Billionaire couple ‘murdered’
Canadians were targeted in mysterious killings, police conclude.
One of Canada’s richest men and his wife were killed in a targeted double homicide, Toronto police say, in their first official briefing into the couple’s mysterious deaths more than six weeks ago.
Police came to the conclusion after thousands of hours of investigation and painstakingly collecting and analysing hundreds of pieces of evidence from the couple’s mansion in northern Toronto and their condo in Florida, lead investigator Susan Gomes said yesterday.
The fully clothed bodies of pharmaceutical billionaire Barry Sherman, 75, and his wife, Honey, 70, were found hanging by belts from a pool-side railing in a semi-seated position shortly before noon on December 15, Gomes said.
Police said they did not find any signs of forced entry into the home.
At the start of the investigation, Gomes said police considered three possibilities: that the couple’s deaths were a double suicide, a murdersuicide or a double homicide.
However, evidence has led investigators to believe that the couple was murdered, she said.
Police say they have now turned the couple’s home back to the family, which has hired private investigators to conduct a separate, independent investigation.
The couple died of “ligature neck compression”, or strangulation, according to official autopsy results released by police last month.
Sherman had an estimated net worth of C$4.77 billion ($5.28b), making him Canada’s 15th richest person.