[ad_1]
The frustrated family of Barry and Honey Sherman is offering a $ 10 million reward for resolving the high-profile murder of one of Canada's richest couples, found dead in their Toronto home last December, in the US. aim to "light the fire" under what has been described as a failed police investigation.
Toronto police investigators did not examine a lock that foreshadowed a forced entry into the house, nor vacuumed the crime scene nor found traces of fiber or fiber, and forgot 25 fingerprints or fingerprints later found on the scene, said Sherman family lawyer Brian Greenspan to conference on Friday, listing some of the errors or omissions committed by the police.
Greenspan urged Toronto police to engage in an unprecedented partnership between the public and private sectors to solve the problem, adding substantial family resources to the heavy workload of Toronto police.
He stood next to four members of the team of private investigators that the family funded, all of whom are former distinguished police officers, settled in one of the many buildings located in Toronto from Apotex, a pharmaceutical giant founded in 1974 by Barry Sherman.
Barry, 75, became the maker of generic Apotex drugs. His fortune was estimated at more than $ 4 billion at the time of his death. Honey, 70, was born in a camp for displaced people. She comes from two Holocaust survivors and has served on several community boards. Together, the couple donated millions of dollars to charities and community services and institutions.
The couple was selling their home on Old Colony Rd. On December 15, a real estate agent found their bodies hanging side by side on low railings around their indoor pool.
At the time of the shocking discovery, the police said that there were no signs of forced entry nor any fugitive suspects that could disturb the public.
The initial hypothesis of the police was a murder-suicide, an impossible statement according to friends and family Sherman. Toronto police subsequently classified these deaths as targeted homicide, but the police did not arrest anyone and did not release any updates on the investigation.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders was quick to defend the work of his officers, claiming that Greenspan did not have all the information the detectives have seen so far.
"If you have an opinion on this, you have the right to do it," said Saunders about Greenspan's criticism. "We do not deal with opinions, we deal with the facts."
The police chief however added that, although the rewards are not always effective, he supported the offer of such a reward. "Mr. Greenspan has the same goal as us, to solve this double homicide," Saunders said at a press conference shortly after Greenspan's announcement.
The family's distrust of the police began on the night of the discovery. The next day, the family hired Greenspan to help her case with the police and the public.
Greenspan stated that the initial misdescription of the nature of the case had compromised and compromised the investigation, and that the police had wasted resources and time by not aggressively and immediately pursuing one or more murderers. This gave the public "a false sense of security," he said.
Despite growing concerns over the last 10 months, the private investigation team has detailed the mistakes or omissions of the police, Greenspan said, the family remained "silent and frustrated" until the next day. now.
The public statement and reward are designed to help the probe. "We are trying to light the fire," Greenspan said. "After more than 10 months of silence and frustration, the Sherman family felt that it was appropriate for the public to understand why he feels it's time to take a new initiative."
Greenspan said the private team, headed by Tom Klatt, a former homicide detective in Toronto and a former private investigator, had discovered significant errors.
The Toronto police have not properly examined and evaluated the crime scene, Greenspan said.
The most troubling and troubling aspect of the investigation was the lack of recognition of what was obvious: the fact that Barry and Honey Sherman's bodies were staged post-mortem "very deliberately," said Greenspan.
The bodies were found sitting side by side at the edge of their indoor pool, the belt wrapped around their necks and tied to a low balustrade holding them upright. Barry's legs were crossed and crossed, his glasses in place and his jacket folded in the back so as to prevent him from using his arms.
Greenspan called it "suspicious and staged".
He pointed to other alleged failures on Friday, including:
- Officers failed to recognize the "suspicious and staged manner".
- A thorough investigation of all points of entry into the house was not made or missed potentially vital information that could have helped the police to focus its investigation more quickly: a lock that could have been tampered with or forced.
- The immediate area where the bodies were found was not sucked, as might be expected, in order to collect hairs, fibers or other tiny elements left behind by the assassins .
- Forensic investigators omitted "at least 25 fingerprints or fingerprints discovered by our private team at the scene once the house was delivered to us," Greenspan said.
- The fingerprints and DNA found were not compared to those of people known to be on the scene, as this is usually the case, in order to narrow the search for evidence of the problem. existence of unexpected or unknown people.
"The non-compliance with simple procedures regarding the elimination of impressions is below the standards of best practice," he said.
Post mortem examinations performed on the couple revealed that they were both dead as a result of "neck compression by ligature", signaling a type of strangulation.
The family hired Dr. David Chiasson, retired Chief Medical Examiner of Ontario, to conduct a second private autopsy on December 20, 2017. It was concluded that they had been murdered. The team reported its findings to the police, Greenspan said, but the police chief detective met Chiasson only on January 24, 2018.
Greenspan said he thought it had contributed to the announcement by the police two days later that these deaths were a targeted double murder.
Greenspan has announced the offer "for the apprehension and prosecution of those responsible for the murders" and a dedicated call center for tips. His phone number is 1-833-668-0001, and an international number is 011-905-849-7373, he said.
The death of the Shermans caused a sensation, above all for their family and many close friends, but also for the community at large. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory all attended the couple's massive funeral.
Their murders remained a disturbing and confusing mystery, prompting a search of the chair.
The legendary lives of the Shermans offered much to speculate on their death.
Barry has been aggressively litigious in his business, creating many enemies with his hard and sometimes abrasive manner.
The big drug companies of famous brands fought hard. A former undercover detective of the famous London police Scotland Yard, who later worked as a private investigator, told The National Post that a major pharmaceutical company had hired him to target Sherman for the purpose of 39; investigation.
Among the lawsuits filed by Barry, there was one with his cousins about the origins of his drug business.
His uncle, Louis Winter, had a small drug treatment laboratory when he died in 1965, which Barry bought and used as a springboard for his pharmaceutical empire. Shortly before the killings, the Winter family suffered a hard and legal blow to try to claim 20% of Apotex.
Kerry Winter, one of his uncle's children, said in media interviews that he was suspicious but did not kill the couple.
Greenspan said the family only wanted answers to worrying deaths.
"The Sherman family is committed to ensuring that nothing is left to chance and that all the resources it can contribute are made available to law enforcement to achieve our common goal," did he declare.
– with records from the Canadian press
• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: AD_Humphreys
[ad_2]Source link
