfrey Network will be providing a top notch locksmith to help crack open a safe that may have belonged to a Lake Tahoe, California, casino owner who was killed by a car bomb in 1968.

The television network, producers and the locksmith are flying in Tuesday to see if they can open the safe which was found during the demolition of a building that once housed two casinos in the region — Barney’s Casino and Bill’s Lake Tahoe Casino.

Mike Laub, an attorney, owns both properties and plans to turn the site into a mall including a pharmacy, a jewellery store, a Pilates studio, a clothing store, another casino and a restaurant and bar.

But all work on the $10 million project has stopped since the four-foot-tall, locked black safe was found late Thursday afternoon.

The safe was hidden underneath a staircase and was completely sealed off, giving the discovery an air of mystery and intrigue.

No one knew about its history. Laub first contacted Harrah’s Casino, which ran Bill’s Lake Tahoe Casino. Officials there knew nothing of the safe, however.

So Laub could only draw one conclusion. He thinks the safe might have belonged to the previous owner of Barney’s Casino Richard Chartrand.

“Given the trouble someone took to hide the safe and given the proximity to easy access to the elevator, it does raise suspicions,” Laub said in a phone interview with the Star.

Chartrand was killed on August 27, 1968 when a bomb exploded under his car as he backed out of his driveway

Harrah’s Casino bought the property and operated it until 2010.

Chartrand’s murder remains unsolved. The sheriff’s office still has all the evidence from the crime scene, Laub said, including the car. “The crime has never been solved,” said Laub.

Representatives from the Tahoe Sherriff’s office will be present on Tuesday when the locksmith attempts to open the safe.

Google Plus wants to live stream the event, Laub said. And the Oprah Network producers will be filming it for a show called Found, he added. “Given the history of the building and the owner it does raise suspicion.” As to the contents “it could be nothing,” he said. “It could be air.”

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Laub said he’s just happy someone can open the safe. He has had a couple of people try and no one has succeeded.

“I just want to get this over with so I can continue with my construction project.”