The family of Canadian pharmaceutical billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife Honey are offering a C$10 million reward for any leads in their murders.
Mr. and Mrs. Sherman were found strangled in their home in Toronto last December.
The reward was announced on Friday by the family’s lawyer after months of silence from the police and family.
A tip line will be monitored 24/7 and leads will be vetted before being passed to the local police, according to the family’s lawyer Brian Greenspan.
Mr. Greenspan also criticized the Toronto police on handling the matter. The family hired Toronto private investigator to look into the crime, but the hired team found that Toronto police did not follow best practices in their investigation.
Families may hire a private investigator to aid in their case, but local police are often reluctant to cooperate with a hired team.
Mr. Greenspan alleges that police did not properly examine the crime scene or thoroughly examine points of entry to the home.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders has stated that police and the family’s investigative team were working to bring those responsible for the murder to justice. Saunders said the investigation is not being taken lightly.
The couple was found strangled in their home, both fully clothed and hanging by belts on the pool deck. Their autopsies revealed that both had died from ligature neck compression, or strangulation with material. Mr. Sherman was found with his legs outstretched, one leg crossed over the other.
A separate autopsy found that the couple had markings on their wrists, which indicates that their hands had been tied with plastic zip ties or cords. The bodies were found with the hands untied and no rope or zip ties nearby.
Mr. Greenspan said their bodies were staged.
The police said they found no evidence of forced entry on any access points to the couple’s home.
Mr. Sherman was the founder and chairman of Apotex, a pharmaceutical company that sells generic medicines worldwide. He entered the business through his uncle’s company Empire Laboratories. He purchased the company after his uncle’s death.
Empire was eventually sold, and he created Apotex, the company that would make him a billionaire.
Mr. Sherman eventually became involved in a family dispute in which his uncle’s children were seeking a stake in this company. The children claimed they had been cheated, but a judge threw out their claim last year.