The violent deaths of an ultra-wealthy Canadian couple is a case very much shrouded in mystery nearly a week after they were found dead in there multimillion-dollar mansion just outside of Toronto.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Toronto police said they are not actively seeking suspects in the deaths of billionaires Bernard “Barry” Sherman and his wife Honey Sherman, though the homicide department is leading the investigation. Police did not find any signs of forced entry or a suicide note in the home after the couple was found dead on Friday, hanging by belts from the railing of the mansion’s indoor pool.
A real estate agent handling the sale of their home reportedly found the Shermans when the agent went to the home to check on the couple as they were unreachable by phone. The Shermans were in the process of building a new home a neighborhood closer to downtown Toronto.
Barry Sherman was reportedly worth over $3 billion, having made his fortune as the founder of the drug manufacturer Avotex. He reportedly launched and branded the company after buying his uncle’s pharmaceutical company after his death several decades ago.
And Sherman was reportedly involved in an ongoing legal dispute with his uncle’s heirs, who claimed to be entitled to a portion of the Avotex fortune due to the terms of the the company sale in the 1960s.
According to the CBC, a judge tossed the lawsuit against Sherman in September, but the family filed an appeal a month later.
Murray Rubin, a close friend of the Shermans, appeared on the CBC talk show As It Happens this week, and discussed the lawsuit and a possible motive for his friends’ death.
Barry told me … he gave them millions, and they blew the money,” Rubin reportedly said, while adding that he did not believe the family members suing Sherman would “go to this length” over the lawsuit.
Friends and family have hit back at Canadian media reports citing police sources that have floated a theory that Barry Sherman killed his wife before taking his own life.
Rubin, too, said that he does not believe there is any way their deaths were the result of a murder-suicide.
“Barry would not harm a fly. He wasn’t physical. And Honey loved what she was doing,” Rubin said on the show.
“I am absolutely confident he was murdered.”
Rubin also explained why investigators may not have found signs of forced entry — explaining that the Shermans did not have tight security at their mansion, and that if someone rang a bell, a door would open.
“I have no idea who could do this. But obviously, somebody just hated him,” Rubin said.
“Not only him — Honey, too.”
[Feature image: Associated Press]
