Four years after Canadian billionaire Barry Sherman and his wife Honey were found slain in their Toronto home, police have released footage of a mysterious figure deemed a suspect in their murders.
Detective Sgt. Brandon Price of the Toronto Police Service announced the news at a press conference at police headquarters Tuesday morning.
After poring over hours of security footage from the area surrounding the Shermans’ home, he said, “We have been able to eliminate [as suspects] the vast majority of people captured on the video. We are left with one individual whom we have been unable to identify.”
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The footage showed an unidentified figure walking near the philanthropist couple’s home around the time of the murder.
While the person’s gender, race, and age are unknown, Price appealed to the public to pay particular attention to the individual’s “walk style” and the way they “kick up their right foot with every step.”
“Throughout our investigation, we have been unable to determine what this individual’s purpose was in the neighborhood. The timing of this individual’s appearance is in line with when we believe the murders took place. Based on this evidence, we’re classifying this individual as a suspect,” Price said.
The suspect is estimated to be between 5 feet, 6 inches, and 5 feet, 9 inches tall, Price said.
Price conceded that “there may be a legitimate explanation as to what this person’s actions were in the area,” but he said that person should still come forward to clear themselves as a suspect.
The release of the footage comes more than a year after Toronto investigators said they were looking into “numerous persons of interest” in the years-long probe.
The December 2017 murders shocked Canada, and much of the world, as details trickled out about the beloved couple found “hanging by belts from a poolside railing” at their home.
Early reports had suggested that police believed the case was a murder-suicide, but further investigations revealed the pair was “targeted,” Det. Sgt. Susan Gomes of the Homicide Squad said at a January 2018 press conference.
Barry Sherman, aged 75 at the time of his death, was the founder of Apotex, Canada’s biggest generic pharmaceutical company, while his wife Honey was a well-known philanthropist. Thousands of people, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, attended the couple’s funeral.
