Suspicion | The Billionaire Murders: The hunt for the killers of Honey and Barry Sherman: S2 The Billionaire Murders | E9 Succession

What would you do if you were suddenly, wildly rich?

Anyone visiting Israel has many options to choose from

when it comes to selecting a hotel.

For those seeking the luxury, the view of the marina,

or top-of-the-line restaurants,

the Ritz-Carlton is the place.

This luxury hotel is located in an amazing location

overlooking the marina in Herzliya,

where there are hundreds of sailboats from all over the world

and surrounded by shops, fine dining restaurants,

entertainment options, and a romantic atmosphere.

In 2021, three years after Honey and Barry Sherman died,

Kaelin, their youngest daughter, paid $45 million

to purchase a half-stake in a hotel in Israel.

This is the same young woman Barry overruled

when she wanted to buy a $60,000 car.

It is a world-class destination.

People come from everywhere to come here.

And although it's known mostly for skiing,

this is my favorite time of year to be there.

The hiking, the biking.

You have the fantastic restaurants,

the pedestrian-only village.

So this is the nice combination of a little bit outdoorsy,

very family-friendly.

You have the nightlife

and you have the comforts of everything you need.

That's a CTV morning report

describing Whistler, British Columbia.

That's where the eldest Sherman child, Lauren,

lives a quiet life with her son and husband.

An online bio from a few years ago

lists Lauren as a yoga instructor,

a registered clinical counselor,

and a therapeutic chef.

She says her goal is to make her clients

the most unrestrained, powerful,

and healthy version of themselves.

With songs like Rhythm of the Road,

Sherman daughter, Alexandra Krajek,

has launched a music career

and was recently nominated

for a Canadian Folk Music Award.

She told me singing is her way to process grief

over the death of her parents.

She's also pursuing a master's degree in public health.

I really enjoy the green storage.

My favorite part about it

is actually the staff that works here.

Everything's so easy and amazing

and it's nice to go into a garage

when you're loading and unloading.

But thank you for everything you do

and I am a very happy customer.

That's one of more than 100 video testimonials

on Jonathan Sherman's company website.

Not a lot has changed since 2017.

He and Adam Paulin have the same nine locations

they did back then.

Out on Chando's Lake northeast of Toronto,

Jonathan continues to operate his small marina

and cottage rental business.

He never acted on the expansion plan

he pitched to his father.

But the canoe he was building when I interviewed him,

it's in the water now.

One thing Jonathan has done

is grow a real estate investment business

called Harlow Capital,

which he started in the fall of 2017.

It now has 11 projects on the go,

many of them high-end condominiums.

Seeing what the four children have

and have not done since their parents died,

I often wonder what they think of Barry's credo.

Heard here in this promotional Apotex video.

Never quit until success is achieved.

Dr. Barry Sherman, founder, Apotex.

From the Toronto Star, I'm Kevin Donovan.

And this is the billionaire murders,

the hunt for the killers of Honey and Barry Sherman.

Episode 9, Succession.

Manufacturing operations at Apotex

span across four countries,

Canada, the United States,

Mexico, and India,

with a global manufacturing capacity

of more than 20 billion tablets and capsules.

We export these to more than 100 countries and territories

and operate in dozens of countries.

In this episode, I'm going to tell you

about the battle for control of the Sherman Empire.

Now, it's hard to talk about Succession

without calling to mind the hit HBO show.

And this comment from fictional patriarch Logan Roy

to his four children.

Everything I've done in my life,

I've done for my children.

I know I've made mistakes,

but I've always tried to do the best by them

because I've always tried to do the best by them.

I love them.

Barry liked to use similar words

when talking to his children,

though unlike Logan Roy,

Barry never admitted to making mistakes.

I think Barry did love his children,

but he missed so much of their lives.

Jonathan talked about that in his eulogy.

He said their dad was just never around.

But before we get to the battle for control,

just what did Barry own?

Barry Sherman built a pharmaceutical giant

among the world's biggest generic drug makers.

The Sherman's estimated worth

over $4.5 billion.

Apotex was just one part of Barry's portfolio.

There were so many others.

The most recent investment came

less than five months before the murders.

Barry kicked in $65 million

to rescue Sam Mizrahi's bid

to build the tallest residential tower in the country.

Here's Sam announcing the one residences.

Good afternoon and welcome.

Thank you all for coming today.

This is a big day and moment.

You know, when you work on a project of the importance

and scale of the one.

Sam's funding was falling apart.

Not only did Barry kick in money,

he helped bring in other investors.

In his sales pitch,

Sam said the 85-story building

will be a centerpiece of Canada's largest city

with a main floor ceiling

tall enough to hold a giant Christmas tree

like the one in New York's Rockefeller Center

and LED lighting on the outside.

The building will be matched

and will flow with LED colors

that will match the emotional content

of the city and what's happening at the time.

For example, Canada Day, red and white.

For example, it's breast cancer month, pink.

For example, if the Leafs win,

the Stanley Cup, which they will,

because we put in the lighting system

to make the building blue.

Some investments flew below the radar.

Barry indirectly put a billion dollars

into a pharmacy chain,

which is interesting given that his own company

made drugs sold by that chain.

And then there was cash salted away down south.

With the Bahamas being blessed

with so much natural beauty,

it is only natural that we want to welcome people

to come and experience firsthand our various islands.

Now, Barry wasn't a beach guy.

The tourism minister you heard in that promotional video,

she never mentions it,

but billionaires like Barry Sherman love a good tax haven.

One insider at Barry's holding company told me

his boss had at least $2 billion hidden away down there.

The financial press estimates Barry was worth 4.5 billion,

but insiders say it was closer to 10.

We always used the kibbutz.

They're all going to live to 120.

In Jewish, Moses lived to 120.

And he wanted to live because of 100 in Svantsak.

It means up to 120.

And then I said, well, you get the 120,

Barry, you're going to want another 20.

He says, of course.

Jack Kay, Barry's second in command,

said succession planning wasn't a big thing for Barry,

but he did muse about one of his children

learning the world of generic drugs.

Daughter Lauren told homicide detectives

their father wanted both her and Jonathan to take over Apotex.

Neither were interested.

But Jonathan and business partner Adam Paulin

did have their eyes on the overall Sherman holdings.

We have many things to discuss,

but Frank will have to be one of them.

My genuine goal is to understand this situation

and then move on to more important matters

like succession

and whether Adam and I can play some role in that.

That's an email Jonathan sent Barry in 2015,

voiced by an actor.

It was just before Jonathan suggested to his sisters

that their father be declared incompetent

due to his continued funding of businessman Frank D'Angelo.

It's the email chain that led to Barry sending Jonathan

this trailer for Frank's latest movie,

The Sicilian Vampire.

Frank, as in all of the films Barry funded,

produces, directs and stars.

Life is timing.

And timing is life.

Things can change in a millisecond.

Family is the most important thing in a man's life.

Don't matter how many cars and much cash

and how powerful he is.

If he won't got no family, he's nothing.

Barry never responded to the suggestion

that Jonathan and Adam Paulin play a role in succession,

though I do know Barry was no fan of his son's business partner.

But in other emails, Barry does call Jonathan

the heir to the empire,

and Jonathan refers to himself as the heir apparent.

I found that this conflicted with what Barry told his close friends

that all his children were a disappointment.

Now, who was minding the finances when the murders took place?

Shocking news from the business world tonight,

the founder of Canadian drug giant Apotex.

Barry Sherman and his wife Honey have been found dead

in the York Mills mansion.

A few hours before it went public,

news reached a two-story brick building north of Toronto.

It's the headquarters of Sure Fam,

the center of Barry's financial universe.

Unlike his home on Old Colony,

there are multiple cameras and a high-tech series of locks

on a heavy steel door.

In his office, Alex Glassenberg, the president of Sure Fam,

answered his cell phone, then quickly left.

Short, bearded, a banker originally from South Africa,

Glassenberg was the one person who knew as much about Barry's empire as Barry.

Glassenberg immediately reached out to contacts

at the Sure Fam bank in Israel.

As a leader in the Israeli economy,

Bank of Berlin works tirelessly

towards the financial freedom of all its customers.

Glassenberg asked the bank to recommend protection

for the Sherman family, key executives,

and the trustees of Barry's estate.

Within a day, security guards with combat training arrived.

In addition to 24-7 coverage,

the guards installed a special app on everyone's phone.

We're going to show you the octopus fusion system,

which is an innovative, integrated PCM command and control software

that manages all your security operations, risks, emergency response,

cyber, facility management.

It's really a one-stop-stop solution.

Along with the personal security coverage,

the app would track everyone's location

and provide a panic button to summon help.

There was special concern for the safety of the four

executors of the estate, also called trustees.

Two of them were Jonathan Sherman and Alex Glassenberg.

The other two were Jack K. and Brad Krochek,

daughter Alexander's husband, who also worked at Sure Fam.

It is the last will and testament of the man at the center

of one of the biggest unsolved murder cases in Canada.

After Barry and Honey died, there was a private reading of the will,

but it would remain sealed from public eyes for three years.

Those sources told me what was in it.

Here's a CTV newsreader the day I won access at the Supreme Court.

Recently released court documents shedding light on how Barry

and Honey Sherman divided up their massive estates.

The documents show that if Honey Sherman had survived her husband,

she would have inherited his estate.

Given that she didn't, the estate would be equally split

between the couple's four children.

There are two things I found of interest in the will.

First, Barry had, earlier that year,

reduced the number of his executors from eight to four,

removing his three daughters and his sister's husband.

Second, there was a caveat in Barry's will.

Yes, the kids split the cash, but it was metered out over time.

One quarter of their share went each turned 24,

one third at age 30, and the balance at age 35.

Lauren was already over 40 and Jonathan was just turning 35.

Surprisingly, there was nothing in the will for charity

or other family members,

including Honey's best friend, her sister, Aunt Mary.

What they were doing, I already knew I was going to get fucked.

How did I do it?

Honey had told me a long time ago, they thought things.

Mary told me that Honey had promised

she'd be getting $500 million in Honey's lifetime.

She told the Sherman children about this,

but downgraded the amount to $300 million,

what she saw as an easier amount to swallow.

It didn't go well.

I believe Honey did make that promise to Mary,

because Honey spoke about it to one of my sources.

Mary remains devastated, cut off.

One day, two garbage bags were fed eggs to her house,

old clothes, a few mementos,

from when the Sherman family cleaned out

Honey and Barry's Florida condo before selling it.

Mary says her family has PTSD from how they've been treated.

I lost my desperate.

Tensions over who would control Barry's holding company

began immediately.

Jonathan thought it should be him and Adam Paulin,

and Jonathan wanted to manage his sibling's money.

The sisters disagreed and allied themselves

with Alex Glassenberg and Sherfam.

Meanwhile, there was a growing tension between Jonathan and Jack K,

who is now running Apatex.

Daughter Alexandra noticed it.

Jack and John were fighting, and then I kind of backed away

from both of them to take a step back and say,

like, whoa, anyone's like two bullshitting heads.

Jonathan did successfully push to streamline Apatex

for eventual sale.

A Florida opioid production plant Barry bought

for $50 million U.S. was sold,

but at a $20 million loss.

Apatex European operations were divested,

and the breaks were put on the plan to build the mansion

that was Honey's dream.

Nobody wanted it.

Then Jonathan marched Jack K out the door.

Under a negotiated deal, Jack resigned as one of the four

executors of his best friend's estate

and received a major settlement.

He lost his Israeli security when he was fired,

though the app was left on his phone.

But Alex Glassenberg, he's still there.

In our garage interview, Jonathan told me he hoped

to one day get rid of Glassenberg.

My ultimate goal is Alex will be off the board,

and we will bring in independent board members.

That never happened.

As to the Sherman family ties since the murders,

the only Sherman couple still together is Jonathan and Fred.

Lauren was not with anyone at the time,

but has since married.

Alexandra and Brad are divorced,

but I'm told it's amicable,

and Brad received a very generous settlement

in the tens of millions of dollars.

At the time of the murders,

Kalen was engaged to Jared Render,

an electrician who got a job at Apatex

after they began dating,

and whom she called her Shining Night.

They married five months later,

but Kalen asked for a divorce within two months.

Jared received about $100,000 in a settlement,

and his postings on Facebook are blunt and angry.

He says Kalen treated him like garbage.

The Shermans are all liars,

and if police want to find out who killed Barry Sherman,

they should try and learn who he really was

and who he pissed off.

Of the 250 people interviewed by police,

the only former relationship partner they spoke to

was Andrew Liss,

who had dated Jonathan before he met Fred.

Andrew told police about how

Barry gave him millions of dollars

to start a home-building company

on the condition that Jonathan not be involved.

Yet another example of how controlling Barry was.

In an email exchange,

Andrew told me,

John and I are on amicable terms,

and like back then,

we just want what's best for each other.

Andrew, who also goes by the name Andrew London,

now markets himself as a pampered nomad,

offering luxury guided trips.

We'll be right back.

There was a second succession battle.

This one for the philanthropic side of the Sherman Empire.

Three, two, one, start.

Once again.

I am stepping out of my comfort zone,

but I'm willing to work hard to try to not fall flat on my face

on the night of.

That's Honey the Fundraiser.

This was a take on dancing with the stars

to raise money for Baycrest,

a health sciences center that provides care for older adults.

She hired Michael,

a Russian-born dance instructor,

and made a fun promotional video,

including a clip recorded

while traveling with girlfriends in Asia.

Michael and I have been practicing all the time

and everywhere we go.

Dancing in the coffee shop.

Dancing in the shoe store.

Dancing in the park.

Dancing in the drug store.

With Appatex products.

Dancing on the Great Wall of China.

The Shermans gave away well over a hundred million dollars

in their lifetime.

Mark Greif, who was Fundraising Campaign Director

for the United Jewish Appeal,

told me that he saw good things from Jonathan and Alexandra in 2018.

I really got involved with Jonathan and Alex after the event,

unfortunately,

where they were suddenly thrust into this situation

of having to deal with commitments made by their parents

and having all kinds of wealth available

and trying to figure out what to do.

Jonathan's interest in philanthropy

was a pleasant surprise.

In the course of that,

I had some really interesting conversations

with both Jonathan and Alex.

And John is interesting in that he has done,

and I've learned this from others as well,

he did a lot before his parents passed away.

Very quietly, never seeking recognition.

Lots of stuff with kids, specifically in sports

or underprivileged kids and providing funding

that allowed them to do stuff and access programs

that they otherwise would not be able to access.

Even as involved as I am in the community,

I knew nothing about it.

He really was under the radar.

He's a very low-key guy.

Mark said Alexandra handles the big picture stuff.

Well, she's taking a lead on the family perspective

on the charitable giving,

but the kids are all involved.

They're all engaged.

They have regular meetings.

They talk about projects, you know,

and then they decide what they're going to do.

But Alex has taken the lead position on that.

I spoke to Alexandra about her parents and charity.

She said her father planned to give most of his money away.

I felt like I've heard him say that many, many, many times,

but like, you know, who really needs this amount of money?

There's a lot of need in our world.

There's a lot of extreme poverty

and people that can't afford medications.

And he was definitely cognizant of the unjust violence in the world

and how we have so much money and there's so much need.

And like, I was definitely, yeah, he wants to give it away.

He was inspired by Warren Buffett.

Billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates

have signed what's called the Giving Pledge,

a promise by the wealthy to give most of their money away

in their lifetimes.

Barry Sherman never signed it,

though his daughter and two of Barry's closest friends

say they heard him talk seriously about the concept.

With Barry and Honey gone,

control over Sherman charity proved to be a sore point

between Jonathan and Alexandra.

It started with a dispute over Jonathan's plan

to use Sherman charity money for a hockey rink.

Here's an email from Jonathan to Alexandra in April 2019.

It's around the time she went to police.

Hi, Alex and Brad.

Here is the latest update on the rink project.

As we recall, UJA put together an initial budget

and it was prohibitively expensive.

Since that time, I've done some more research.

In short, it is viable.

The budget would be in the 40 to 50 million range to do it right.

Essentially, the idea is to build a premium facility

with additional features like training gyms and rehab

in order to attract the premium customers

to use the facility during the downtime

like summer when the leagues are off.

Jonathan and some of his business partners

who all played beer league hockey were involved in the plan.

Alexandra said that draining 40 to 50 million dollars

from my parents' foundations

to build a premium facility to attract premium customers

is definitely not within the budget

or the mandate of our foundations

and not at all in line with my parents' philosophies.

The rift between siblings deepened.

Jonathan disinvited Alexandra to the baby shower

for the two children he and Fred were expecting through surrogacy.

As painful as this is for me to say,

I would like to respectfully request

that you please do not attend the baby shower.

Alexandra wrote to lawyer Brian Greenspan

who at the time was representing the Sherman family.

She didn't like that Jonathan was still pushing for the hockey rink.

From Alexandra Sherman to Brian Greenspan.

There are many parallels here.

John was used to bullying my dad into giving him money.

My dad would often ask John to take out financing

for his green storage buildings,

but John would refuse and kick and scream until my dad gave in.

I have been avoiding John since December 2018

when he and Adam Paulin made it very obvious

that they are money hungry monsters.

Today, Alexandra is in control of the Sherman philanthropy.

Each of the four children have also created

their own individual foundations.

And as to this vow,

Jonathan made at the funeral.

We promise to honor you by staying together,

staying strong,

and of course continuing your legacy of giving.

To that end,

we would like to announce the creation

of the Honey and Berry Foundation of Giving.

We would also like to ask our Aunt Mary,

Honey's sister,

to help guide this foundation

in a way that best honors our parents.

Jonathan told Mary in an email

that he and his siblings had decided to keep her away from the charities

and from family events.

As to the Berry and Honey Foundation,

it never got off the ground,

though Jonathan did unfurl a banner with his proposed name

on a hill in Israel

when he and husband Fred,

and Alexandra's husband at the time, Brad Krochek,

joined the Masakumta,

a grueling 90-kilometer march through the desert

to support wounded Israeli Defense Force fighters.

A video was made by Brothers for Life,

the charity that runs the event.

Dear fighter, you stand before a journey

that is neither short, long, difficult, nor easy,

but your duty is to come, complete your task,

and lead with great progress.

This is one of the many journeys that you will face in life.

One of the team-building challenges involved

all of the men gathering on a magic carpet.

They were instructed to turn it over

without stepping on the sand.

Sources on the trip said there was great confusion

until Jonathan stepped up

and coolly started giving directions.

The carpet was quickly turned over.

Nobody touched the sand.

My sources said they saw a similarity

between father and son that day.

Both had, in their words, clever intelligence.

There was something in the news about Apotex,

the drug company going on sold, actually,

and bought by another company.

Give me some details on that, what you know.

Yeah, so absolutely this.

The major Canadian pharmaceutical company

is actually being purchased by an American firm

called SK Capital Partners.

It's an American private investment firm.

I'm told the four Sherman children

received a total of three billion dollars

from the 2023 sale

of what was often referred to as Barry's fifth child.

That's just part of the disbursements

that children have received

and continue to receive as the estate is wound down.

But here's something important.

Police say the estate of Barry Sherman is of interest to them.

When I questioned Detective Constable Dennis Hymn,

the lone full-time homicide investigator on the Sherman file,

he said the estate is embedded in the investigative documents.

He refused to say which parts and why they are in there,

telling me that to reveal this would hurt the investigation.

But after a lengthy court battle,

he did release the references to the estate.

How if Barry died, honey would inherit almost everything,

and if both were dead, the children would get it all.

But unlike other portions of the police documents,

he refused to release the commentary in the warrant pages

that would explain the reason the estate documents were there.

As in, what theory the police are pursuing

related to the estate?

It was clear that someone else had been through the place

looking for items of value or hidden stashes of money.

Everything in the master bedroom was overturned,

with massive holes punched through the walls.

Remember the urban explorer from episode one,

the fellow who snuck into the Sherman home before it was demolished?

He found a home ransacked,

and he noted a series of big holes punched in the walls.

I have to wonder,

was someone looking for Honey Sherman's will,

which everyone has told me doesn't exist?

But what if Honey did have a will?

What I can tell you is that

the possibility that she did have a will

is in police interview files.

It comes in a statement made by one of Honey's service providers

who was a close confidant of Honey's.

I know it's there because I also interviewed this service provider.

What the service provider described to me

is a very interesting interaction with Honey

three weeks before the murders.

I'm going to read to you from notes of my interview.

It was around November 20, 2017.

Honey and I were talking,

and she said,

meet me at Young and St. Clair Avenue.

Honey said she was just coming from her lawyer's office

and she had just updated her will.

She had done some amendments.

After hearing the Sherman's had been found dead,

the service provider immediately reached out to police.

It won't surprise you to know

that a detective didn't follow up for six weeks.

I also want to tell you

that the police documents I have seen

show Honey was reaching out by email to lawyers

at the downtown corporate law firm of Blaney's

just before she died.

Honey's sister, Mary, told me

that a lawyer there, Doug Henler,

had some role in the Sherman's estate planning.

The police documents say those emails Honey was sending

were never reviewed

because they were considered legally privileged.

And here's one final piece of information on this issue.

At 9 to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13, 2017,

Doug Henler of the Blaney law firm called Barry Sherman.

At a time, he was most likely dead.

Recently, I reached out to Doug Henler,

asking him why he'd called Barry that night

and if he, Barry and Honey,

had any dealings regarding the estate

and in particular, Honey's will.

Here's his response.

From Doug Henler to Kevin Donovan.

Good morning and thank you for your email.

I regret that I cannot respond to your questions.

You are inquiring about matters that would be subject

to solicitor client privilege.

I would expect that, yes,

the police looked at every family member, including me.

That's an email Jonathan sent to me

just before our garage interview.

I think a lot about that email and about our five-hour talk.

You've heard me speak about the estate and the beneficiaries.

Way back when I began this investigation,

Sherman lawyer Brian Greenspan told me

that in any homicide investigation,

police started the center and move out.

This has got me thinking.

What if the killers are people with some connection

to one or all of the four children

and they saw an opportunity to help themselves financially

in the hope that if money flowed to the children,

it might then flow to them?

As to the unsolved murder investigation,

Sherman daughter Alexandra

released a statement just before the fifth anniversary

of the murders,

reminding people that the $10 million reward

for information leading to a conviction still stands.

A few days later,

Jonathan Sherman released his own statement

saying he was adding $25 million to the reward,

bringing it to a total of $35 million.

He told one media outlet,

Closure will not be possible

until those responsible for this evil act are brought to justice.

Meanwhile, police have recently told me

that they are seeking information in five countries.

They won't name them.

I think they have a suspect or suspects.

Former Chief Mark Saunders,

who was once a homicide detective,

hinted at this in a press conference on the Sherman case.

I have to be cognizant that the suspects or suspects

no doubt are watching this right now.

I know that for a fact.

And 50 Old Colony Road,

where our story began,

has been sold as a building lot.

It turns out the property was a double lot.

The new owners have changed the address to 48 Old Colony Road.

Thank you for listening to The Billionaire Murders,

The Hunt for the Killers of Honey and Barry Sherman.

While this is the final episode,

I'm not done with this case.

Sometimes I feel like I'm just getting started.

Please follow us and stay tuned.

The Billionaire Murders,

The Hunt for the Killers of Honey and Barry Sherman,

is written and narrated by me, Kevin Donovan.

It was produced by Sean Pattenden, Raju Mudar,

Alexis Green, and JP Fozo.

Additional production from Brian Bradley and Crawford Blair.

Sound of Music was created by Sean Pattenden.

In this episode,

Jonathan Sherman was voiced by Mark Ladder.

Look out for my book, The Billionaire Murders,

and coming later this year,

The Crave Documentary, by the same name.

Machine-generated transcript that may contain inaccuracies.