Eight years since Sherman slayings and still no answers

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While someone has so far gotten away with murdering this billionaire couple, they have not been successful in stopping their money from being donated to charity.

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While the strange and disturbing deaths of Honey and Barry Sherman remain a mystery, this power couple’s legacy does not. It’s no secret what the Shermans did for their community and, through their four children, still do in their names posthumously. The Sherman family’s generosity is on display all over the Greater Toronto Area.

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It’s something their son Jonathon Sherman says he’s very proud of.

“At the eighth anniversary of the loss of my parents, I continue to miss them every single day,” he told the Toronto Sun in a statement. “One thing that provides some comfort is knowing that their legacy of positive change endures in a very powerful way.”

The Shermans, worth an estimated $4.7 billion, were always a philanthropic force in life and eight years after they were found dead in their Old Colony Rd. home, their charity is what they are remembered for and still participating in.

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The latest example came to fruition in August with the opening of the Honey and Barry Memorial Arena on the UJA Federation’s Vaughan Jewish Community Campus, connected to the Schwartz/Reisman Centre. This is a modern, NHL-size arena with training facilities funded by Jonathon Sherman who also put up $5 million to name a nearby park after his parents.

“This first of its kind, community owned state-of-the-art ice arena is the embodiment of my parents – people who at every opportunity led with an inclusive and community driven approach,” said Jonathon. “The HBMA also generates a financial surplus and gives it right back to the community, which is exactly who my parents were.”

It really is a great arena on an already fabulous campus.

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“It is incredibly special to celebrate the opening of the Honey and Barry Memorial Arena (HBMA) in honour of my late parents’ lives,” Jonathon said at the opening. “My parents believed in hard work and helping others, and the HBMA is a lasting testament to these very ideals. Just as my parents touched the lives of so many throughout our community, this arena will benefit the Jewish community and all Vaughan residents for generations to come.”

Jonathon has confirmed to the Toronto Sun that the $25-milllon reward, added to the $10 million offered earlier with his sisters, still stands – making it $35 million to whoever find his parents killer or killers.

The Shermans, Barry who was 75 and Honey who was 70, were found Dec. 15, 2017, by their real estate agent positioned with belts around their necks, hanging from a railing next to the swimming pool.

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Honey’s body, which is said to have had facial wounds, was slumped over while Barry’s body with no other wounds and was upright. It has been said a security camera in the pool area had been rendered inoperable.

Frantic scene believed to have been a domestic

It is believed the Shermans, had been there since Dec. 13.

While a frantic scene with media trucks and police descended on the normally quiet, posh street, police were not treating this as an incident where someone killed the couple and fled the scene – even saying at the time that they had “no outstanding suspect to be going after.”

Police sources also initially told me – and others – the scenario they were probing was Barry had killed his wife and then orchestrated an appearance of a double suicide. It stayed that way for 42 days.

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This did not go over well with family and friends who didn’t believe in a double suicide or murder suicide designation because the couple was close, had big plans to build a new home and they were about to head to their Florida home for the holidays.

“I worked with Barry for 35 years. None of it makes any sense to me,” Apotex CEO Jack Kay, a family friend, told me. “Anybody who knows Barry would know he would never ever, ever commit suicide … or murder. He was a pacifist.”

‘They were taken from us’

Jonathon addressed this as well at the funeral.

“Before we could begin to grieve as a family and recover in a proper, Jewish manner, we’ve had to navigate through a terrifying maze of non-information and unfounded speculation, all while trying to support each other emotionally,” the couple’s son said in his eulogy. “This has been so incredibly painful and so bizarrely surreal. But we have been taking comfort in knowing that your hearts have been breaking for us. And for those of you, especially in blue, who are experiencing similar feelings of loss and emptiness and loneliness, remember this – our parents never left anyone behind. They were taken from us.”

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The couple’s children – Lauren, Jonathon, Alexandra and Kaelen – put up an initial $10-million reward and hired top private investigator Tommy Klatt to conduct a parallel investigation.

A former Toronto Police homicide detective himself, Klatt brought in experienced former detectives to help him.

A second autopsy by a different coroner was also ordered.

It was all so surreal, but it eventually led to police determining six weeks later that not only was this a double murder, but Det.-Sgt. Sue Gomes called them “targeted homicides.”

Considered an unsolved double murder

This is the way it remains eight years later – an unsolved, double murder, but not a cold case.

“The homicide investigation remains active and is being led by Detective Sergeant Brandon Price in partnership with Police Constable Dennis Yim,” police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said.

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The couple’s daughter Alexandra Sherman Krawczyk, who it has been reported has spearheaded a purchase of the property that sat empty since the 12,000-square-foot house was torn down, told CBC News in December: “I’m encouraged, to a small degree, that the case is still active” and that police “haven’t since said ‘we can’t solve this.’”

On the investigation, Krawczyk, who also donated $10-million to the Humber River Hospital from the Honey and Barry Sherman Legacy Foundation, told CBC: “I honestly don’t know where they’re at.”

The last big public canvas police did was in 2021 when they shared a picture of a man walking with an unusual stride on a nearby street the night of the murders.

Police have interviewed some 250 people and there are hundreds of investigation actions that have been undertaken. But investigators have never publicly named a suspect.

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Those police have spoken to include members of the Sherman family, former business partner in the movie, television and beverage industries Frank D’Angelo, and cousin Kerry Winter – all of whom are not considered suspects.

Police have conducted 250 interviews

“There have been recent reports in the media which indicate that the Toronto Police Service has identified, but not arrested, a person of interest in this investigation,” Det.-Sgt. Brandon Price said in 2020, adding “numerous ‘persons of interest’ have been, and continue to be, investigated” and “the goal of any investigation is to identify persons who may have been involved in an offence or to exclude them as suspects.”

D’Angelo, who said he was interview number 127, has maintained it was a double murder since Dec. 15, 2017, while Winter believes in the original messaging from police that this was a domestic incident where no reward will be paid out.

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But one of Barry Sherman’s closest friends and his right-hand man at Apotex, Jack Kay, always insisted this was a professional hit with a financial motive.

“In most murder cases around the world, just follow the money,” Kay told me in 2020. “Just follow the money and you might come up with something.”

Kay added: “You would think that three years later we would have had somebody charged for the crime, but the police are still working on it. My assumption is they have suspects but they don’t have solid proof and that is what they are trying to get.”

Sadly, when I circled back to reach out to Jack for this, I unfortunately learned of his passing Nov. 8, just a week shy of his 85th birthday.

“In 1982, Jack took a flyer and joined Barry Sherman at Apotex Inc. in Toronto (a then fledging company), where he would ultimately become the CEO until his (involuntary) departure in 2018,” an obituary on Legacy.com states. “Together, Barry and Jack – kibbitzing back and forth through their adjoining offices – built Apotex into the amazing Canadian success story it became. Jack and Barry were extremely close (even as they would sometimes grumble at each other like the two Muppet old guys in the balcony), and they shared a steadfast commitment to improving lives through medicine and giving back to their communities.”

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Now eight years since slayings

Jack told me bringing the world affordable medicine was he and Barry’s priority more than getting or being rich. He also said he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from the homicides of his friends.

“Jack was absolutely devastated when Barry and Honey were murdered,” his obit states. “While Jack said he did not believe in the afterlife, we leave room for the idea that there is more kibbitzing going on in a world beyond.”

As the years go by, who killed Honey and Barry Sherman remains a head scratcher.

It’s a conundrum. What isn’t, though, is the impact Honey and Barry Sherman had on the GTA as is illustrated on signs all over the place.

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Significant dates in Sherman murders investigation:

Dec. 15, 2017: Honey and Barry Sherman were found dead inside their home in what police initially thought was a murder-suicide.

Dec. 17, 2017: A coroner says the couple suffered “ligature neck compression,” consistent with hanging.

Dec. 21, 2017: The couple’s funeral was attended by 6,000 people, including then prime minister Justin Trudeau, then-premier Kathleen Wynne, then mayor John Tory, and Postmedia Chair and family friend Paul Godfrey. The Sherman’s son, Jonathon, called out police on their murder-suicide theory.

Dec. 23, 2017: Family lawyer Brian Greenspan arranged for a private pathologist to conduct an autopsy.

Dec. 27, 2017: Greenspan announced retired Toronto Police detective Tom Klatt will lead an investigation on behalf of the family.

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Jan. 13, 2018: Honey Sherman’s sister, Mary Shechtman, says the murderers were “making a statement.”

Jan. 26, 2018: Toronto Police shocked the city by changing their minds and calling this a “targeted” double slaying.

Oct. 25, 2018: Greenspan announced the family had posted a $10-million reward in the case.

Dec. 13, 2021: A video on Dec. 13, 2017, shows a suspect walking near the murder scene.

Dec. 8, 2022: The Shermans’ daughter, Alexandra Sherman Krawczyk, reminded the public of the $10-million reward offered to help solve the killing of her parents.

May 17, 2024: Alexandra Sherman Krawczyk donated $10 million in her parents name to the Humber River Hospital.

Nov. 25, 2025: It was reported a charity Sherman daughter Alexandra Krawczyk works with have bought back the Old Colony Rd. property with a desire to put up a potential parkette or legacy memorial in agreement with neighbours to honour her parents.

Dec: 11, 2025: Jonathon Sherman indicates his $25-million reward stands, making the total $35 million to catch his parents’ killers.

jwarmington@postmedia.com

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