Morbid
Morbid

The Unsolved Murders of Barry and Honey Sherman

August 3, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

On the morning of December 15, 2017, two workers arrived at the 12,000-square-foot North York home of Barry and Honey Sherman, as they had every Friday for years. One cleaned; the other watered the plants. They entered using the lockbox code, found the house locked and undisturbed, and began their routine. The only oddity was that the master bedroom—usually messy—was perfectly made. Around 10 a.m., a real estate agent arrived with prospective buyers for the $6.9 million listing. During the basement tour, she pressed the safety button to enter the pool room and found the Shermans sitting by the water. She initially thought they were meditating. The buyers' agent described the scene as "something left over from Halloween." It took nearly 90 minutes before police were called. When officers arrived, they found Barry Sherman seated, legs outstretched, right leg crossed over left, fully dressed with his bomber jacket pulled down to pin his arms. Beside him, Honey Sherman had a fresh injury on her face. Leather belts were wrapped around both their necks, secured to the three-foot pool railing. Rigor mortis had come and gone; they had been there at least a day.

The Autopsy and the Murder-Suicide Theory

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (03:00) **Introduction and Banter** - Hosts catch up on personal topics before introducing the case.
  • 2 (12:47) **Case Introduction: The Murders of Barry and Honey Sherman** - The hosts begin the story of the unsolved 2017 murder of a billionaire Canadian couple.
  • 3 (14:19) **The Discovery of the Bodies** - Two cleaning women and a real estate agent find the Sherman's bodies in their basement.
  • 4 (23:05) **The Crime Scene and Initial Police Response** - Police arrive to find a highly staged and bizarre scene, raising immediate questions.
  • 5 (29:35) **Early Theories and Media Leaks** - Police initially treat the case as suspicious, but a "murder-suicide" theory leaks to the press.
  • 6 (38:21) **The Autopsy Findings** - The medical examiner's findings challenge the murder-suicide theory and point toward a more complex crime.
  • 7 (42:19) **Barry Sherman's Early Life and Motivation** - The hosts explore Barry's background, including the early death of his father and his drive to succeed.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

When a realtor entered the Toronto home of Barry and Honey Sherman on December 15, 2017, she expected the couple to be out of town and the house to be empty. The agent showed a young couple around the massive home, room by room, and when they reached the bottom floor, where the pool was located, they found the bodies of the Shermans, leather belts cinched around their necks and secured to a metal railing.

To the Toronto Police Homicide Squad, the deaths of Barry and Honey were suspicious, but they were hesitant to label the deaths a homicide and thought it was possible they were dealing with a case of murder-suicide. There was no sign of forced entry, nothing appeared to be missing, and other than the belts around their necks, only Honey had suffered obvious injuries. 

It took multiple autopsies and significant advocacy from the family, but eventually the Sherman’s deaths were labeled a homicide. But the question remained, who would have wanted to kill the older couple, and if not for money, why?

Mentioned in this Episode

References

Campbell, Matthew. 2018. The unsolved murder of an unusual billionaire. October 24. Accessed July 26, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2018-apotex-billionaire-murder/.

Donovan, Kevin. 2019. The Billionaire Murders: The Mysterious Deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman . New York, NY: Viking.

—. 2025. "'I'm playing blind' on who killed Barry and Honey Sherman, lead Toronto police detective admits." Toronto Star, October 28.

—. 2019. "Police have working theory in Sherman case, court told." Toronto Star, April 25: 1.

—. 2020. "Sherman probe focuses on video evidence." Toronto Star, Janaury 18: 1.

Donovan, Kevin, Wendy Gillis, and Emma McIntosh. 2018. "Targeted." Toronto Star, January 27: 1.

Friscolanti, Michael. 2018. What’s slowing the cops down at Apotex headquarters. January 29. Accessed July 27, 2026. https://macleans.ca/news/barry-and-honey-sherman-murders-whats-slowing-the-cops-down-at-apotex-headquarters/.

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