0:20

From aspirin to drugs that

0:22

combat life -threatening diseases, pharmaceuticals

0:25

are a part of daily life for

0:27

most of us. In

0:29

2023, pharmaceutical companies made

0:31

$1 .6 trillion here in

0:33

the US, according to

0:35

Statistica. And Canadian

0:37

pharmaceutical companies made $41

0:39

billion. While Canada

0:41

does have far less citizens, there

0:44

are also other reasons for that

0:46

large price difference. Canada has

0:48

systems for controlling prices. like

0:50

the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board,

0:53

and even though they do recognize patents,

0:56

there are conditions where they will allow

0:58

generics to be created before those

1:00

patents have expired. Of

1:02

course, this isn't something that Big

1:04

Pharma really likes. A

1:06

whopping three fourths of all drugs

1:08

dispensed in Canada are generics,

1:10

and sometimes you have US citizens

1:12

traveling there to buy those

1:15

drugs and bring them home. Toronto

1:17

is a big hub of the

1:19

Canadian pharmaceutical industry. From

1:21

research and development to

1:24

investing and manufacturing, this

1:26

industry attracts a strong pull of

1:28

talent to this highly competitive field

1:30

and everyone in it takes their

1:32

job very seriously. But

1:34

would an industry so focused on

1:36

health also have a dark underbelly,

1:38

one that could even lead to

1:40

murder? That's something that

1:42

one has to wonder when you

1:44

learn about the seriously mysterious case

1:46

of Barry and Honey Sherman. Bernard

1:50

Charles Sherman didn't seem to start

1:52

as a man destined for greatness.

1:54

As an adolescent, the young

1:56

Canadian described himself as lethargic,

1:59

physically awkward, and introverted. He

2:01

had few friends and just kept to

2:03

himself. He also suffered a devastating

2:05

loss when his father would die of a

2:07

heart attack when Barry was only 10 years

2:09

old. He didn't do very well in

2:11

school either. That is, until

2:13

he realized just how much he

2:16

loved math and science, and

2:18

he found that he was extremely talented at physics.

2:21

This was the catalyst that would turn his life

2:23

around. Once he graduated

2:25

from high school, he went on to

2:27

attend the University of Toronto and graduated

2:29

in 1964 with the highest honors in

2:31

his class. His thesis also

2:33

won him the University's Governor

2:35

General's Award. Good grades and

2:37

a keen mind led him to a

2:40

summer's work at NASA, which was soon

2:42

followed by a move to Boston, Massachusetts

2:44

in the United States. There

2:46

he attended the Massachusetts Institute

2:48

of Technology, or MIT. He

2:51

graduated in 1967 with a

2:53

perfect 5 .0 grade point average

2:55

and a PhD in astrophysics.

2:58

When he wasn't in school, Barry

3:00

filled his summers working for

3:02

various companies, one of which was

3:04

his uncle Lou's pharmaceutical company.

3:06

Empire Labs Empire Labs specialized in

3:08

making generic drugs. In a

3:10

memoir that he wrote that was

3:12

never officially published, Barry said, Although

3:15

I did not know it at the

3:17

time, these summers at Empire Laboratories would

3:19

later prove to be of critical importance

3:22

to my future career. He

3:24

knew that he didn't want to simply

3:26

work as an engineer. He had much

3:28

larger aspirations. When his

3:30

uncle Lou died in 1965 with

3:32

his wife following just a few

3:34

weeks later, Barry and a high

3:36

school friend named Joel Ulster bought

3:38

Empire Labs. However, Uncle

3:40

Lou also had four young children, and

3:43

there was one condition that Barry was to

3:45

abide by. When Uncle Lou's

3:47

sons reached 21 years of age, they

3:49

would be given the opportunity to work

3:51

for the company, and after two years

3:53

they could buy 5 % stakes in Empire.

3:56

There were also some royalties from four of

3:58

their products that the boys were to receive. It

4:01

seems that Barry's life was on

4:03

a path, and one that could

4:05

be extremely lucrative. In

4:07

the early 1970s, he was introduced to

4:09

a young candy striper at Mount

4:11

Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Her

4:13

name was Anna Debra Reich,

4:16

or Honey, as she was known to friends

4:18

and family. The two married

4:20

on July 2, 1971, at

4:22

the York County Courthouse, and went

4:24

on to have four children

4:26

of their own, Lauren, Jonathan, Alexandra,

4:28

and Kailin. Honey's parents

4:30

were both Holocaust survivors, with Honey

4:32

herself being born in a

4:35

displaced persons camp in Austria back

4:37

in 1947. This

4:39

part of Honey's heritage touched Barry. Through

4:42

the years, Barry and Honey Sherman

4:44

became donors and supporters of many

4:46

organizations. Over the course

4:48

of their lives, the Shermans would

4:50

give tens of millions of dollars

4:52

to numerous healthcare organizations, education

4:54

centers, political figures,

4:56

and, particularly, Holocaust

4:59

Remembrance Organizations. Her

5:01

work is still known and appreciated to this

5:03

very day. She was a

5:05

go -getter and very headstrong. Some

5:07

even labeled her as difficult to

5:10

deal with. It was honey's

5:12

way or no way. At

5:14

the end of 1972, Empire was bringing

5:16

in just under $2 million a year. The

5:19

next summer, Barry and his friend

5:21

Ulster sold Empire for $2 million.

5:24

Now, Barry could realize his next

5:26

big dream. having his own

5:28

pharmaceutical company. He named his

5:30

new business Apotex and built it

5:32

from the ground up. By

5:34

the time Barry was done, Apotex

5:36

was one of Canada's top generic pharmaceutical

5:38

companies. In every Canadian home,

5:40

one out of five prescriptions were

5:42

from the Apotex generic drug catalog.

5:45

Their first big hit was the generic

5:47

version of a drug called AZT, one

5:49

of the earlier treatments for HIV. They

5:52

were also one of the first to develop

5:54

a generic version of Prozac. At

5:56

its height, Apotex had a net

5:58

worth of $3 .6 billion. By

6:02

the 2000s, the Shermans led a

6:04

life full of charity events and

6:06

positions in civic councils. Everyone

6:08

who was anyone knew Barry and Honey

6:10

Sherman. His work was his life,

6:12

and Barry took it with him on vacations. He

6:15

rarely made it to any of

6:17

his children's extracurricular activities. Honey

6:19

would take her sister, Mary Schechtman,

6:22

and her sister's family on trips

6:24

and vacations. One of their

6:26

happiest places to go was a condo in

6:28

Miami, and of course, trips to

6:30

Disney World. Barry and Honey

6:32

would also give her sister family loans,

6:35

and because of those loans,

6:37

their finances became somewhat entangled. Mary's

6:39

husband, Alan, also ran several businesses,

6:41

some of which were for Barry,

6:44

but in the end, none of those businesses

6:46

really worked out. Alan was

6:48

left owing $32 million in

6:50

loans. Mary tried to do

6:53

her part working for the Shermans as

6:55

well. She was paid to decorate homes and

6:57

they lent her money to buy different

6:59

properties both in Canada and the US. Some

7:02

of Barry and Honey's children

7:04

were in the same boat. Barry

7:06

loaned his son Jonathan $125

7:08

million to build a self -storage

7:10

business and a marina. If

7:12

you were Barry's child and you asked

7:14

for something, you generally got it. Honey

7:17

wanted the children to be more

7:19

independent but Barry still continued to lend

7:21

money to the children and the

7:23

Shekmans as well as their children. Mary

7:26

and Honey were afraid that their children would

7:28

be totally dependent on Barry. Mary

7:30

constantly scolded her children about it and

7:32

was especially upset with her son Noah.

7:35

She became enraged and threatened to remove Noah

7:37

from a trust that the Shermans had

7:39

set up for the family. This

7:42

infighting, eventually ruined Mary's relationship

7:44

with Noah and after removing

7:46

him as beneficiary from her

7:48

real estate portfolio, the

7:51

two quit talking. Barry

7:53

did all of this while showing little of

7:55

his wealth to the public. He worked

7:57

all the time, never missing a day, but

7:59

he was still driving his old Ford

8:01

Mustang, and he tended to wear tattered

8:03

older clothing. For his fiftieth

8:05

birthday, honey bought him a Mercedes. Even

8:08

though it was used, Barry became

8:10

agitated and made Honey return it.

8:13

He hated to waste money. and even though

8:15

he had it in abundance, he

8:17

didn't want to see a penny slip through his fingers. Barry's

8:20

business also kept him very active

8:22

in Canadian courts. Creating

8:24

generics and working against big pharmaceutical

8:26

companies was always bringing about

8:28

some kind of lawsuit and Barry

8:31

loved to sue people as

8:33

well. He had more lawsuits than

8:35

any one person could keep up with

8:37

and he wasn't afraid to drag anyone into

8:39

court. He made many

8:41

enemies and even wondered if someone

8:43

would eventually just prefer to

8:45

have him killed over constantly fighting

8:47

him in court. After

9:01

Uncle Lu and his wife died

9:03

so many years previously, their

9:05

four sons were adopted by other

9:07

people. One of his sons,

9:09

Carrie Winter, was adopted by

9:11

a family whose father was particularly

9:13

abusive, and at an early age,

9:15

Carrie ran away from home. This

9:18

led to encounters with the police and

9:20

a drug addiction that he would struggle with

9:22

for decades. At first,

9:24

Barry tried to help Carrie. When

9:26

the young man was in his 20s, Barry

9:29

paid for rehab and helped support his renovation

9:31

business. Sadly, money

9:33

can turn a lot of people sideways

9:35

and create a lot of tension in

9:37

families. Kerry and his brothers

9:39

eventually found what they considered proof that

9:41

Barry had cheated them out of a

9:43

lot of money and cheated them out

9:45

of their father's business. Remember, when

9:47

Barry bought Empire Labs, there was a

9:49

clause that would give the boys an option

9:51

for 5 % of the drug company when

9:53

they came of age. Unfortunately,

9:56

by the time they came of age, Barry

9:58

had sold the company. In

10:00

2007, the children

10:02

sued Barry, seeking 20 % of

10:04

his interest in apotex. Barry

10:06

countered saying that he had offered to help

10:08

the four boys with millions of dollars. The

10:11

boys alleged that this was only a

10:13

tactic to make them dependent on Barry and

10:15

would also keep their hands off of

10:17

the business. After 10 years

10:19

of litigation, in 2017, the

10:22

Ontario Superior Court ruled against

10:24

the boys and ordered them

10:26

to pay $300 ,000 in

10:28

legal costs back to Barry. To

10:31

say that this left bad blood

10:33

between the family members would be a

10:35

vast understatement. In the winter

10:37

of 2017, Barry and Honey decided to sell

10:39

the home that they had lived in

10:41

for nearly 30 years. The

10:44

house at 50 Old Colony Road

10:46

in Toronto was lovely. Honey

10:48

listed it for sale at

10:50

$6 .9 million Canadian dollars, about

10:52

$5 million US. At

10:54

this time, the Shermans were worth

10:56

somewhere between $5 and $10 billion. While

10:59

selling the house, they were also

11:01

building a $25 million dollar mansion in

11:03

one of Toronto's most exclusive neighborhoods

11:05

called Forest Hill. They also

11:08

had plans to take a vacation in Miami. Honey

11:10

would leave first and then Barry was to

11:12

follow a week later. On

11:14

the afternoon of December 13th, Barry and

11:16

Honey met a builder at the

11:18

Apatex offices to discuss designs for the

11:20

new home. Afterwards, the two

11:23

returned to 50 Old Colony Road

11:25

where Barry sent his nightly email to

11:27

his team at work. At 6 .21

11:29

pm, Honey made a phone call,

11:31

speaking briefly with a friend. No

11:33

one heard anything else from Barry or

11:35

Honey. The following day, Barry

11:38

missed work, something that he would never

11:40

do. On Friday, December

11:42

15th, the Sherman's gardener and housekeeper came

11:44

to work and noticed that the alarm

11:46

system for the house was turned

11:48

off. They didn't see Barry

11:50

or Honey. Shortly after, the real

11:52

estate agent who was handling the sale of

11:54

the Sherman home came by with a couple

11:56

who were interested in the property. As

11:59

the group entered, the real estate agent

12:01

found Barry's gloves and the house inspection paperwork

12:03

he had brought home with him near

12:05

the door between the basement and the garage.

12:08

Feeling confident that the couple were at

12:10

home, the real estate agent and potential

12:12

buyers looked at the main level and

12:14

then headed downstairs to view the lap

12:16

pool and hot tub area. When

12:18

they walked into the indoor pool

12:20

area from a distance, they could see

12:22

Honey and Barry Sherman. The

12:24

real estate agent initially thought that the

12:27

two were doing yoga, but that quickly

12:29

changed. Upon closer inspection, she could

12:31

see that the 75 -year -old Barry

12:33

Sherman had been strapped to the railing

12:35

of the pool with a men's

12:37

leather belt, leaving him in a seated

12:39

position. 70 -year -old Honey was

12:41

on her side with a bruise on her

12:43

face. Their coats had been

12:45

pulled down and used to restrain their

12:47

arms. Neither appeared to be

12:49

breathing. When police and

12:51

paramedics arrived, they found that the Shermans

12:53

had indeed passed away and rigor mortis

12:55

was already setting in. Strangely,

12:57

police would find a sculpture in

13:00

the basement area that matched Barry and

13:02

Honey's positions at death. Barry

13:04

even had one leg crossed over the other,

13:06

just as one of the statues had. There

13:09

was no forced entry into the home

13:11

discovered, but the Shermans were known for leaving

13:13

their windows and doors unlocked. The

13:15

real estate agent was able to confirm with

13:17

police that a window and door in the

13:19

basement had been left open as well. Honey's

13:22

phone was found in a bathroom that she

13:24

didn't use very often, leading police to believe

13:26

that she may have hid there while trying

13:28

to evade her attacker. The

13:30

original post -mortem examination concluded that

13:33

both died of ligature net

13:35

compression, and with Honey being the

13:37

only one to have additional injuries to her face,

13:39

police initially considered that Barry had murdered

13:42

Honey. and then taken his own

13:44

life in a murder suicide. That

13:46

assumption was let loose in the press,

13:49

and Barry and Honey's families were outraged

13:51

at the accusation. Unimpressed

13:53

with what police had turned up so

13:55

far, the Sherman children immediately hired their

13:57

own investigative team to find out the

13:59

truth of their parents' deaths. Brian

14:01

Greenspan, one of Canada's leading attorneys, was

14:03

the head of this team. He

14:06

stated that the family had

14:08

been understandably outraged by the unfounded

14:10

police statement which they believe

14:12

from the outset had jeopardized and

14:14

indeed compromised the integrity of

14:16

the investigation. This assumption

14:19

created a situation where the

14:21

crime scene wasn't fully processed for

14:23

a homicide. The private

14:25

investigators found that the Toronto Police

14:27

did not complete a standard protocol

14:29

for fingerprint elimination and that they

14:31

also missed at least 20 fingerprint

14:33

or palm impressions that the private

14:35

team discovered. The autopsy would

14:37

confirm the ligature net compression being the

14:39

cause of death, but also found that there

14:41

were marks on both of their wrists

14:44

that suggested they had both been tied up

14:46

with zip ties prior to their deaths. The

14:49

time of death was estimated to be around

14:51

36 hours before the bodies were found, and

14:54

with that, six weeks later,

14:56

police investigators finally determined that

14:58

the Shermans had died by

15:00

homicide. That's six

15:02

weeks of no potential suspects

15:04

being looked into. and

15:06

no leads being tracked down. Many

15:09

different companies that Barry was involved in

15:11

lawsuits with were looked into, but no

15:13

solid leads panned out of that. Before

15:16

their deaths, a federal lobbying commissioner

15:18

had started to investigate Barry over

15:20

fundraising events that he had held

15:23

for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. No

15:25

connection to the murders was found there either. When

15:28

Barry's family was looked into and questioned, a

15:31

disturbing report was given to

15:33

them involving Kerry Winter. Kerry

15:35

had reportedly fantasized about

15:37

killing Barry for years. and

16:05

I would just decapitate him. I

16:07

wanted to roll his head down the parking

16:09

lot and I just sit there waiting for the

16:11

police. Despite his

16:13

murderous fantasies, Cary denied having anything

16:16

to do with the Sherman's

16:18

deaths. He in turn told

16:20

police that Barry had once tried to have a

16:22

hit taken out on Honey. He claimed

16:24

that Barry had actually called him and asked

16:26

him to set up the murder. He

16:28

said that eventually the plan was called

16:30

off But for him, it only gave

16:32

more credence to the theory that Barry

16:34

had killed Honey and then himself, despite

16:36

the autopsy's findings. When

16:38

he was asked to take a lie detector test to

16:40

prove the truth of these claims, he volunteered

16:43

to take one, and then he

16:45

failed it. After that,

16:47

on advice of his attorney, Kerry Winner

16:49

refused to take another lie detector test.

16:52

It was also considered that Honey's sister and

16:54

her family could be behind the murders.

16:56

At the time of Barry and Honey's deaths,

16:58

they had been essentially cut off and

17:01

were no longer receiving money from them. Some

17:03

wondered if this could have angered them

17:05

enough that they killed their one -time

17:07

benefactors. But again, no solid connection

17:09

could be made and no charges would

17:11

come of it. The

17:13

case remained open and four years

17:16

after the initial investigation police released

17:18

a video of a person who

17:20

could potentially be the Sherman's murderer. A

17:22

CCTV camera captured a man on the day

17:24

of the murders outside of the home for

17:27

a lengthy amount of time. Investigators

17:29

pointed out that the figure in the

17:31

video walked with an unusual gait. The

17:33

person's face cannot be seen,

17:35

and they've never been identified. They

17:38

were described as wearing a hat,

17:40

kicking up their right boot with each

17:42

step, and appeared to be between

17:45

5 '6 and 5 '9 inches tall. Today,

17:49

the murder of Barry and Honey Sherman still

17:51

remains a mystery. The investigation

17:53

is still open and ongoing. If

17:55

you have any information

17:58

regarding this case, please

18:00

contact Toronto Police's Homicide

18:02

Division at 416 -808 -7400

18:04

or you can email

18:06

them at homicide at

18:08

torontoplice .on .ca. If

18:10

you need to remain anonymous for

18:12

any reason, you can also call

18:14

416 -222 -TIPS. That's

18:17

416 -222 -8477.

18:20

The Sherman Home at 50 Old

18:22

Colony Road. was demolished in

18:24

2019, the land sold by the

18:26

Sherman children the following year. Despite

18:29

the children's efforts to honor their

18:31

parents by continuing to help many charitable

18:33

organizations, they are

18:35

now being sued by two of

18:37

Mary's children. As someone

18:39

once said, greed is

18:41

not a financial issue, it's

18:43

a heart issue. Do

18:46

you have any insights or even a

18:48

case you'd like to suggest? Feel free to

18:50

send it to me. You'll find a

18:52

comment form and case submission link at lordanarts

18:54

.com, or you can follow and

18:56

message me on x at lordanarts. Thank

18:59

you, townandcountrymag .com,

19:01

bloomberg .com, all things

19:03

interesting, cbc, cbsnews,

19:05

encyclopedia .ushmm .org, statistica

19:07

.com, ibisworld .com, tps

19:09

.ca, the CJN,

19:11

financialpost .com, and Wikipedia

19:14

for information contributing

19:16

to today's story.

19:18

This episode was written by Kristi

19:20

Arnhart, edited by John Lorden, and

19:22

produced by Lordenarts. Thank you

19:25

to our audience here for the

19:27

live recording session hosted on the

19:29

YouTube channel Lordenarts Studio 2, and

19:31

a big thank you to everyone

19:33

that supports Seriously Mysterious over at

19:35

Lordenarts .com. I'm John Lorden. Please join

19:37

us again next week for another

19:39

case I know you'll find seriously

19:41

mysterious.