Suspicion - S2 The Billionaire Murders | E3 The Day They Died

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

We follow the footsteps of Honey and Barry Sherman and the mysterious "Walking Man" as they converge on Old Colony Rd., in what became a horrible, murderous evening. But the day started with smiles and workouts. Hannukah had just begun. Honey had presents to buy for grandchildren and Barry had drug battles to fight. Audio Sources: Toronto Police Press Conferences, Sherman private investigation press conference

The Billionaire Murders is brought to you by Havelock Metal, the only roof and siding you'll ever need. Barry and Honey Sherman, billionaires, philanthropists, were murdered in their home in December 2017. Using a mix of the Sherman home's real estate photos and Toronto Star images, I'm going to present the most likely scenario for what happened at 50 Old Colony Road. I made that timeline video with Toronto Star producer Kelsey Wilson in December 2019, two years into my investigation. I know a lot more now. Based on this evidence, we're classifying this individual as a suspect. From the Toronto Star, I'm Kevin Donovan,

and this is The Billionaire Murders, the hunt for the killers of Honey and Barry Sherman. Episode 3, The Day They Died. In Episodes 1 and 2, you heard how police initially dismissed the deaths as murder-suicide, then flip-flopped and called it a targeted double homicide. On this episode, I want to take you through what I've learned to date about the movements of Barry and Honey around the time of their murders. This comes from investigation sources, Sherman contacts, and my now five-year-long court battle to unseal 3,300 pages of police search warrant information.

Did he really work out? Not with any conviction. That's Denise Gold, the trainer who was with Barry and Honey at their home the day they were murdered. Barry had first slot at 8.30am that Wednesday in a small gym area attached to the master bedroom.

Barry was a genius, but had never been in shape. Honey wanted Barry to exercise, and so he did. He lifted some weights, but you know, you never get the strength Honey wanted Barry to exercise, and so he did. And, you know, we used to banter about, you know, how many times can you look at your watch? The time goes really slow when you look at your watch. But I didn't start with that. We used to always eat breakfast together before we started. Who would he eat?

And that would be part of our hour because he'd try and waste as much time as possible. Oh, what did he eat? Frosted flakes. Maybe some Ritz crackers with peanut butter. A piece of processed cheese. This is the man who built a multi-billion dollar corporation from the ground up, employing 11,000 people, more than half of them in Canada. A lot of his stuff was just banter and nonsense.

Oh, I don't want to do this, it's stupid. He had a whole, I could recite it. I don't want to do this. Then he'd do a sigh and he'd go, I'm too old. I'm too old. And then he'd say, you know, which was irony, so dumb I'm going to die anyway. Barry was done at 9.30 and went off to shower. Honey came upstairs wearing an old pair of workout shorts.

When there was a rip or tear, she proudly sewed it herself. Honey's friends called her the bionic woman. Knee, hip, shoulder and back operations, thyroid cancer, arthritis, so many ailments. These daily workouts kept Honey going. She was really a jigsaw puzzle. That's the truth. So I worked with her. We had just increased the time to two hours, but a lot of it was very passive stretching and very passive movement. She couldn't hold on to weight. She was having trouble holding on anyway. Downstairs, the Sherman house was humming.

It was on the market for $6.9 million, and there was a showing later that day. Sherman realtor Elise Stern was there, a cleaner, and two men doing touch-up painting. After his shower, Barry popped back into the bedroom alcove. He proudly showed off a belt he was wearing for the very first time. So she had a pile of shirts, not shirts, sweaters. Some of them, I think, were for her and a lot for Barry.

And she had two belts. They were $9.99. This is the funniest part, from Canadian Tire. And I'd say to her, we had more laughs. I'd go, who buys a belt at Canadian Tire? She goes, I was there, and they were on sale. And I bought Barry a 34 and a 36. So we came in, and he was wearing the belt,

and she says, Barry, that looks too tight for you. And he goes, and he was jacked. He goes, it fits perfectly because, you know, on a lot of men, there's stomach. So you can wear a smaller belt, stomach goes on top of it. And those belts sat in that room for a month. And then he finally, that day, had that belt on. As Barry left to go downstairs, Honey called out, See you at five. Putting on his coat, Barry promised the agent he'd bring home a marked-up copy of the old Colney Road inspection report, part of his plan to convince prospective buyers the house was a steal at $6.9 million.

On the table that day was an offer for $1 million less, which Barry thought was ridiculous. By 10 a.m., he was climbing into his 10-year-old ragtop Ford Mustang with dodgy brakes and rust along the side panels. Upstairs, Denise continued her workout with Honey. As she later told police, the Sherman couple was in fine spirits that morning. They were both in great moods. So it was like, yeah, I'll see you. I'll see you at five. I'll be there very. So it was, you know, there was no tension between them. You know, and listen, you can always sense when there's tension between two people. And that day they were clear. They were definitely free and clear that day.

When Honey finished her training session, Josie, a masseuse, showed up for a scheduled two-hour massage. Then Honey showered, dressed, and left the house. It was the start of Hanukkah, and Honey wanted to get gifts for the grandchildren. I probably had the last meeting with Barry. That's Jeremy Desai, who was then the CEO of Apotex. A scientist, Barry had headhunted him away from a British firm.

It was a Wednesday, and it was a litigation strategy that we were trying to settle with a brand company in Canada for Canadian litigation. And as any negotiation strategy, it's a bit of a poker game. And we were kind of getting to the point where we had to make a decision. And we met again in that little office opposite Jack's office, two in-house IP lawyers and myself and Barry. It was about 2.30 on the Wednesday, and we must have talked for an hour. Jack Kay, Barry's second-in-command and close friend, had left at noon for a short trip to New York. He and his wife had purchased tickets to an Andreas Bocelli concert at a charity event the previous summer at Honey's Urging. Jack's absence, and who knew

Jack was away, is part of what I call the perfect storm theory of this case, which I'll get to later. As to Jeremy's interactions with his boss, it was business as usual. He and Barry agreed to have another meeting on the same litigation issue the next day. But the key piece of information they were waiting for arrived early, just after 5pm. And Jeremy told a colleague he'd stopped by Barry's office on the way to a department Christmas party. I said to the guy, I'll pop in on my way down to tell Barry the latest before I go to this restaurant. But I noticed Honey had parked the Lexus. So I said, okay, I'm not going to, I'll talk to Barry tomorrow. Honey's 10-year-old Lexus SUV was parked in Jack K's spot. By 5 p.m., Honey, Barry, and three builders from Brennan Custom Homes

were in the small boardroom near the reception area. This meeting was personal, to discuss plans for a $30 million mansion in Forest Hill, a heavily treed part of Toronto, where Barry had grown up. The shovel had not yet hit the ground, but the builders were meeting with Barry and Honey to discuss doors. Honey wanted French doors on the patios. Barry wanted sliding doors. Barry, as was the norm, won. This meeting was to have been at Old Colony Road, but for a reason that nobody can recall, it was moved to Apotex. At 6.15, security video in the foyer shows the builders and Honey leaving separately. A few minutes later Honey accidentally pocket dialed

one of the builders and the builder in his own car heard her giggling for about 20 seconds before the call ended. Honey also had a brief call with her sister Mary.

Honey had suggested she drop by Mary's that evening before going home. But Mary was not feeling well, and they decided to catch up in Florida the following week. That haunts Mary to this day. From Apotex, Honey headed to Bayview Village Shopping Mall to buy presents. Her phone records show that during the drive, she called Ellie Appleby, a good friend, to check in on her husband, who was recovering from an operation. Ellie told me Honey sounded completely normal.

Honey arrived at Bayview Village around 7 p.m. At the time, the mall didn't have its own security cameras in the common areas, but cameras at two places picked up Honey. She went to a cosmetic store and also to a bank. It was after hours, so only the ATM was accessible. Later, the police forensics team would find $7,500 in her wallet. It's always struck me as odd that Honey went to an ATM that night, as Barry often brought home wads of cash, which they kept in a drawer in their home office. Still, it was the holidays, Honey was going to Florida,

and she may have been withdrawing money for holiday tips for staff. I should tell you that police have not released these videos, so I don't know if anyone was with her at the ATM. It's a five-minute drive from Bayview to Old Colony Road. Honey was home just before 8pm. Following my court challenges, police have released some, but not all, call and email logs from Barry and Honey's phones and computers. Here's what I know so far. Barry's second last email of the day, sent from his computer at Apotex at 8.12pm, was classic Barry, according to Jeremy Desai. He was on the email chain with five others, some overseas in India. I still need these questions answered.

Packaging. Is ARPL equipped to do the packaging, i.e. two row, each with different strength? If not, are we equipped to do in Toronto? If not, how will we get it done? Who can answer? Sandra, awaiting samples. Barry sent his last email at 8.23pm to Jack K, looking for some paperwork. Agreements with PMS read

digoxin and ipratropium. I can't find either. Do you have? It was Barry's habit to stay at Apotex until 10pm, but this night he left at 8.30pm. One of the builders recalls Barry saying he had to go home early, but the builder couldn't remember the reason. Old Colony is less than a 20-minute drive from Apotex at that time of night. Barry was home before 9 p.m. Based on the timing of when we understand, when we believe the murders took place, we have this individual coming into a very defined area around the Sherman's household and remaining in that area for a period and then leaving from that area.

That's Detective Sergeant Brandon Price, who by 2021 had taken over the Sherman investigation from Susan Gomes. He's the detective who gave that impromptu press conference the night the bodies were found. Both Price and Gomes were promoted despite the early struggles of the Sherman probe. At a press conference to mark the fourth anniversary of their investigation, Price released video of someone they call the walking man, who police documents say is a killer or the killer. What you will hear him describing is the time period when Honey was already home from Bayview Village and Barry was just arriving.

There aren't a lot of video cameras near the Sherman's home. They had none themselves. But the police got footage from neighbours' cameras. In our exhaustive video canvas, we were able to get images from nearby, on either side, kind of, and around the Sherman household. And this individual walks into that area, does not continue to walk through, but remains in that area that's not covered by video footage, and remains in there and then comes back out sometime later. The video Price released that day shows a street scene just east of the Sherman home. It's snowing slightly.

The video was recorded by a camera mounted above a garage door on the north side of the street. The walking man comes into the frame, moving from the west to the east, away from the Sherman home. He's not very tall, between 5'6 and 5'9. Police figured that out by using a technique called photogrammetry, comparing his body to known objects in the video, namely a fire hydrant he passes.

The man has a funny walk, or so police say. Doctors call it drop foot. He kicks back his right foot ever so slightly with each step. Was he the killer? A lookout? To me, he looks like an older, portly fellow, but he could be a young man with a big coat trying to disguise himself. The walk could be fake too. At the press conference where the police showed the video, reporters questioned Price about the timing. He didn't bite. So I'm not going to get into the exact timing of it. I would say, I mean, I can just generally answer that it is a very suspicious amount of time. In line with our belief as to when these murders took place, based on this evidence, we're classifying this individual as a suspect. We'll be right back.

This is Kevin Donovan. I've been around building and renovation projects my entire life, so I can tell you it's important to make your next roof the last one your house, This is Kevin Donovan. I've been around building and renovation projects my entire life, so I can tell you it's important to make your next roof the last one your house, cottage, or building will ever need. Do it once, do it right, do it now. Have luck metal. Request your quote today. From my sources, I put the timing of the murders between 8.30 and 10 p.m. But let's go back to the Sherman home, to what happened just before the murders. Honey has arrived by 8 p.m. She's a creature of habit, parking her SUV to the right of the side door,

leaving enough room for Barry to drive down into the underground garage. A lot of her friends have suspicions of what happened next. Here's one of her good friends and golfing partner, the late Anita Franklin. I interviewed Anita back in 2018. They'd never given the time frame. Was Honey killed? I think Honey was killed first. And I think that they did it purposely so Barry could watch because they had ample opportunity to get Barry with Honey not being home. Because we were away.

Because we were away. Then she came back. Then she went away. They waited for the two of them to be together and before they went to Florida. So there was method to their madness. I think that they wanted, I do think that she was probably killed first and she obviously put up a fight. And I think that they dragged her down the staircase. They got him in the basement. So that's why I'm saying the killers to care.

It's personal. I think Anita is correct on many points, particularly that it was personal and that both Barry and Honey were targets. Here's something else related to the timing. One theory police have pursued is that someone who knew Honey very well bumped into her at the Bayview Village Mall and asked for a ride.

Maybe that person even offered to drive. I know the police forensic team spent a lot of time examining the driver's side of Honey's Lexus. Once home at Old Colony Road, either the person who had driven her or someone waiting inside or just outside the house attacked her. Remember, Honey's iPhone was found in the powder room at the front of the house. Her girlfriends say Honey never used that bathroom. It was for guests. I think the attacker went to grab Honey. She ran to the front door and was jumped, her iPhone skittering along the floor into the bathroom, where it would be found by the cleaning lady 36 hours later. Or maybe Honey was trying to escape to the bathroom and close the door on her attacker.

Either way, I think Honey was attacked and subdued at that moment. Then she was taken to the basement. Barry left Apotex at 8.30, driving his old Mustang convertible. He arrived home before 9 p.pm, parking in the underground garage. Among Barry's friends, there's a debate. Some say Barry was lazy and always parked

at the circular driveway to the left of where Honey always parked. Others say Barry often used the underground garage. It had just started to snow that evening and he did drive a soft-top convertible.

I mention this because some friends, including Frank D'Angelo, wonder if there is some significance to where he parked. Did the killer somehow encourage him to park underground? Once inside the garage, Barry parked in one corner. Here is what I think happened next. Barry takes his leather winter gloves, the home inspection report he's promised to bring home for the agent, and his BlackBerry,

and walks a few steps back towards a door that opens onto the basement hallway. At the moment Barry opens the door, I think he's attacked. It's possible that Honey was positioned on the floor in the hallway. He saw her, his wife, dead or dying, froze, and that's when he was grabbed. Barry's gloves, the home inspection report, and his Blackberry fall to the floor, where they'll be found by his agent later in the week. I should tell you, the pathologist was unable to determine exactly when the Shermans died and who was killed first.

Regardless, the killer, or most likely killers, move Barry and Honey down the long hallway to the swimming pool room. Having studied the crime scene photos, I can tell you that the Shermans are placed in a corner at the far end of the pool, literally the farthest location in the house from the front door. Coming into the pool room, as the agent and clients did, you'd see Honey first and Barry on her other side.

Behind them, in a horrible juxtaposition, there's a happy seaside mural with palm trees and beach chairs on the walls. The killers position Barry and Honey close together, both with belts around their necks, tied to a low railing above. Honey's feet, in the slip-on, backless shoes she wore indoors, are almost touching the wall. Because of the way the belt is around her neck, her face is pointing upwards. There's dried blood on the right side of her face

from a cut above her eye. Barry's face is looking straight ahead. There's a smear of blood on the railing, near where the belt around Honey's neck is tied. Here's Brian Greenspan, the Sherman lawyer, describing the scene. Greenspan is critical of the cops for not calling this murder right out of the gate.

Sitting next to each other with ligatures pulled up around their necks and wrapped around a railing, forcing them into an upright position. Barry Sherman's legs were outstretched, with one crossed over the other in a passive manner. Wearing his undisturbed eyeglasses and his jacket pulled slightly behind his back, which would have prevented use of his arms. Greenspan mentions Barry's jacket. It's bomber style. Because of the way he's positioned, the coat rides up and you can see the ends of his white shirt, which have come untucked.

Given that he was most likely attacked as soon as he left the garage, it makes sense he was wearing his outside coat. Honey is wearing a sweater and a light blue vest. I believe she was wearing a winter coat when she came home, but in the crime scene photos taken of the rooms in the house, I've not seen it. One other thing about the crime scene. On the pool deck tiles, there are what appear to be drag marks between the door and where the Sherman bodies were found. The theory investigators have told me is that Honey was dragged by the upper body into position. There are dusty scuff marks on the back of her shoes, which lead to that belief. As I learned from the housekeeper's statement to police,

the pool deck hadn't been cleaned for three weeks. Sometime around 10 p.m., the killer or killers leave. If the walking man is the killer, or perhaps the lookout, we know from the neighborhood security videos that he walks east from the Sherman home, disappearing into the night. Did he get into a car that was waiting maybe on Leslie Street, which is the major road east of the Sherman home?

The police have never been able to determine where the man went. It would be silent in the pool room. I don't know if Barry and Honey had notification alerts on their phones, but over the next 36 hours, they received a series of calls and emails. Police logs of the communications that have been released show the first unanswered call was at 9.01pm on Wednesday night.

It's likely the Shermans were both dead by this time, or at least restrained. Wednesday 9.01pm. Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Call from Doug Hendler, a corporate lawyer, to Barry. Went to voicemail. Wednesday 9.49 p.m. Email from Jack K. to Barry, responding to Barry's 8.23 p.m. email, looking for some paperwork on an old pharmaceutical deal. Jack writes back, someone else handled that, not him. Thursday 9.02 a.m. A missed call to Honey's phone from a friend. Thursday 11.19 a.m. A missed call to Honey's phone from agent Elise Stern. She's trying to confirm a showing for Friday morning. Thursday, 12.34pm

Email from Jonathan, Barry and Honey's son. Hi Dad, just got home from Japan. Still feeling very jet-lagged. Jonathan, who actually had been home for two days, is writing to invite his father to a Christmas party the following Monday at his storage company. It would be a great opportunity to meet the members of our team and enjoy a nice evening with us, please let us know if you are able to join us.

Another call to Honey's phone from Elise Stern. This time, an email from Elise Stern, telling Barry there are two showings Friday, one at 11 a.m., one at 12.30 p.m. She also tells Barry, copying Honey's sister Mary, that she has received another lowball offer, this one, $5.2 million. Friday, 9.53 a.m. A missed call to Honey's phone from the Sherman's cleaning lady at their Florida condo. Honey was planning to fly to Florida the following Monday.

Barry would follow the next week. Friday 10.06 a.m. An email from Sherman daughter Alexandra, reminding Barry and Honey of a planned dinner that evening. We are looking forward to celebrating Hanukkah with Grandma and Grandpa tonight. Please come early as usual to spend more time with the kiddos. Friday 10.16 a.m. Call to Barry's Blackberry from his youngest daughter, Kaylin.

Friday 10.18 a.m. A second call, two minutes later, from Kaylin to Barry. Friday 10.18 a.m. Lauren, the eldest Sherman child, calls Barry at the same time as Kaylin. She's in Mexico on vacation, but has learned that her car in British Columbia, where she lives, has been broken into. She wants Barry's help sorting it out. Friday 11 a.m. Desai, CEO of Apotex, emails Barry to tell him the British health authorities have suspended the Apotex health certificate

for one of their drug plants in India. Just 30 minutes later, Elise Stern discovers the Sherman bodies. The news spreads quickly. First to Apotex and Surefam, Barry's personal holding company. Jack Kay, Barry's second-in-command, was in New York.

As I was at the hotel, I got a call from Alex Klassenberg, who is the president of SureFam, and he said to me, are you sitting down? And I said, yeah, I'm sitting on the bed in the hotel room. And he said, I hit Barry. I hit Barry.

Got on a plane and came home. Bryna Steiner, one of Honey's close friends, was in her car when the wife of one of Barry's lawyers called. She told Bryna, pull over. So I stopped my car. She told me I thought I was going to die. At first I thought she was joking. She said, Honey and Barry have been murdered.

She said, that's exactly what she said. And I don't remember anything, but I remember that. She said, Honey and Barry have been murdered. I said, What? And she said, They were found in their house murdered. And I just sat there stunned. After the initial confusion over the manner of their death, police began collecting neighborhood security video.

Once they determined the importance of the walking man, police began what was ultimately a fruitless mission to figure out if anyone of about 300 people, business associates, friends, family of Barry and Honey, were in contact by cell phone with the walking man that night. They assumed that someone who knew the Shermans ordered this targeted hit and phone calls bounced back and forth as part of the planning.

The police struck out. It would be four years before they asked the public for help in identifying the man police believe was part of the murder. For me, that's just one of the many mistakes the cops made. Surely they would have had more luck if they put the video of the walking man out in the early days when memories were fresher. I'll get to other investigative mistakes later.

For now, I want to take a step back and look at the two lives lost. Just who were Honey and Barry Sherman? Next time on The Billionaire Murders. I don't think any person can be a happy person if he's successful in life and doesn't give back to the communities. We're very fortunate to be part of the great landscape that Toronto provides us, that Jewish Toronto provides us. We're very lucky. He was grateful that he got into a business and he could make a difference.

I mean, he used to kibitz and say, I can't die, Jack. The world can't get along without me. I have to live forever. The Billionaire Murders, The Hunt for the Killers of Honey and Barry Sherman is written and narrated by me, Kevin Donovan. It was produced by Sean Pattenden, Raju Mudar, Alexis Green and J.P. Fozo.

Additional production from Brian Bradley and Crawford Blair. Sound and music was created by Sean Pattenden. Look out for my book, The Billionaire Murders, and coming later this year, the Craved documentary by the same name.