On Friday morning, a real estate agent found the bodies of Barry Sherman and his wife, Honey, in the basement of their Toronto mansion next to the indoor swimming pool.

The agent had been prepping the house for viewing as the couple had put it up for sale for $5,4 million (R70 million).

Now, Canadian police are investigating the mysterious death, labelling it as suspicious after autopsies showed they died from “ligature neck compression,” reported The Telegraph this morning.

However, there was no sign of forced entry.

Canadian papers have suggested that it was a murder-suicide, with police reportedly saying that Sherman “may have killed his wife before taking his own life”, reports Daily Mail. Sources close to the crime allegedly said that “they believe Honey could have been killed in a different location at the sprawling property on Old Colony Rd”:

She was then moved to the spot where she was found with her husband.

Nothing substantial has been reported since.

Sherman made his name as the founder of Canadian pharmaceutical firm Apotex Inc and has an estimated net worth of $3,2 billion (R42 billion), according to Forbes:

Sherman, 75, founded privately held Apotex in 1974, growing it by introducing large numbers of low-cost generic drugs that took market share from branded pharmaceuticals. He stepped down as chief executive in 2012 but remained executive chairman.

Apotex is the world’s No. 7 generic drugmaker with 11,000 employees and annual sales of more than C$2 billion in more than 45 countries, according to its website.

Although the couple was known for their philanthropy, “giving tens of millions of dollars to hospitals, universities and Jewish organisations,” Sherman “faced legal action from family members alleging they had been cut out of the company over the years”.

A judge, however, dismissed the claim.

You don’t often hear of billionaires getting murdered, do you?

[source:businessinsider&thetelegraph&dailymail]