Canadian officials announced on Friday that the billionaires Barry and Honey Sherman were murdered in their home. Officials called their deaths a murder-suicide. The Shermans recently listed their home for sale for nearly C$7 million ($5.4 million). A real estate agent discovered the bodies in the basement while preparing for an open house, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported, citing a relative.
The couple’s children, however, refuted that version of the events.
“Our parents shared an enthusiasm for life and commitment to their family and community totally inconsistent with the rumors regrettably circulated in the media as to the circumstances surrounding their deaths,” a statement read.
“We are shocked and think it’s irresponsible that police sources have reportedly advised the media of a theory which neither their family, their friends nor their colleagues believe to be true.”
They called for a “thorough, intensive and objective criminal investigation,” urging the media to refrain from reporting until the investigation is complete.
Investigators were still at the scene in the evening hours, a sprawling home in a tony neighborhood of Canada’s largest city, with post-mortem examinations under way to help determine how the couple died.
Police labeled the deaths “suspicious” after the bodies were discovered, but clarified that no suspects were being sought.
The Toronto Sun and The Globe and Mail both reported that the deaths of the couple — who counted among Canada’s richest people and were known as charity fundraisers — were being probed as a possible murder-suicide.
The Globe and Mail cited a police source as saying the Shermans’ bodies were found hanging from a railing around a basement pool, the theory being that the 75-year-old chairman of the board of Apotex killed his wife Honey — five years his junior — hung her body and then hanged himself by the pool’s edge.
There were no apparent signs of premeditation or that either of the pair was suffering from depression. The couple had planned to spend the year-end holidays friends in Florida.
Apotex, which Sherman founded in 1974, confirmed the deaths. Local media said he was not seen at the company’s offices Thursday.
The company, which made its name producing generic drugs, grew to employ more than 11,000 people worldwide.
According to Forbes, Sherman had an estimated worth of $3.2 billion (Can$4.1 billion) at the time of his death, and was the 12th-richest person in Canada.
Canadian media said the Shermans had recently put their home up for sale with a price of around Can$7 million. (Source)
The four Sherman children released a statement calling the police sources “irresponsible” and saying that their parents “shared an enthusiasm for life and commitment to their family and community totally inconsistent with the rumors regrettably circulated in the media as to the circumstances surrounding their deaths.” Then, in late December, the Sherman family brought on Klatt Investigators — led by a retired homicide detective — for their own parallel investigation “to provide a second lens and to ensure that no stone is left unturned.”
The CBC published an extensive report based on what “a source with direct knowledge” of the private investigation told them. The biggest bombshell is that they allegedly believe that the couple was “murdered by multiple killers” two days before their bodies were found.
The source also claimed that their wrists appeared to have been bound together at one point and that “Honey struggled with her killer or killers. She had cuts on her lip and nose, and was sitting in a pool of her own blood when she was discovered.” But, because there wasn’t as much blood on her upper body, that suggested “she had been facedown on the tile, bleeding, for some time before being bound to the handrail in an upright position.” No further news has come out from the Toronto police department. (source)
The police now believe that the billionaire couple was murdered by multiple people and have focused their investigation as a double murder.
Haaretz reported it was a professional contract killing,
The New York Post reported:
The billionaire husband and wife found hanging side-by-side in their posh Toronto home last month were both murdered, according to a bombshell report citing a team of private investigators on Saturday.
Multiple killers played a role in the deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman — contrary to the widely-circulated murder-suicide theory initially leaked by law enforcement, sources told CBC News, citing a parallel probe by a team of investigators hired by the couple’s family.
A real estate agent who was selling the $5.4 million home had discovered pharmaceutical mogul Barry, 75, and Honey, 70, dead on Dec. 15.
The Toronto Star’s Chief Investigative Reporter Kevin Donovan told CTV News Channel that the private team of investigators conducted a second autopsy and found that Barry and Honey Shermans’ wrists were bound at some point.
Barry Sherman founded Apotex pharmaceutical company. Apotex supplied generic drugs to Clinton foundation in Haiti and Rwanda. Apotex also donated medicines and supplies to Clinton Foundation Puerto Rican relief efforts in 2017. The Clinton Foundation was scandalized when it was discovered that AIDS drugs sent to the third world were watered-down.
