Toronto police have revealed that power couple Honey and Barry Sherman were strangled to death.
The autopsy results, issued by Toronto Police Sunday night, showed Barry, 75 and Honey, 70, died from “ligature neck compression” – either due to a rope or manual strangulation.
An autopsy was conducted one day after the Toronto philanthropists were found dead hanging from railing beside their lap pool in their home Friday morning.
The Old Colony Rd. home was recently listed for sale for $6.9-million. A real estate agent — who had gone to the home after not being able to reach them — made the grisly discovery.
Police released few other details last evening other than to say the homicide unit has taken the lead in the investigation.
Meanwhile, friends, family and co-workers were still struggling to come to grips with the untimely passing of the billionaire Apotex founder and his wife, highly respected in Toronto’s Jewish community.
Conservative Sen. Linda Frum, who first met Honey in 2001, told the Toronto Sun the couple hated to say “no” to requests for help and derived their “greatest pleasure and enjoyment” from helping others.
While funeral arrangements remained outstanding, a variety of people –including B’nai Brith’s Michael Mostyn and Avi Benlolo of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre — had already paid tribute and their respect to the Shermans on the Benjamins Funeral Chapel online memorial site.
In Jewish tradition, funerals and burials occur as soon as possible following the death.
Mayor John Tory said Sunday that he remembers how everytime Honey walked into a room, it was “instantly energized.
“She was a consummate community activist,” he said, noting he dealt with her many times because she was involved in so many things. “She was a person I held in very high regard.”
While husband Barry was “very much more reserved,” Tory said he remained loyal to Toronto as his generic drug company went global, creating hundreds of local jobs.
Despite the fact that Barry was pegged by Forbes as one of Canada’s wealthiest — with a net worth of nearly $5 billion — Tory said he lived modestly, driving an old car to work.
SLevy@postmedia.com