Billionaire may have killed wife

CANADA: Police in Canada are investigating whether one of Canada’s richest men killed his wife before committing suicide, according to reports.

Barry Sherman, 75, the founder of pharmaceutical giant Apotex, and his wife, Honey, were discovered hanging side-by-side near the indoor swimming pool at their home in Toronto.

Canada’s Globe and Mail and

Toronto Sun newspapers reported that police were investigating whether Sherman killed his wife and hanged her body before killing himself. ‘‘Forensics need to be done and post-mortems on the bodies, but at this stage it appears there was no forced entry and no evidence of anybody else in the house,’’ a police source told the

Toronto Sun.

The couple’s $5.4 million ($NZ7.7M) six-bedroom home had been put up for sale 18 days ago and an estate agent discovered the couple.

The National Post reported that Barry Sherman, who drove a ‘‘beat-up old car’’ and did not fly business class, did not show up for work on Friday, ‘‘an unusual occurrence for the work-obsessed man’’, according to friends. The Shermans had a fortune estimated at $3.2 billion.

Sherman began his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 1967, when he bought Empire Laboratories, a company established by Louis Winter, his uncle.

In 1974, Sherman founded Apotex, now the world’s seventhlargest drugmaker. He stepped down as chief executive in 2012, but stayed on as chairman.

The Shermans, who have four children, were also known for their philanthropy. He donated millions of dollars to the United Jewish Appeal, and Honey Sherman was a board member of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. -

Sunday Telegraph