Sealing of murdered billionaires’ files being contested
“Nobody knows anything about this case, that we know of. Nobody knows the motive, nobody knows the assassins’ names.” This exasperated assessment of the investigation into the deaths of Toronto billionaires Honey and Barry Sherman probably matches what almost everyone thinks of the inordinately high-profile murder mystery.
This, though, was exclaimed from the Supreme Court of Canada bench by Justice Russell Brown at a hearing Tuesday into attempts by the billionaire’s heirs and trustees to seal tight a court file on the handling of the couple’s inheritance.
Another justice, Michael Moldaver, speculated the murders must have been “committed by a very sophisticated organization, at least it has those hallmarks,” and characterized is as “a very, very sophisticated crime.”
While the judges’ musings on the spectacular crimes came in a quest to understand the intricacies of legal arguments, they also reflect the conjecture, concern and uncertainty over the unsolved murders.
In that, they reveal why a routine matter of an estate file was being argued before Canada’s highest court with lawyers representing one of Canada’s wealthiest families, two provinces, a consortium of media and four public interest groups.
The Shermans, giants in business, philanthropy and high society, were found dead in their Toronto mansion on Dec. 15, 2017. Their bodies were seated, side-by-side, with belts tethering their necks to a low railing at the edge of their indoor pool.
After first suggesting it may have been a murder-suicide, Toronto police later announced it was a targeted double homicide with the cause of death in both being “ligature neck compression.”
Barry Sherman, 75, was the founder of pharmaceutical giant Apotex, the largest Canadian-owned drug company. Honey Sherman, 70, was involved with community groups and philanthropic ventures.
Despite huge public interest, a police investigation, a probe by private investigators hired by the family, and a $10-million reward offer, the case remains uns#olved.
In a search for answers, media sought the Shermans’ wills and inheritance proceedings — but the files had already been sealed by a highly unusual judge’s order.
An appeal of that sealing order to the Court of Appeal for Ontario by Kevin Donovan, an investigative reporter with the Toronto Star, successfully overturned the order but the Shermans’ estates, in turn, appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking to restore it. The case was heard Tuesday. Lawyers for the estates argued the appeal court’s decision “disregards the increasing emphasis on privacy in Canadian law, and fails to recognize the constitutional protection afforded to privacy and the pressing public interest in safeguarding it in the digital age.”
Toronto police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray told Postmedia their investigation of the Shermans’ murders “is active and ongoing.”
The court reserved its decision.