Montreal, Dec 18 (AFP) Toronto's homicide unit has takenover a probe into the "suspicious" deaths of Canadianpharmaceutical billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife Honey,police said today after finding they had died ofstrangulation.
"The cause of death for both deceased was ligature neckcompression," Toronto police said in a statement followingpost-mortem investigations of the bodies of the 75-year-oldchairman of the board of Apotex and his 70-year-old wife.
"Toronto Police Service Homicide has taken the lead inthis suspicious death investigation."Police provided no further details on the case.
At 11:44 am on Friday, police responded to an emergencycall to the couple's home on Old Colony Road, in a tonyneighborhood of Toronto.
Local media cited a police source as saying the Shermans'bodies were found hanging from a railing around a basementpool, the theory being that the Apotex chairman killed hiswife Honey, hung her body and then hanged himself by thepool's edge.
But their family strongly refuted that version of theevents.
"Our parents shared an enthusiasm for life and commitmentto their family and community totally inconsistent with therumors regrettably circulated in the media as to thecircumstances surrounding their deaths," a statement read.
"We are shocked and think it's irresponsible that policesources have reportedly advised the media of a theory whichneither their family, their friends nor their colleaguesbelieve to be true."They called for a "thorough, intensive and objectivecriminal investigation," urging the media to refrain fromreporting until the investigation is complete.
There were no apparent signs of premeditation or thateither of the Shermans was suffering from depression. Thecouple had planned to spend the year-end holidays with friendsin Florida.
Apotex, which Sherman founded in 1974, confirmed thedeaths. Local media said he was not seen at the company'soffices Thursday.
The company, which made its name producing generic drugs,grew to employ more than 11,000 people worldwide.
According to Forbes, Sherman had an estimated worth ofUSD 3.2 billion at the time of his death, and was the 12th-richest person in Canada.
Canadian media said the Shermans had recently put theirhome up for sale with a price of around Can$7 million.
The deaths sparked an outpouring of sympathy from thecountry's political elite, including from Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau, who said he was "saddened" by the news, andtweeted about the "vision and spirit" of the couple known fortheir philanthropy. (AFP)UZM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
