Canada - Barry, 75, & Honey Sherman, 70, found dead, Toronto, 15 Dec 2017 #11

[JDG]

Barry gave the cousins lines of credit, and Barry held the mortgages for homes for a few people around him, not requesting mortgage payments. Possibly Mary had the same setup?

With the Shermans gone, the Shechtmans now have to make payments and are unable to? Think of the payments and interest that have possibly piled up.

I agree if that's the case but that article states that Mary and Honey were involved in real estate dealings together.
Perhaps Mary could unload a few properties to make ends meet?? I realize that its not the same market as 2017 but still, if she's a wheeler dealer? Or did she just wheel and deal with BSs' money?

Affluenza seems to have hit most of the extended family very hard. Perhaps the younger Shermans had a 'different' perspective about this whole 'related' thing.

I've never heard of two shivas, can anyone address that issue?? I thought, for the sake of the direct relatives, the others would 'put aside' their differences and everyone gets through the funeral and shiva together??

I've been to at least one funeral where two sides of the family threw shade on the other but they all showed up.

 

[Sphinx]

Interesting Toronto Star article, about Barry's plans for his fortune. It sort of suggests that a motive for their deaths is to prevent the planned redistribution of a portion away from the heirs, likely the kids. I may be wrong, but I believe the heirs do not want for anything financially, so more of the family fortune may not be a great motivator for murder. Now if we were to to discover one or more of the heirs was in some sort of financial meltdown, due to bad choices in investments or lifestyle, that would be another story. Hopefully the TPS did serious research on the financial wellbeing of each of the heirs.

The motives for murder very often include money. I wonder if some, or one, of the charities, politicians, etc. who would have benefited from Barry's new will would have used the funds in a way which would have disrupted the status- quo, or caused way too much competition somehow for others who are very powerful ? It is not only who would have received millions, but what they would have done with it that may have been the problem that provoked murder. It certainly is complicated, but following the money usually leads to evidence. Is there any way to determine to whom, and how much the bequests would have been ? Honey was very involved in choosing the charities. That might explain her murder, as well as Barry's. IMO

 

[Lexiintoronto]

I agree if that's the case but that article states that Mary and Honey were involved in real estate dealings together.
Perhaps Mary could unload a few properties to make ends meet?? I realize that its not the same market as 2017 but still, if she's a wheeler dealer? Or did she just wheel and deal with BSs' money?

Affluenza seems to have hit most of the extended family very hard. Perhaps the younger Shermans had a 'different' perspective about this whole 'related' thing.

I've never heard of two shivas, can anyone address that issue?? I thought, for the sake of the direct relatives, the others would 'put aside' their differences and everyone gets through the funeral and shiva together??

I've been to at least one funeral where two sides of the family threw shade on the other but they all showed up.

My guess is the real estate deals were with Barry’s money. That’s what complicates the holdings now.

Highly unusual for the separate shivas, IMO. To me, it sounds as if there was a rift prior to the murders.

BUT- Jonathan said in his eulogy that he and his siblings had been turning away loved ones who had been offering gestures of condolences; they had secluded themselves. That might explain it?

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Wouldn't it be ironic if BS's sister-in-law needed the money to pay the Shermans back?, imo.rbbm
April 5 2018
Endless court battles, angry relatives and shady players: the truth about Barry Sherman
"Sherman had a run-in with the FBI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over a mail-order scheme he ran with his brother-in-law, Allen Shechtman. It involved a Bahamas-based company, Medicine Club, mailing Apotex drugs, including generic Prozac, from Canada to half a million U.S. households without prescription. Medicine Club pleaded guilty to one count of illegal interstate commerce and was fined US$500,000 for selling drugs without approval; it was also forced to pay $339,000 for investigative costs. Authorities had been tipped off by U.S. drug manufacturers, entrenched Sherman foes. (Sherman bankrolled another of his brother-in-law’s ventures, Martin Ross Group Inc., a jewellery company that filed for bankruptcy in 2015, owing $5.2 million to two Sherman-controlled companies.)"

The trustees may be calling in loans, including the Shechmans, so Mary may have made a legal claim on the estate in defence?

One person declined a request to speak with police, and the out of country warrants were delayed, according to the TPS.

And jewelry ties in again. Hmmm.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Wouldn't it be ironic if BS's sister-in-law needed the money to pay the Shermans back?, imo.rbbm
April 5 2018
Endless court battles, angry relatives and shady players: the truth about Barry Sherman
"Sherman had a run-in with the FBI and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over a mail-order scheme he ran with his brother-in-law, Allen Shechtman. It involved a Bahamas-based company, Medicine Club, mailing Apotex drugs, including generic Prozac, from Canada to half a million U.S. households without prescription. Medicine Club pleaded guilty to one count of illegal interstate commerce and was fined US$500,000 for selling drugs without approval; it was also forced to pay $339,000 for investigative costs. Authorities had been tipped off by U.S. drug manufacturers, entrenched Sherman foes. (Sherman bankrolled another of his brother-in-law’s ventures, Martin Ross Group Inc., a jewellery company that filed for bankruptcy in 2015, owing $5.2 million to two Sherman-controlled companies.)"

Curious if Shechtman was going to be involved in this proposed business which would eliminate the above legal issues:

Expansion was much on his mind and in the early spring of 2017 he purchased a drug plant in Miramar, Fla., at a cost of $50 million (US). The plan, according to Apotex insiders, was to create a true U.S. hub for drug production, particularly of opioid-based painkillers that have to be legally made in the U.S. and cannot be shipped in from Canada. A South Florida Business Journal article in March 2017 said this was part of a $184-million (US) expansion into the U.S. by Apotex and that 150 full-time jobs would be created in Broward County, where Miramar is located.

Other senior executives at Apotex did not agree with this planned expansion, "but it was Barry's company and he wanted to grow the business," said one Apotex insider.

Sherman died before the expansion could gain steam. In February 2019, Apotex sold the Broward property for $38 million, a loss of $12 million, according to the South Florida Business Journal, which covered the transaction.

Murdered billionaire Barry Sherman planned to give away or invest much of his fortune, sources say

Then there was this issue:

Two 11-year-olds donated $10,800 to Joe Volpe's Liberal leadership campaign, and their 14-year-old brother gave another $5,400.

The sums were from children of former Apotex Inc. vice-president Allen Shechtman and were among the 20 donations totalling $108,000 to Mr. Volpe's campaign from five current and former executives of the firm and 15 of their family members.

Twins, 11, donated $10,800 to Volpe's campaign

 

[taylorss]

If the article is accurate, who stood to benefit the most from Barry not transferring these funds to Honey?

I’ve been out of these threads for a while so sorry if this has been asked and / or answered.... but IIRC there was some mixed parentage among the Shermans’ children ? Wasn’t there one or more kids without blood relation to Honey?

(But then, as pointed out above, this chunk of money was just a small bit of Barry’s holdings, so whatever motive might have existed there seems insufficient.)

 

[Kittybunny]

Wow some very interesting developments and tidbits in that article. I can't read it all because I don't have a subscription but more people who wanted or were expecting money...mo' money, mo' motive.

Hadn't heard anything about Honey's family but hmmm.

Sad to see the inevitable vultures circling when wealthy people die.

 

[deugirtni]

Lengthy article
June 21 2019 By Kevin Donovan
Murdered billionaire Barry Sherman planned to give away or invest much of his fortune, sources say | The Star
"Barry Sherman had big plans in the year leading up to his murder — make an enormous donation to charity, gift hundreds of millions of dollars to his wife, Honey, and expand Apotex.

Those plans, described to the Star in interviews by people close to the Sherman couple, had not been acted upon at the time of their murders."

"It’s a baffling mystery for close friends of the couple. It is not unusual for these friends of many decades to catch themselves imagining the couple’s terrifying final minutes, or recalling the many hopes and plans Barry and Honey shared with them over coffee, dinner or a game of golf.

onomic reprisals, and a concern that by speaking publicly they will interfere with the police investigation, particularly if they are ever called to testify in a courtroom."

"Millions for Honey

One of the idiosyncrasies of the Sherman relationship was that Honey had to ask for money to make big purchases. Barry controlled the family purse-strings. The couple were both notoriously frugal when it came to many of their possessions, including cars. Honey drove a 10-year-old Lexus Hybrid SUV; Barry drove a 1999 Mustang GT convertible.

A sore point between Honey and Barry was that while their four children had been gifted money (different amounts for different children) over the years, Honey had not.

“Honey would always say, Barry never gives me any money,” said one of Honey’s closest friends. Another said, “Honey really wanted her own money.”

For smaller items, such as a $5,000 repair job to her Lexus after hitting a deer in 2017, Honey used a credit card linked to Barry’s account. Barry also kept a stash of $100 bills in a drawer in their home office that Honey had access to. But for big-ticket items, she told her close friends she had to ask Barry.

That was all about to change, according to people close to Barry and Honey. Barry was contemplating making a major gift to Honey that she could spend as she pleased.

The amount was to be between $100 million and $500 million, according to friends who say they heard this from Honey."

"The Sherman friends say one complicating factor in the planned gift to Honey was Shechtman."

"In fact, in the wake of the Sherman murders, sources say Shechtman told the Sherman children that Honey had promised her $300 million. That claim, unsubstantiated by any paperwork, produced a rift between the Sherman children and Shechtman, beginning several days after the murder. The rift continues to this day. Separate shivas were held, one at Shechtman’s home and one at Barry’s sister Sandra Florence’s home.

Sources say Shechtman has told friends that her family is so short of cash that her husband is driving an Uber in Florida, and she is considering a job as a tour guide.

Shechtman declined numerous requests for an interview."
rbbm.

It is kind of interesting that BS was *about* to 'gift' his wife a large amount of cash to do with whatever she wished, an amount said to be between $100M and $500M.. but yet H's sister believed that H would bequeath to her $300M.. which may have been even larger than what B was going to 'gift' his wife in the first place.. so I suppose that it was expected that B would die first, even though H had had so many health issues in her lifetime already.

 

[Sherlockhemlock]

It is kind of interesting that BS was *about* to 'gift' his wife a large amount of cash to do with whatever she wished, an amount said to be between $100M and $500M.. but yet H's sister believed that H would bequeath to her $300M.. which may have been even larger than what B was going to 'gift' his wife in the first place.. so I suppose that it was expected that B would die first, even though H had had so many health issues in her lifetime already.

And sometimes people expect an inheritance when there is none. My grandmother had a ton of health problems and her brother had been trying to convince her to change her will so he would be in charge and to leave him money. I don’t know if she told him she would set it up that way or not, but apparently he told others. When he died unexpectedly his gold digging narcissist wife kept crying saying over and over “She was supposed to die first! Not him! No what will I do?” My grandmother did die about 6 months later and when we saw the will from the lawyer- nothing had been changed in over 20 years.

Point of this is that perhaps H told the sister but had no intention of doing it. JMO

 

[deugirtni]

And sometimes people expect an inheritance when there is none. My grandmother had a ton of health problems and her brother had been trying to convince her to change her will so he would be in charge and to leave him money. I don’t know if she told him she would set it up that way or not, but apparently he told others. When he died unexpectedly his gold digging narcissist wife kept crying saying over and over “She was supposed to die first! Not him! No what will I do?” My grandmother did die about 6 months later and when we saw the will from the lawyer- nothing had been changed in over 20 years.

Point of this is that perhaps H told the sister but had no intention of doing it. JMO

Or conversely, perhaps that is why B hadn't quite done it yet.. and perhaps why B controlled the purse-strings, and perhaps why H had to talk to him before any 'large' expenditures. Wondering if H was perhaps somewhat of a pushover when it came to her sister, and perhaps got talked into things that were not necessarily wise decisions in the past? Just pondering..

 

[Sherlockhemlock]

Or conversely, perhaps that is why B hadn't quite done it yet.. and perhaps why B controlled the purse-strings, and perhaps why H had to talk to him before any 'large' expenditures. Wondering if H was perhaps somewhat of a pushover when it came to her sister, and perhaps got talked into things that were not necessarily wise decisions in the past? Just pondering..

That is entirely possible as well.

 

[JDG]

Or conversely, perhaps that is why B hadn't quite done it yet.. and perhaps why B controlled the purse-strings, and perhaps why H had to talk to him before any 'large' expenditures. Wondering if H was perhaps somewhat of a pushover when it came to her sister, and perhaps got talked into things that were not necessarily wise decisions in the past? Just pondering..

Its quite possible but then why would BS keep going into business with Aunt Marys' husband??

At one point, I thought Allan Shechtman was an employee/partner with BS in a few business dealings.

Mind you, BS seemed to keep all sorts of company from the earlier articles.

 

[JDG]

I’ve been out of these threads for a while so sorry if this has been asked and / or answered.... but IIRC there was some mixed parentage among the Shermans’ children ? Wasn’t there one or more kids without blood relation to Honey?

(But then, as pointed out above, this chunk of money was just a small bit of Barry’s holdings, so whatever motive might have existed there seems insufficient.)

AFAIK, Honey only 'carried' Lauren and the other children were born to surrogate(s).

That can mean they ARE Honeys children, she just didnt give birth to them or not.

One article said she had a history of miscarriages, a surrogate would avoid that happening usually.

 

[JayFriend]

Star says Sherman was intent on giving away mega millions

 

[human]

A lot of people had their hand out to Barry and he filled it.

 

[deugirtni]

Star says Sherman was intent on giving away mega millions

Just for anyone who wants to read the full story, that link is for the Star story that is subscription only.. but it leads also to same story printed in The Spectator:
Murdered billionaire Barry Sherman planned to give away or invest much of his fortune, sources say

 

[ldlager]

Its quite possible but then why would BS keep going into business with Aunt Marys' husband??

At one point, I thought Allan Shechtman was an employee/partner with BS in a few business dealings.

Mind you, BS seemed to keep all sorts of company from the earlier articles.

Maybe it was cheaper for Barry and easier for him to keep the peace at home by financing his brother in law in a couple of businesses instead of risking having honey give much more money to her sister.

It appears from the article that charities and honey were to be given very substantial gifts from Barry. It’s also speculated that honey intended to give a substantial portion of her money to her sister. Again, i have to wonder who stood to gain the most from these gifts not being made?

 

[deugirtni]

I somehow find it interesting that the Shermans were living in a home they had custom designed and built decades ago, which was for sale at the time of the murders for only about seven million dollars (IIRC).. but the new home which the couple was soon to call home and which had started being built at the time, was proposed to cost THIRTY million dollars (not including the dreaded overruns). I realize these people are *billionaires* and perhaps had been living beneath their means, but seems odd, considering their rather advanced ages, when *usually* it seems that people would be 'downsizing', as opposed to becoming more extravagant. Just caught me 'funny'. (Not the haha kind of funny though.)

Among the projects was the construction of a mansion in Forest Hill that would be Barry and Honey’s home, with an estimated cost (land and construction) of $30 million. An ongoing source of tension between Barry and Honey (Barry did not want to move from their Old Colony Rd. home) were the feared cost overruns. Friends say Honey felt if she had a pool of money that was her own, she would not have to involve Barry in decisions.

Today, the pie-shaped Forest Hill property is for sale as a building lot at a cost of $9.9 million, complete with plans for the high-end home that included a retractable roof over a swimming pool.

Murdered billionaire Barry Sherman planned to give away or invest much of his fortune, sources say

 

[Kittybunny]

I would say that these latest development increase the chances of one of the heirs (direct descendents) being involved, since they would be the primary beneficiaries of BS NOT having the opportunity to give away some of his fortune or changing his will since he did not want his children to get all the money, but given their reaction to the murder-suicide leak/early opinion, hiring Greenspan, etc., I'm less inclined to feel that way. The murder-suicide theory would have drawn any suspicion away from them.

My theory is somebody, somebody close to BS benefited from either him not having a chance to change his will, OR calling in a large debt. Unfortunately, that doesn't narrow it down that much.

 

[deugirtni]

I hate it that Websleuths stops sending email updates and then I see a news item and want to post it and see I'm pages, if not threads behind. Is the system broken?

Anyway, here's the article. I had to skip trough so many pages I didn't see if it was posted already.

Murdered billionaire Barry Sherman planned to give away or invest much of his fortune, sources say | The Star

I don't have my 'thing' set to send emails whenever there is a new post in a thread I'm watching, however I'm wondering if it perhaps only emails the first time one has missed/not seen one post, and then not again until one goes and looks at the thread, and then it starts over again... so therefore, possible that if one doesn't go and read the post right away when notified of a new post, and instead leave it for a few hours or days, depending on amount of activity in a given thread at the time, one could end up missing pages and pages?