Billionaire couple found dead in their basement had been strangled, Canadian police say

The billionaire couple were found strangled, their bodies dangling from the railing around their basement lap pool.

Honey and Barry Sherman died of “ligature neck compression,” a form of strangulation in which a cord or rope is used to exert fatal pressure on a person’s neck, Toronto police said.

It was a gory and puzzling detail in the deaths of the Shermans, who made billions in the pharmaceutical industry, then gave a significant chunk of their fortune away to charity.

Shocked neighbors called the Shermans “lovely people.” Now, their deaths are being probed by homicide investigators.

Their bodies were found Friday in the lowest level of their $7 million home by a real estate agent preparing the mansion for an open house.

Since then, family members and people who had been touched by the couple’s philanthropy have been poring over the final weeks of the Shermans’ lives — trying to figure out why investigators had described their deaths as “suspicious.”

“The circumstances of their death appear suspicious, and we are treating it that way,” Constable David Hopkinson said at a news conference outside the couple’s home in Toronto’s affluent North York neighborhood.

Police have been tight-lipped about the case and, until Sunday, didn’t say anything about what might have aroused their suspicions.

Hopkinson said there were no signs of forced entry at the Shermans’ home. No one has been arrested in the case, which police have still not deemed a homicide. Sunday’s news release called them “two suspicious deaths.”

On Saturday afternoon, the Toronto Star reported that police were investigating the possibility of a murder-suicide, but relatives dismissed that theory.

The family released a statement, saying: “We are shocked and think it’s irresponsible that police sources have reportedly advised the media of a theory which neither their family, their friends nor their colleagues believe to be true.

“We urge the Toronto Police Service to conduct a thorough, intensive and objective criminal investigation, and urge the media to refrain from further reporting as to the cause of these tragic deaths until the investigation is completed.”

Barry Sherman, 75, was the founder of Canadian pharmaceutical giant Apotex and one of the richest people in the world. Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.2 billion, earning him the 12th spot on the list of the wealthiest Canadians. He’d appeared on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires for 15 years.

The Shermans were known for their largesse, doling out tens of millions of dollars to universities, hospitals and the United Jewish Appeal, according to the Globe and Mail. Honey Sherman was a board member at several institutions: York University, the Baycrest Foundation and Mount Sinai Hospital. She had been chair of the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto and the Holocaust Education Centre.

They are survived by their four children, including one who just gave them a grandchild.

Their deaths brought condolences from the highest rungs of Canadian society and government, including from the organizations they had spent years supporting. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those expressing grief.