The family of billionaire philanthropist couple Barry and Honey Sherman, who were found dead earlier this month in Toronto, has hired a team of former homicide detectives to investigate the deaths, a lawyer for the family said Thursday, according to The Canadian Press.
The lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said the private investigators were hired “to provide a second lens and to ensure that no stone is left unturned.”
Barry Sherman, 75, and his wife, Honey, 70, were found dead in their Toronto mansion on December 15.
Police have said both died of “ligature neck compression,” but have released few other details about the investigation, other than the fact that they considered their deaths “suspicious”.
After their bodies were discovered, there were some reports that police were investigating a possible murder-suicide. Those reports were never confirmed and the family pushed back against them.
Investigators are still poring over the couple’s home, but a police spokesman said there are no updates at this point.
Among the private investigators hired by the family is Tom Klatt, a former homicide investigator with the Toronto police, said Greenspan.
Meanwhile, Toronto Mayor John Tory said Thursday the Sherman family has expressed concerns about the police communications with the media during the ongoing investigation.
Tory, a member of the Toronto Police Services Board that oversees the force, has shared those concerns with the police, said the mayor’s spokesman, Don Peat.
“He (Tory) conveyed those concerns dispassionately and did not make any requests of police, but simply relayed their concerns about communication of information, similar to what he would do when other families he contacts have concerns with police or anyone else,” said Peat, according to The Canadian Press.
Thousands of people, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, attended a memorial service for the couple last week.
Barry Sherman founded Toronto-based Apotex Inc. in 1974 with two employees and gradually turned it into a generic drug giant. Along the way he amassed a vast fortune, recently estimated by Canadian Business magazine at $4.77 billion.
Honey Sherman was a member of the board of the Baycrest Foundation and the York University Foundation. She also served on the boards of Mount Sinai’s Women’s Auxiliary, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the International American Joint Distribution Committee.
The couple was among Canada’s most generous philanthropists and also organized funding of charitable causes through the Apotex Foundation.