Daughter appeals for witnesses five years after billionaire Toronto couple killed

The daughter of a billionaire couple whose unsolved murder shocked Canada’s largest city has pleaded for the public to come forward with any evidence ahead of the fifth anniversary of their deaths.

Barry Sherman, the founder of drug giant Apotex, and his wife Honey, were found dead in their Toronto home on 13 December 2017. A realtor found the couple in the basement pool area of their home two days later, with belts looped around their necks and attached to a pool railing.

They reportedly had coats pulled down over their shoulders to restrain their arms and were fully clothed.

There were no signs of a break-in at the couple’s house, and police initially believed the deaths to be a murder suicide. Investigators later determined the couple were victims of a “targeted” double homicide, but five years on, the crime remains unsolved.

“So far there has been no justice for them and no closure for me and my family,” Alexandra Krawczyk, one of the couple’s four children, said in a statement. “My heart is broken. My loss is immeasurable. My children have lost their grandparents. We miss their guidance, love and wisdom.”

Krawczyk, who works as a nurse, said the family’s C$10m (US$7.4m) reward remains “available and is still unclaimed”.

Police have made little progress in the case over the last five years, despite scouring hours of video footage, canvassing neighbourhoods and reaching out to investigators outside Canada.

Last year, after an apparent breakthrough investigators asked the public to help identify the “walking person”, a figure on a sidewalk whose actions were “highly suspicious”, said police.

Police believe the man is linked to the murders but have still failed to identify him.

The Shermans were known as generous philanthropists and Krawczyk praised her parents’ “unbound generosity” to charities across Canada and around the world. But Barry Sherman was also notoriously litigious in his business dealings. The double murder has gripped the country, not least because so little public progress has been made on the case in five years.

“The horrific manner in which they were taken from us has been extremely traumatic and has irreparably damaged the fabric of our community,” Krawczyk said, urging the public to contact the Toronto police with any tips. “Your information is urgently needed to help solve this crime and bring those responsible to justice.”