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Billionaire Murders - Barry and Honey Sherman

Dec 31, 202452 minEp. 243
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Episode description

In December 2017, billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman were found dead in their Toronto mansion under eerie and unexplained circumstances. Known for their vast fortune, philanthropy, and influence, their shocking deaths raised questions about business rivalries, family conflicts, and hidden motives. Years later, the case remains unsolved, shrouded in mystery and speculation.Our other podcast: "FEARFUL" - https://open.spotify.com/show/56ajNkLiPoIat1V2KI9n5c?si=OyM38rdsSSyyzKAFUJpSyw

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Our other podcast: "FEARFUL" - https://open.spotify.com/show/56ajNkLiPoIat1V2KI9n5c?si=OyM38rdsSSyyzKAFUJpSyw
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Website: https://www.wickedandgrim.com/

Transcript

Speaker 1

On December fifteenth, twenty seventeen, the shocking discovery of Berry and Honey Sherman's bodies in their Toronto mansion sent shockwaves across Canada and the world. The billionaire couple, celebrated for their philanthropy and influence and powerful pharmaceutical company, were found dead under mysterious circumstances. Their death sparked countless theories, from a botched robbery to a personal vendetta or even a

calculated contract killing. Either way, the Shermans had made enough people bitter and angry along their path to becoming wealthy. The list of potential suspects seemed endless. This is the story of Barry and Honey Sherman, the billionaire murders.

Speaker 2

My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked Ingram, a true crime podcasting.

Speaker 1

The following material intend more mature audience listener discretion.

Speaker 2

Happpy New Year, Happy New Year's Eve. There's a question, mind, it is Happy New Year's Eve, but I feel like majority of people will most likely be listening to this in the new year, so I'm just saying Happy New.

Speaker 1

Year, Happy twenty twenty five. If you are If not you still have a little bit left of twenty twenty four.

Speaker 2

Mm hmm.

Speaker 1

There we go, covering all bases, right.

Speaker 2

It is like wild that it's already going to be twenty two twenty five.

Speaker 1

Man, I still feel like COVID just started, Like you know what I mean.

Speaker 2

I still feel like I just graduated from like high school, or we just got married. We've been We've been this year. Okay, twenty twenty five married fifteen fricking years. Yeah, that's long, Like holy shit, Yeah, that just seems impossible.

Speaker 1

Which means we've been together for what almost twenty twenty.

Speaker 2

Wow, here it will be together.

Speaker 1

Twenty Holy guacamole. Yeah, we're old, we're aging ourselves. Take a deep breath, no kidding, I'm gonna take a deep sip of coffee. Hopefully you guys have some good plans for your new year and good New Year's resolution. I'm not one to always make New Year's resolution or believe in them, but it is good motivation for many people. So if you need that motivation, hopefully it is there for you.

Speaker 2

Hey, well, we're going to be talking about our New Year's resolutions at dinner, not necessarily just like thoughts of what we want for twenty twenty five. I've decided this, Okay, we're gonna have a conversation at our dinner. We're going out for dinner and then we're just going to go to a friend's house that has like fireworks and stuff and then home. Like, I'm actually fine if i'm home before midnight.

Speaker 1

Yeah, I think we probably will be and every look.

Speaker 2

Like complete losers. Though if we leave before midnight.

Speaker 1

Nah, I think it'll be good. But I do have a question if we're going to be talking about like our resolutions, ish, I guess I'm assuming it's going to somewhat most likely involve our businesses. Could we maybe write off dinner tonight if we just have you know, a business dinner?

Speaker 2

Yeah, well we never had ours. We didn't do a Christmas party this year for ourselves.

Speaker 1

We didn't, so maybe.

Speaker 2

This is it.

Speaker 1

Okay. I think we just decided let's go home and we have some patrons to think before we get too deep into what we're going to be doing for our New years. We have perpetually exhausted Love the name relating to that and Jenny who signed up this week, so they're getting that behind the scenes all the exclusive content, and we are having another episode come out today for the final exclusive episode of the year, which comes out the end of every month.

Speaker 2

So yeah, well, I mean in a year span, that's twelve extra episodes.

Speaker 1

Yeah, and if you go back in the library, we've been going for like what probably two and a half years of Patreon, so there's there's at least like fifty ep moll, not fifty I guess thirty ish episodes.

Speaker 2

I don't know.

Speaker 1

You've come up with other content too, but the library there, it's growing.

Speaker 2

Oh I bet. Yeah, there's got to be at least like thirty forty on there.

Speaker 1

I think so. But we do have quite the case today that we're talking here, not on Patreon, just for the general like podcast for everyone.

Speaker 2

Well, I'm a bit shocked. You're shocked because I didn't recognize those names. The only other thing you told me is that this is Canadian. Well you said it in the thing it was Toronto, Yeah, and it wasn't really that long ago. No, So I'm like surprised that this isn't ringing a bell for me.

Speaker 1

Yeah. I don't know why I haven't heard of this one until recently either, because it seems like it should be a very high profile case, which it is.

Speaker 2

But yeah, yeah, interesting, maybe bits will come back to me. I don't know, but I don't think i've heard of this.

Speaker 1

I think it's probably because it's Canadian. Like, I don't know, Canada doesn't seem to do great with its news at times.

Speaker 2

Okay, is that just a Canada. I think it's just a Canada thing. Have we talked about this. We're not even allowed our news on our social media. Yeah, it's like if you share a link, a news source link or anything like, it won't let you. Like there's just no news allowed on social media.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

I think that's a Canadian.

Speaker 1

That is a Canadian thing. That was something that Justin Trudeau implemented I believe it was last year, which.

Speaker 2

I just feel like is really kind of shady.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it is only allowed allowing news sources such as Foxy, TV News all that sort of thing to actually distribute news.

Speaker 2

No, but I don't even think they are allowed really, are they?

Speaker 1

No, you have to like they can't share on social media. Yeah, but that allows them to have the monopoly on sharing news, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2

Yeah, because yeah, I even one about trying to share like a good news story. We were remember we were in the news or I was in the news or something, and it was like not a negative thing whatsoever, Like it was positive.

Speaker 1

Yeah, it was something about your business.

Speaker 2

I remember that, and it just like wouldn't let me. And I was like the fuck. Okay yea, anyway.

Speaker 1

Anyways, Canada is weird like that. So I wouldn't be surprised if there's many reasons similar ish as to why this hasn't been like really put out there. But it is a whole high profile case and it is exactly that very wealthy people billionaires with a fucking B. You're not hearing me say millionaires, Bill billionaires. Wow, some williamaires in there, you get it because Bill William And it

was like, you know, you're just brushing past that. That was good, some williamaires because Bill and Will you know, you know people call people like Bills for short of Will what's his name? Well, we're not talking about his.

Speaker 2

Name, shit, Okay. I was like, that would make sense if his name was Bill.

Speaker 1

No, his name is not Bill. His name is Barry. But you know what I'm saying though, right, because Bill Naire. But then for for short, it's Bill youonaire, but the full would be Williamayre. Okay, I think it was funny.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's a great story.

Speaker 1

I thought it was hilarious. It's great, and you're disappointing me that you didn't enjoy that. Okay, enough of this, this has been long, enough of us.

Speaker 2

Rant I was just going to say, like that, you said pharmaceuticals right therein Yes, Okay, so it makes sense. I guess that they're billionaires.

Speaker 1

Yeah, So starting off, we're going to talk about Barry, not Bill Barry, Barry Sherman.

Speaker 2

So.

Speaker 1

Barry's life kicked off on February twenty fifth, nineteen forty two, in Toronto. This is where he was born into a Jewish family. Things weren't always easy for Barry, though. His dad, Herbert, ended up passing away from a heart attack when Barry was just ten years old. It was a tough blow, but even as a kid, Barry had a knack for bouncing back. He was super sharp, and especially when it came to science, it was clear early on that he

was destined for something big. Barry went on to study engineering at the University of Toronto, but he wasn't stopping there either. He had site set on the chemical industry, which led him to earn a doctorate at MIT. With his degree in hand, Barry came back to Canada because where he actually went was like Massachusetts Technology. Yeah, so he came back to Canada ready to dive into this pharmaceutical world. Now, at the time, his uncle Louis Winter

owned a small pharmaceutical business called Empire Laboratories. So Barry saw an opportunity and he jumped onto it, buying the company in nineteen sixty seven. Oh wow, Okay, so this was the first big step that would become his legendary career.

Speaker 2

If you will, Well, he seems like he's a smart dude.

Speaker 1

Oh definitely. Not long after that, Barry launched Apotex, Inc. A company that would eventually become Canada's go to producer of generic drugs. So we are talking pharmaceutical drugs. So when we have like tailanol or like those are name brands, right, yeah, so you can get like the no name brand sort of ones, that's what he's producing.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Okay, so Apitex wasn't just a big deal in Canada.

Speaker 2

I think you meant like thailan on advil or advil. Sorry, yeah, because like as is like a medication. Yeah yeah, okay, Tailanol and Advil are the brands.

Speaker 1

My apologies. Yeah. So Apa Tex wasn't just a big deal in Canada. It was a global player in this market, making affordable medications for millions of people around the world. And not only that, there was many donations to relief funds as well from these medications, so sending like crates and millions of dollars worth of medications when there is actually people in need. So this wasn't just like, oh, you find this company in Canada, No, this was across

the globe. So Barry himself became a well known figure, famous for his smarts and his nonsense approach to business. He wasn't afraid to get, you know, his hands a little dirty and go toe to toe with other big pharmaceutical companies, especially when it came to a league battles over patents. Now, that boldness made him a bit of a controversial character, but there's no denying the massive impact that he made on the industry. This brings us to

Honey Sherman. Honey was born Hannah Swidler in nineteen forty seven in Wellyn, Ontario, and came from a humble beginning, but had big dreams from a young age. She aimed for a life beyond her modest upbringing and Honey met Barry during their university years, and together they formed a rock solid partnership, both personally and as well professionally. After they got married, Honey didn't just stand by Barry's side, She actively contributed to their shared success and became a

force in philanthropy. Honey threw herself into charity work, focusing on supporting the Jewish community, funding hospitals and helping those in need. She was known for her warm personality and hands on approach as well, often personally involving herself in projects that she financed. Together Barry and Hunty, he became one of Canada's most prominent power couples, living in a luxury, luxurious home in one of Toronto's high and elite neighborhoods.

But behind the wealth and polished public image, there was tension. Barry's aggressive business style, particularly at Apotex, had earned him plenty of enemies along the way. Honey and Berry may have presented a picture perfect life, but their fortune and the way it was built came with complications. Lawsuits from disguntled family members and business associates were quite common as people weighed for a piece of Barry's immerse immense wealth.

Being a billionaire, after all, often means making tough choices, and sometimes that means you're ruffling a lot of feathers.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean, I don't feel like you can get a billionaire and not have any enemies.

Speaker 1

I don't think so. And there's many people who say, like, you know what, maybe there was a lot of philanthropy involved in their life. Maybe they were making donations, they were donating medications and all these sort of things. But there is the argument if you know, tax rite offs and that sort of thing, and maybe it you know, they actually get more money back and what they don't I don't. I'm not going to pretend to understand that.

But there's a lot of arguments out there on whether they were good intention to people or if there were more selfish intentions behind these sort of things. And there were a lot of, like I said, lawsuits, patent arguments and court battles and things to go along with it.

So there's two sides of the coin. There's the hey, these are good people, and hey these are bad people, and I'm not going to pretend to understand which side they could have been, because there's a lot to this and understanding who people are, and especially when you get to this level of business, there's so many things behind the scene that no one is going to ever hear about or understand.

Speaker 2

So honestly, I feel just listening to this, I feel like their life just sounds so stressful, Like it doesn't sound enjoyable whatsoever, just like constantly being like suit or like having these enemies, and I don't know, it just doesn't sound enjoyed. But I'm like a people blaser, so that's just wouldn't work with me.

Speaker 1

I don't think for them it was as stressful as we would think, because I mean they, for example, you're a billionaire, right you can hire a legal team.

Speaker 2

Well, yeah, they would have like just people working for them. But I still like, depends how involved they are in the business and stuff.

Speaker 1

Right, They are very involved, And I think that's one of the reasons why I don't think it was like as stressful as we may think, is because it's like they loved what they did, you know. Okay, so yeah, now despite all these conflicts and everything going on, though the Shermans. They appeared to live a charming life. They seamlessly blended their wealth, influenced generosity, all the controversy as well.

They maintained an impeccable public image. Kind of Really, what made what happened next so shocking is because they did appear to be comfortable. They did appear to be happy and generous and all this sort of things. So it was on December fifteenth, twenty seventeen, when Toronto police received a call that would send shockwaves through the city and the country and the world if you heard about the case. Anyways, as you mentioned at the beginning, we never heard of it.

But regardless, Berry and Honey had been found dead in their mansion.

Speaker 2

Wow. Yeah, yeah, I there's none of this has sounded familiar to me whatsoever.

Speaker 1

Yeah, No, not one piece of it sounds familiar to me when researching either.

Speaker 2

I also have to say, there, I feel like there's a many wealthy people that don't donate anything or like give back to anything, So that has to be you know, a plus in their direction.

Speaker 1

Oh, for sure, they did do good. You can argue their intentions behind it. You can argue it was overshadowed by you know, maybe negative things they did, but you can't argue that they did do good things.

Speaker 2

Dang. But also to be that wealth wealthy and to be able to get murdered like it's like they did they have security, Like I'm intrigued to hear more.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Well, the discovery came when real estate agents showing the house to potential buyers, went over to the pool area. Oh yeah, Now, the house was immaculate. It was approximately twelve thousand square foot. Holy shit, pools, hot tubs, tennis court, pretty much anything you could ask for inside a home like this, and it had recently just gone on the market and was listed at just under seven million dollars.

So while touring this illustrious home, what they found inside, you know, apart from the stunning architecture and design, yeah, was this horrifying scene. At first, by the pool, they thought they were two mannequins propped up, but once it got closer, they found the bodies of Berry and Honey as they were seated on the ground next to the pool, their next tied with leather belts to a low metal railing.

Holy shit, Berry's legs were crossed in a disturbingly calm kind of position will Honey lay more on her side with bruises visible on her face. Both of them were fully clothed, their coats pulled down over their shoulders restraining their arms. They weren't facing the water. Instead, they were positioned as if staged facing away.

Speaker 2

Huh wow. Okay, First of all, that would not show well that home if there's like a murder scene in there. Yeah, like kidding, that's another terror thing to add to the list of being a realtor, I feel like, yeah, but holy shit, Okay, wow, to be to have them people like that be touchable, you know, to be able to get murdered is scary.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Now, their home was on Old Colony Road, and as I mentioned it is, it's a fucking mansion, and it's one in one of Toronto's wealthiest neighborhoods. And it's this neighborhood is known for its high security and surveillance. Okay, it's caught, tall fences, all this sort of thing. However, as far as I could find, the sherman's home did not have security cameras. Inside security systems, sure, but cameras no. The home showed no signs of forced entry, no broken windows,

no smashed locks, no alarms triggered. In fact, the security system had actually even been disarmed. It was turned off at the time. Now, this detail immediately raised suspicions. Whoever was responsible seemed to maybe you know, not force their entry, So it was likely that they knew the Shermans well enough to enter their home undetected or at least without setting off alarms or raising their.

Speaker 2

Alarm, which makes sense.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so lack of force entry basically pointed to a perpetrator or perpetrators who had access to the house or knew them, and making this investigation just a little bit more chilling considering that potential connection. Yeah, this gruesome scene left investigators in the public grappling with a single burning question, who, of course would do this and why? News, of course,

quick spread like wildfire and family, neighbors, reporters, colleagues. They all were just making their way to the Toronto home. Burry and Honey had always seemed untouchable, you know, so their wealth connections and fortress, all this it just nothing seemed to make sense. Why, Like I can't paint that why picture enough?

Speaker 2

M hm, Well, I mean people were angry with them, but then usually it seemed like they would go about suing them, you know, not necessary for sure, breaking in their home and murdering.

Speaker 1

Them exactly now. It was almost immediately though, whispers of a potential double suicide began to circulate. Oh shit, Yes, the peculiar positioning of the body seemed to lend itself to this speculation. However, this theory was quickly shot down by the family and close friends, and his theory was actually what the authorities investigators were initially running with two. Those who knew Berry and Honey insisted though, that there

was no reason for them to end their lives. They were described as a couple deeply invested in their business, in their you know, donations, their charity, their family, and their future as well. The initial police statement was frustratingly vague, offering only a confirmation that two bodies had been discovered, But behind the scenes, the investigators were already exploring yeah, multiple theories, with this suicide one being the prominent. The

public weighed in. They also wanted to have a bit of a voice, you know, whether it was actually protesting or whatever. I'm unsure, but the public had their strong opinion and there was no short of theories regarding these opinions either, Okay, I.

Speaker 2

Have a question though, sorry, Were they like hanging? Were they were the bodies like hanging?

Speaker 1

They weren't hanging per se. They were sitted seated on the ground is what Barry was in his position of so think sitting cross legged and Honey was laying on her side. I'm not sure if she was supported somewhat by the belt and Sam was Barry. But their bodies were on the ground in some sort of fashion with some sort of weight being held up by the belt tied to the railing.

Speaker 2

Okay, yeah, it just it's I guess that's hard for me to believe that it was suicide. I just I mean, who knows how a person would go about doing that, I guess, But it doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem like it seems like they would either I don't know, shoot themselves or take drugs or something. You know. Yeah, that seems peculiar.

Speaker 1

Yeah, a lot of people were quite frustrated with this suicide thought of potential love it. They didn't think it made sense either. And as I mentioned, like the relatives were just like no, like they had no reason to commit this suicide or anything. Right, Like Barry didn't show any signs of like instability. He was like working with his business NonStop, and Honey was going forward with these donations and projects, all these sort of thing. It was

just yeah, she was known to be warm, friendly. None of it made any sort of sense, even talking to some of the neighbors. She was often seen walking and chatting with neighbors in the neighborhood. It just, yeah, it didn't make any sense consider a suicide.

Speaker 2

You don't fully know ever, what's going behind on behind closed.

Speaker 1

Doors, right, that's true. That's true. Now. One intriguing detail did come to light though, that kind of helped maybe potentially point the investigation in another direction other than potential suicide, was that the couple had put their home on the market for sale just weeks before their death. This sparked

a flurry of new theories. I mean, because there's countless theories out there on this case, but some speculated that the sale process had inadvertently opened the door to danger, like the homeless for sale, bringing in strangers, potential buyers, possible criminals who were like scouting the place sort of thing.

Speaker 2

Oh right, dang, I never went there, but yeah, it's very big possibility.

Speaker 1

Others theorized that the Shermans might have been hiding something selling the property and an attempt to distance themselves from whatever troubles they're trying to hide. They're trying to move on. Maybe right if someone figured out where they lived and they're like, okay, we can't be here, or who knows what, maybe they buried a body in planters in the yard or something. I don't know.

Speaker 2

Oh my gosh, Well, when you said that it was for sale, it did seem a little bit odd to me, But who knows. People buy and sell different stuff all the time, right.

Speaker 1

Well exactly, and like the realtor handling their estate and everything, or their a state, their home, whatever you want to say. They quickly helped dismiss the speculation on like the sale being for a reason of like getting out of there. Apparently the Shermans were just looking to downsize move to a more modern home, so the realtor was kind of just like, yeah, that's that's that's malarchy. Soon came the

critical developments of the autopsy results. Forensic experts confirmed that both Berry and Honey had died from quote ligature neck compression, which is basically Yeah, they were exphyxiated, right, they were choked. This finding confirmed that the grim nature of the death also deepened, like all the mysteries around this, And strangely, there were no significant signs of a struggle on their bodies though, either, which is something very unusual in the

case of homicides. So if you're considering there is no signs of a struggle, there's no signs of forced entry. That does lend a little bit more to the theory of suicide. However, how the bodies were found it kind of contradicts that suicide because I mean, it's not impossible. It does happen, But hanging oneself from a low thing like that, when you have your your sitting on the ground, it's not probable.

Speaker 2

Well, it gives you opportunity to act. Say, I feel like a lot of people they I don't know, they'll do like jump off a bridge and as they're like going down, they regret it, yeah, immediately, So it gives them the opportunity to change their mind.

Speaker 1

Right Exactly, people do commit suicide as they do self delete in that in that manner. So I'm not saying it's not possible, it's just a very unlikely way people do it well.

Speaker 2

And didn't honey have bruising on her face?

Speaker 1

She did have bruising on their face. And you remember that their sweaters were pulled or their jackets were pulled in the way that it was, you know, restricting them. It was like binding them right right. Yeah. There were however, some minor scratches on their hands and faces, which experts suggests may have been the result of brief resistance. But

it's hard to tell for sure. Okay, the autopsy findings, you know, added a lot of weight to different theories and everything, but yeah, also just raised a lot more questions and who knows, right, But it was determined that the Shermans had likely died on December thirteenth, a day or two before the bodies were discovered. This timeline gave investigators a clear starting point and actually began piecing together

some events leading up to the crime. Now, naturally, the police turned their attention to people surrounding the Sherman's life, focusing on Barry's extensive business dealings. But over the years, his aggressive tactics tactics or I can't talk today in the pharmaceutical industry had earned him quite the reputation as a ruthless competitor kind of As we already discussed, his company, Apotex, was often embroiled in high stakes legal battles, particularly with

larger pharmaceutical firms. So we're not talking just individual against individual. We're talking large company versus large company CEO, pissing off ceo.

Speaker 2

Okay, yeah, like people who have money and exactly. Yeah, because I feel like the majority of times was like murder cases, the list isn't huge, right of suspects, but in this case it seems like it really is.

Speaker 1

It almost seems endless. And the question right now for investigators, could corporate rivalries actually escalate to this violence? I mean, we see this sort of shit in movies all the time.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

I'm not high up in the corporate ladder in the real world, so I don't know, but it doesn't seem far fetched to me from what Hollywood tells me.

Speaker 2

Yeah, very true.

Speaker 1

Now, Barry's corporate life wasn't the only source of tension, though his family relationship was long fraught with drama. Several cousins have been locked in bitter lawsuits against Barry for years, accusing him of cutting them out of their rightful share of a family fortune. If you remember, he purchased out his uncle's business. Right, so those kids from that uncle, right, his cousins like, hey, that's our family business that you came in and like swooped.

Speaker 2

Now, I don't well he purchased it.

Speaker 1

I don't know how the whole like acquisition to that company came in. I don't know if he purchased stit. Maybe had a deal because hey, family uphule. Maybe the uncle passed on more than he should. Who knows, right, But either way, these cousins felt that they were owed at least part of that company or part of his dang fortune.

Speaker 2

Man money just it just it brings the worstone people sometimes.

Speaker 1

Yeah, And this this legal battle spanned decades, and as investigators dug deeper, they couldn't ignore the possibility of the roots of this crime that might actually stand within these grudges as well. Now, what made this case even more baffling was the lack of clear evidence pointing in any sort of direction. Now, despite Toronto's police launching a massive investigation, they're handling of the case faced harsh criticism right from the start see earlier on. Authorities leaned into the theory

of the murder, suicide or suicide. Right, So we're thinking either one of them killed one and then suicide themselves or double suicide, right, So who knows. But that was one of the theories that they were working with from the very beginning, but under mounting public pressure, the police were forced to rethink their theory. A month into the investigation, they revived their stance, officially declaring the deaths as targeted

double homicide. This changed the entire direction of the case, so many believe, though unfortunately this change came way too late. See on the day Berry and Honey's bodies were discovered, numerous people had entered their homes, their home, not homes, home relatives, police officers, real estate agents, journalists all were in the home contaminating the crime scene. Because the police are looking at this as hey, suicide, right, but still.

Speaker 2

Why the hell are their people in there?

Speaker 1

Well it's not a crime scene.

Speaker 2

I guess, I guess.

Speaker 1

So now a month later it's officially a crime.

Speaker 2

Signe o shitka, that's not good.

Speaker 1

No, it's not. So anything that might have been actually vital clues was now potentially compromised, right yep. So adding to the complexity was the sheer size of the Sherman residents as well. And don't get me wrong, I do want to clarify. I'm sure that they were investigating the house as somewhat of a crime scene, but I don't think they were fully, like very serious about it because

they're like, yeah, it's probably suicide, you know what I mean. Now, the house itself was, as I mentioned earlier, twelve thousand square feet.

Speaker 2

Yeah, or earlier when you said Holmes, I was like, well, it could be a few homes.

Speaker 1

Sure, it could be maybe there's a pool house in the back or something. And I don't know, but twelve thousand square feet has dozens of rooms, and it makes it incredibly challenging to comb through this entire place for evidence. Every corner, every surface, every item had to be carefully examined for traces of the perpetrator. But the odds of covering anything and finding this just diminished with each passing day. The Sherman's home also had multiple entrances for someone to

enter and at the home. To top it all off, Friends and family also noted that Barry and Honey were the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to open the door if someone came knocking and asking for help. Okay, oh man, yeah, so that only wid widens the possibility for more suspects. Now, Barry in particular had a history

of dealing with some lesson savory business associates. We talked kind of a bit more about how he pissed some people off, for sure, but yeah, there was also some people who were a little bit less and savory potential potentially individuals with criminal history but dealing in the business side of things, still questionable backgrounds will say that. So his aggressive business practices often left others feeling this angry

feeling towards him, as we know, right. Barry himself even speculated at one point about the risks that he had faced. In an interview with Jeffrey Robinson for the book in the late nineteen nineties, Sorry for a Book in the late teen nineteen nineties, he chillingly stated, quote, for a thousand bucks paid to the right person, you can probably get someone killed. Oh my gosh, perhaps I'm surprised that hasn't happened. Okay, so he's surprised he hasn't been fucking killed in a hit yet.

Speaker 2

Well, thousand bucks, say, for a freaking life.

Speaker 1

Yeah, well, I mean that was in nineteen ninety to start with, still inflation, maybe that's five thousand today. Who knows five thousand to the right person, might you know?

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

So, at the time of the murders, Barry had recently also emerged victorious in illegal battle against his cousins one we've talked about earlier. The court ruled that they owed him thirty thousand dollars dollars in legal fees, which was far less than he had actually sought initially.

Speaker 2

But yeah, like the cousins owed him money. Correct, Oh, okay, that is not gonna go well because they took him to court. Yeah, this battle lasted years. He won the battle, and now it's like, okay, you owe me some restitutions here because you know, I've been sitting in court for years fighting this when I was in the right this whole time. You cause this headache for me. You got

to pay for my shit? Well, so, and like the cousins had their own legal fees that they had to pay, and now they have to pay this guy's either clearly not enjoying.

Speaker 1

So that's yes, And who's going to be able to afford it? More likely the billionaire.

Speaker 2

Probably well yeah, and there, Yeah, I could imagine they would just be like pissed.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Now, honestly, I do want to clarify. I don't think he has like a billion dollars in his bank or had. It's more more likely that he had like you know, stocks.

Speaker 2

Investment tied up. Yeah.

Speaker 1

Yeah, so I don't think he has all that cash on hand, willy nilly, but I'm sure he.

Speaker 2

Has a chunk of it though.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Now, one of his cousins, Carrie Winter, from this lawsuit, actually openly admitted that he himself had the motive and the opportunity to kill Barry. He openly admits he had the motive and opportunity unity to do it.

Speaker 2

Well, I mean it wouldn't take like, I mean, anyone could see that though.

Speaker 1

One hundred percent. Now, Carrie set his own hours working as a construction supervisor, which investigators noted gave him quite the flexibility. However, even though he made a bold statement like that, he was eventually clear suspicion through some solid alibis. Okay, yeah, apparently he was watching Netflix Peaky Blinders and then also went to a cocaine recovery addicts, meaning.

Speaker 2

Oh, Wow. Okay, So okay.

Speaker 1

I think it's very funny that, yeah, he was specifically watching Peaky Blinders.

Speaker 2

Well yeah, I mean I guess, yeah, Like, okay, last night we watched a shit ton of Netflix. We stayed up way too late, watching the shit.

Speaker 1

Squid Game season two, the entire thing.

Speaker 2

Yeah, And so it's interesting, like we would have a perfect alibi, like clearly we were doing that, but also you could have shit playing in your home and not be there.

Speaker 1

I mean, that's true, right, that's true. But either way, he was most likely at the the cocaine thingy, you know what I mean. Now, Barry's financial situation was also raising some red flags. Yes, he was a billionaire, and we just kind of covered this a little bit. You know,

probably a lot of money tied up in different things. Right, So, just two weeks before the killings, Barry had asked his son Jonathan, to repay him a few million dollars tens of millions of dollars in fact, that he had borrowed for his storage business. So Jonathan explained that this was to help his dad through a tight financial spot. Whatever

that exactly means hasn't exactly been released. But despite this Barry had reassured his son that he would continue supporting him once his financial situation improved.

Speaker 2

Okay, so maybe there even was bigger reason to them selling their home, which I had thought about, like maybe they needed some some money.

Speaker 1

Like freed up potentially that's very very likely, honestly. I mean, who's to say you need a seventy thousand dollars home or sorry, seven million? Why did I say seventy thousand? That's way off a seven million dollar home.

Speaker 2

Yeah, Like if they sell that and then maybe they buy a home that's two million, like that, he frees up so much.

Speaker 1

Money, exactly, money that you know what, you could probably make more millions on if you invest it and know what you're doing, which he clearly does. So Jonathan and Barry were reportedly close, both personally and professionally, and you know, came this kind of money transfer situation, and that's what Jonathan's saying is, Yeah, tight financial spot, which opens up a whole nother avenue of potential. You know what happens.

Then came another shocking revelation. Court documents released in twenty twenty two revealed that Barry owed one billion another b in there billion to various companies at the time of his death, debts that he reportedly decided he was not going to repay.

Speaker 2

Holy shit, Yeah, so is he actually a billionaire if he owes that much frickin' money?

Speaker 1

Well, no shit. You know, his refusal to honor such substantial debts very well could have angered some powerful people, which again just opens the door for more suspects. In November of twenty twenty, three, years after the murders took place, the Toronto Police announced that they had identified a quote person of interest. However, just two days later they clarified that this could refer to one individual or multiple, which just put a big old question mark right back on it.

Speaker 2

Okay, because the.

Speaker 1

Police are like, we've identified someone of interest. Actually it could be one person or many, or we don't know. It's like, yeah, what all right? So you don't know?

Speaker 2

It didn't It doesn't seem like they really did narrow down on someone.

Speaker 1

Not really. So A year later, in December twenty twenty one, the investigation saw a potential breakthrough when police did release a short video clip found from a security camera. Now the twenty second clip showed an una identified person dressed in all dark clothing walking down a snowy sidewalk in the Sherman's upscale neighborhood. Detective Brandon Price stated that the individual's appearance kind of coincided with the estimated time of

the murders. So like, this dude or lady or whatever, this person is walking through this neighborhood kind of looking a little suspicious right around the time we believe that they were killed. Now, despite the release of this footage to the public, this person was never identified. Okay, while it seemed like police were struggling to find a direction to go at this point, Honey Sherman's sister, Mary Mary Shetman,

believe murders might have been a quote statement. She believed it was tied to the couple's faith and their political beliefs. See Mary pointed to the Sherman's loyal support for Israel and Honey's outspoken Jewish identity. Honey had apparently made previous comments that some might consider politically incorrect, allegedly particularly regarding

religious extreme extremists extremism extremism. Mary even told police six months before her murder, Honey had attended a lecture about cutting off funding for Muslim fundamentalist groups.

Speaker 2

Hmm okay.

Speaker 1

Now, Honey also reportedly believed that severing these financial channels could weaken terrorist organizations, but also, according to Mary, Honey also believed that Barry might have been financially supporting the efforts aligned with her opposing cause, so they might have opposing views, supporting opposing groups. This is all allegedly.

Speaker 2

Yeah, honestly, this is just a mess.

Speaker 1

It is a mess.

Speaker 2

It's just like too many options here.

Speaker 1

Well that's the problem.

Speaker 2

Yeah, like this would be I feel like this would just this is the worst puzzle to have to to work on if you're like an investigator. Yep, it's not fun at all. Like this just seems so not fun.

Speaker 1

Nope. Now, another theory mentions Barry's lobbying efforts, which were apparently nothing short of relentless, often pushing him at odds with political leaders and institutions. If it isn't enough for him to be tying up with other companies, institutions and CEOs all this sort of thing, he's also getting his hand not only in these other fundamentalist groups and stuff, but also in literal federal political parties. He wasn't afraid to take a stand and his influence stretched far beyond

the pharmaceutical industry. One big example was his opposition to a law passed by Prime Minister Brian mulroney's government which extended patent protections for brand name drug makers. Barry believed this was bad news for smaller generic drug companies like Apotex, and pushed hard to fight against it. When his effort didn't succeed, he switched gears and backed Jean Cretchien and the Liberal Party, who promised to revise the law if

they won in the nineteen ninety three election. So he basically pulls out of this party and begins supporting this party. He's going to then revise the law when they're in power. And now he's putting money flow and of course, you know, influence into pushing the Liberal Party that jankre Chen was representing.

Speaker 2

Yeah, politics is a bit of a scary game too, Hey, Yes.

Speaker 1

And that's exactly what's going on. He's getting very heavy in this very scary game. His lobbying didn't just stop at these politics. He donated millions to the University of Toronto for a research center, but when the university's efforts to challenge the patent law fell flat Berry pulled his funding.

Speaker 2

Oh shit, yeah, okay, that's not good. No, so he Okay, I just have to say he is like like very I don't know if I want to say emotional, but like he like isn't afraid to go out there and like speak his mind and piss anyone off.

Speaker 1

Really all definitely not not.

Speaker 2

Yeah, No, he's like he doesn't back down.

Speaker 1

No, he's he's going to go for what he wants and he doesn't care. Yes, he's going to do that.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Now.

Speaker 1

At the time of his death, Barry was caught up in yet another political scandal. As a registered lobbyist, he was under investigation for organizing a twenty fifteen fundraiser for Justin Trudeau, an event that allegedly broke Canada's lobbying rules. The investigation suggested Barry might have violated the Lobbyist Code of Conduct, which could have led to a five year lobbying ban. Instead of waiting for the verdict, Barry made headlines by filing a lawsuit in twenty sixteen to shut

down the investigation. Needless to say, he had strong political presence and made a lot of enemies, many of which would have had a motive to want him dead.

Speaker 2

Oh shit, I couldn't imagine having this many people that could like potentially choose to end your life.

Speaker 1

Right, that's terrible. Like the list literally seems endless. Yeah, like where do you even start? Yeah, that's like being like in a dollar store with a million dollars you can buy one thing or like what.

Speaker 2

Are you could just buy the whole good?

Speaker 1

Like what are you gonna do? Like do you do this? Do you want this? Like?

Speaker 2

Well, because these are also like powerful people too that they're dealing with that, I feel like, if you know, did have a hand in this, could very easily not have it.

Speaker 1

Show for sure, right for sure? And even if they were to find any sort of evidence, you think it's going to be that powerful person that's going to link to or do you think it's just gonna be the hit man they hired?

Speaker 2

Exactly?

Speaker 1

So Now, unfortunately, the mystery surrounding the death of Barry and Honey Sherman remains unsolved to this day.

Speaker 2

Shit, I was just waiting. I was like, no, no, this is gonna be solved. This has to be solved.

Speaker 1

But god damn, despite years of destigation, countless theories, and I mean, countless theories and a long list of possible motives, from corporate rivals to family disputes and political tensions. No suspects have been named, not even a suspect.

Speaker 2

Well, and I mean, I guess there's even still the potential that it, like it was a suicide too, Like that's not fully I mean, it's kind of ruled out, but I guess it's like still a possibility, right.

Speaker 1

It is a possibility. It's I think just low chance of. Yeah, it doesn't it doesn't add up to be a suicide.

Speaker 2

Dang. I cannot believe that someone got away with this.

Speaker 1

Yeah, someone kidding me. Someone wanted them dead and someone got exactly what they wanted.

Speaker 2

Wow, and there's still this out there living their life. I'm sure.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

I mean I feel like it would probably have well, oh man, I was just gonna say, I feel like it was would probably be a hit man of sorts. But then like they they I also think that they may have known the person too, so frick I don't know, damn. I In situations like this, I feel like when cases like this aren't solved, that they were just like all doomed because if anything should be solved, like if you think a billionaire's murder could would be solved, right, right.

Speaker 1

Because I mean the family is gonna probably have the money to throw at you know, private investigators and all this stuff to help solve it.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and they would themselves you think, have like protection, more protection than you know, the average joe.

Speaker 1

Yeah, but here we are.

Speaker 2

Huh.

Speaker 1

Clearly it shows that despite money, despite power, despite whatever situation you're in, we're no different than than each other.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Wow, huh that one. That one is. I mean I can kind of understand why I didn't hear about it, because, like it's kind of a bummer that it's not solved either, right, Like I think if there was, if it got solved and there was someone that went to jail and like through court and stuff, we would have ended up hearing about.

Speaker 1

This more so probably. So I do have to say this is probably one of my least favorite cases I've covered.

Speaker 2

Well, I also have to say this would be a shit show to research, like that is the whole time you're presenting him, Like, thank God, I do not pick this.

Speaker 1

There's books, there's documentaries, there's TV series, there's article after article after there is so much on this and all of it is theories because there is not an ounce of fucking evidence out of this.

Speaker 2

Wow.

Speaker 1

Hey yeah. The only evidence that I was actually able to come across, the only actual evidence was what came out of the autopsy and the video footage. That's it. That's all I found for physical, actual tangible evidence.

Speaker 2

You have to wonder if they had, you know, on day one, had this labeled as a home aside that or like a murder or whatever, if if those results would it change, you know, if they were if they would have been able to find the evidence, or if even regardless of that, if it still would be an unsolved thing.

Speaker 1

I don't know. That's hard to say because honestly, like in a in a mansion like that, in like billionaires, they have.

Speaker 2

Staff, right, m right, Yeah, I never thought of that.

Speaker 1

So you have to think of the fact. Okay, what if the hit man, you know, got to the staff and figured out how to get in, or became a staff member briefly, or was was a staff member before, or who knows right and just knew how to get in the home, huh, Or what if it was you know, someone who the hit man was posing as, like oh, you know, I'm a representative of this individual for this lawsuit. This fucking can we talk to you for a minute? Sure,

come on in, and then killed. Like, there's so many possibilities on how you can access their home because by the sounds of it, Barry and Honey were not about to be the kind of people who like are on the other side of an intercolm and be like go away.

Speaker 2

Yeah. But it also like they were deceased for like a couple of days, two days approximately, without getting noticed. So that doesn't make any sense either.

Speaker 1

Well, I that's one part I didn't actually research, but I do know that there was like a timeline with the realtor thinking that they were supposed to be going out of town or something like that, because when they showed the home, they weren't supposed to be there because

they were off doing something. Okay, so they weren't. It was a shock that they were at the home because they weren't supposed to be there, right, Okay, So when they're like, oh, you know, the house is quiet for two days or whatever like that because they're not supposed to be there.

Speaker 2

Perfect time to show it and like, yeah, not have people around, I imagine this is still kind of being like, it's you know, maybe there's still probably people to this.

Speaker 1

Oh, definitely, No, this is an ongoing investigation for sure. It's not a closed case.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Wow, sorry, I'm just like processing this. It's just this one is kind of just mind blowing. This one makes me think a lot.

Speaker 1

This is why this is probably my least favorite case, or at least one of because I love a mystery case. I love the thought of, you know, what could have happened. But the problem with this is there is too many possibilities, like we couldn't even fathom coming up with every angle. It's just a jumbled mess of Hey, someone didn't like them, someone killed them, yeah, and then it's just random theory after random.

Speaker 2

Fury, endless possibilities. Really it is.

Speaker 1

It's an un I'm not saying it's an unsolvable case, but with the information that is given to us at the public right now, it's an unsolvable, un fathomable situation.

Speaker 2

Like a needle in a haystack stock stack.

Speaker 1

What is the saying needle in a haystack?

Speaker 2

Okay, I did get it right.

Speaker 1

Well, I feel like it's not even a needle in a haystack. I feel it is because I feel like we're I feel like the police are doing a needle in a haystack. That's what I feel like they're doing because they have, you know, evidence that they're not released in the public or whatever right for what we're given. I feel like we're given a picture of a haystack and expected to find the needle. That's what I feel like,

And that's why I don't like this case. It's because it's like, what do you expect to come of this?

Speaker 2

Yeah, it's hard, Like your mind wants to go about, like, oh, through all the possibilities, but it's just it's like impossible. Yeah, so huh, well, good job researching that one. I'm glad that that it was you and not me.

Speaker 1

Thank you, thank you. It's an interesting case. Like I say, it's not one of my favorites, but it's definitely an interesting case that piqued my interest and it was still worth sharing.

Speaker 2

Well yeah, totally worth sharing. Its just I feel like I would to take me forever. I would have been all over the place.

Speaker 1

So oh so was I? So was I?

Speaker 2

Yeah?

Speaker 1

You actually, if going through this episode, you might have heard me being all over the place because my research, my brain, everything was all over the place and it was really hard to put together.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so it would be so well. Anyway, you did a good job.

Speaker 1

Thank you appreciate that. If you guys want to check out our links, we have a big description of this podcast. You can go ahead and click on that and take a look at what we have. You check out our Facebook, you could check out our YouTube, Instagram, yeah we got that. We even have a website. Whatever you want, check it out. You can sign up for Patreon and you can get exclusive behind the scene content. You can support us. We're

an indie show. We don't have a big corporation. Who's you know, pulling the strings and telling us what to do. It's us. We live in our tiny home. We research, we produce, we do it all. So any of the support you do by going to those links, following us, listening again, you know, giving us a review, that all helps us immensely. And if you have done some of those things, thank you so much. If you're listening still while I'm still rambling right now, thank you so so.

Speaker 2

There are some people that listen to the bitter end just to hear every last second, and I know which I love.

Speaker 1

Yeah, if you guys know, we still get messages of people saying barbecue sauce occasionally, like to this day.

Speaker 2

We do. It's pretty awesome.

Speaker 1

Yeah.

Speaker 2

I can't even remember how that exactly came to be. I think it was at the very end of an episode.

Speaker 1

I think it was the end, but it was like, if you're still listening, just message us and say barbecue sauce. And we still get people doing that.

Speaker 2

So yeah, anyway, Happy New Year. We hope it's a good one. We hope you stay safe and until next episode, stay with it.

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