The Gruesome Murder With No Leads

The Shermans were found dead in the basement of their north Toronto home on Dec. 15, 2017. (James Morrison-Collalto/CBC)

"Nobody knows anything about this case, that we know of. Nobody knows the motive, nobody knows the assassins' names."

"Just because the police officer is unaware of a risk doesn't contradict the assertion of the Shermans."

Justice Russell Brown, Supreme Court of Canada

 

"A reasonable person would report a risk to the Toronto police."

"If there is some risk that was never reported to the police and that the Shermans have not put forward evidence of, they don't get a sealing order. That's just not good enough."

Iris Fischer, lawyer representing news media challenge

 

"[The murders must have been] committed by a very sophisticated organization, at least it has those hallmarks."

"[This was the commission of] a very, very sophisticated crime."

Justice Michael Moldaver, Supreme Court of Canada

 

"When we look at the likelihood of it happening [risks of harm to the estate beneficiaries], it might be low, but the likelihood of the Shermans being murdered was also low."

"The magnitude, the gravity, the graveness of the potential consequence is something that should be taken into account by the court."

"[The] risk of harm is foreseeable and the foreseeable harm is grave."

Chantelle Cseh, lawyer, Sherman estate

Honey and Barry Sherman. (Photo by Liora)

 

The surprising original theory of the Toronto Police investigating the double murder of a billionaire Toronto couple known for their philanthropy was that this was a case of murder-suicide. The family of the murdered couple reeled in disbelief at the hasty, pre-investigative conclusion, and were so demoralized and furious that they took steps to engage their own private investigation into the gruesome killing of their parents. Barry Sherman was the chairman and chief executive officer of Canada's largest pharmaceutical firm, Apotex.

The couple, one of the country's wealthiest families, part of high society as business giants and philanthropists, he age 75 and she 70, was found dead by a real estate agent who had been engaged to sell their mansion. He came upon their bodies seated side by side, tethered by their necks with belts to a railing at the edge of their indoor pool, located in the basement of their home. Police eventually changed their conclusion, to announce a targeted double homicide. Cause of death: "ligature neck compression".

Their December 2017 murder remains unsolved. Neither the police nor the specially engaged private investigative firm succeeded in discovering the identity or identities of those involved in the couples' death. As the founder of pharmaceutical giant Apotex, it was speculated that this crime somehow may have involved a business competitor, with dark hints of enemies of Barry Sherman having plotted his murder. A ten-million-dollar reward failed to elicit any information from any source that might help to solve the sinister mystery of their deaths.

There was great public interest in details of the ghastly event, and news media were anxious to gain all the information they could mine to satisfy public curiosity relating to the case and its prolonged and failed search for answers. They meant to publish details of the Sherman estate, their wills and inheritance proceedings, only to discover the files had been sealed by a judge's order at the family request for privacy.

 

The swimming pool  - Houssmax.ca photo

What has transpired is an appeal of the sealing order by an investigative reporter to overturn the order which succeeded, leading the Sherman family to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, hoping for the restoration of the files' sealed position. The justices heard lawyers for the estates arguing against the decision of the appeal court which "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".

The media, they charged, were interested merely in light of the "wealth and the circumstances of their death", of the Shermans; that the sealed files should remain "a private matter". Since the files contain names and addresses of innocents, including children, and "also provide a link between certain of the affected individuals and the Shermans which would not otherwise be apparent", they should remain closed to public scrutiny, the Sherman lawyers argued.

It is not beyond belief, they stressed, that given the gruesome murder of the Sherman parents, the beneficiaries and trustees may face a serious risk to their security and safety. Lawyers for the media on the other hand, claim the position of the Shermans runs counter to the open courts principle, asking the court to consider new evidence, including the testimony of Det.Sgt.Dennis Yim, the single homicide officer assigned full time to the case who is unconcerned that unsealing the files could jeopardize the investigation.

 

The Sherman children chose not to sell their parents' mansion. The horror of the deaths is a haunting one. They chose to have the building demolished.

This Jan. 6, 2018 photo shows police crime scene tape marking off the property belonging to Barry and Honey Sherman, who were found strangled inside their home on Dec. 15, 2017. Since that time, investigators have scoured the 12,000-square foot home, hauled away the couple's cars and even checked the sewers in one of Toronto's most exclusive neighborhoods for clues. But police haven't made any arrests, announced the search for any suspects or said practically anything publicly about the deaths of the drug company founder and his wife. (AP Photo/Rob Gillies)