Ottawa (AFP) - The family of Canadian pharmaceutical tycoon Barry Sherman and his wife Honey announced Friday a Can$10 million (US$7.6 million) reward for any leads in their murders last December.
"We're
trying to light the fire," the family's lawyer Brian Greenspan told a
press conference, announcing that a tip line was also launched.
The hope,
he said, is "to provide a new incentive for members of the public to come
forward with information which they might have" that leads to a suspect
and their prosecution, and "to light the fire under the Toronto Police
Service and to try to ensure that those investigative steps that have either
not yet been completed, or not yet been taken, are completed."
Police had
initially suspected a murder-suicide after the bodies of the 75-year-old
chairman of Apotex and his 70-year-old wife were discovered hanging by a pool
in the basement of their Toronto home, and an autopsy concluded the couple died
from strangulation.
But
investigators later ruled both deaths "targeted" homicides.
The
Shermans' children strongly refuted the early conclusion, and hired Greenspan
and private investigators to review the evidence.
A separate
autopsy was also performed by a forensic pathologist.
The
pathologist and private detectives found markings on the victims' wrists
indicating that their hands had been tied with cords or plastic zip ties.
When the
bodies were found, however, the wrists were untied, without rope or cords
nearby.
Greenspan
said the couple's bodies were "staged."
Canadian
media, meanwhile, reported that house hunters who first stumbled upon the scene
during a tour of the mansion with a realtor had thought it was a leftover
Halloween prank.
"Fake
murders," is how the agent described it to public broadcaster CBC.
Shortly
after, another realtor showing the 12,000-square-foot home to prospective
buyers is believed to have called police, according to local media.
Sherman
founded Apotex in 1974, and over the following decades became known as a
ruthless and litigious businessman who shunned the limelight while
revolutionizing the drug industry in Canada.
Today, the
company employs more than 11,000 people and sells 300 generic drugs in 120
countries.
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