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Toronto police announced today they are investigating the deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman as a targeted double homicide.

Barry, 75, and Honey, 70, were found dead by a real estate agent in the basement of their Toronto mansion on Old Colony Road near Bayview Avenue and Highway 401, just before 11:45AM on Dec. 15. An autopsy revealed the cause of death for both to be “ligature neck compression,” meaning strangulation.

“Through the six weeks of work review we have sufficient evidence to describe this as a double homicide investigation,” Det. Sgt. Susan Gomes told reporters at a press conference Friday afternoon.

Sherman was a fiercely competitive businessman, once musing that a rival might want to kill him. The day after the bodies were found, prominent media outlets, including the Toronto Star, quoted unidentified police officials as saying it appeared to be a murder-suicide. But that theory was dismissed by authorities on Friday, when they confirmed that the philanthropic and politically connected couple were murdered in a double homicide.

Sherman, 75, was known for litigiousness and aggressive businesses practices as he developed generic drug manufacturer Apotex Inc., which has a global workforce of about 11,000. He conceded he made enemies in “Prescription Games,” a 2001 book about the industry.

“The branded drug companies hate us. They have hired private investigators on us all the time,” he said. “The thought once came to my mind, why didn’t they just hire someone to knock me off? For a thousand bucks paid to the right person you can probably get someone killed. Perhaps I’m surprised that hasn’t happened.”

Canadian Sen. Linda Frum, a close friend of the Shermans, said the comment is chilling in retrospect. “That sets off alarm bells for me,” she said. “The fact that he identified that as a possible threat to his life has to be taken seriously.”

Sherman also faced legal action from cousins who said they had been cut out of the company over the years. A judge dismissed the claim just months before the couple was found dead.

A Toronto-born graduate of MIT and the University of Toronto, Sherman founded the company in 1974. He married Honey in 1971.

Canadian Business magazine recently estimated his worth at 4.77 billion Canadian dollars ($3.65 billion), making him the 15th richest person in the country. As they became wealthy, the couple became known in Canada for philanthropy. They gave tens of millions to the United Jewish Appeal, gave money to a geriatric hospital in Toronto and sent medicine to disaster zones. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the funeral and Sherman is posthumously due to receive one of the country’s highest civilian honors this year.

Frank D’Angelo, a close friend of Sherman, said the businessman complained of fatigue but he chalked it up to working long hours and not eating well. “It was never about depression,” he said. “I never heard that in almost 20 years.”

Honey Sherman, 70, a University of Toronto graduate who met her husband while volunteering at a local hospital, spent her time raising money for charities and was active in Toronto’s Jewish community. She had recently been treated for cancer and suffered from a serious form of arthritis but was outgoing and friendly.

Friends and family say the couple was busy making plans for the future. They had recently listed their home in Toronto for 6.9 million Canadian dollars and they were building a new home in the city.

“They loved each other. They loved life,” Frum said. “Almost every conversation I ever had with Barry was about how much left he had to do in his life.”

Their bodies were discovered Dec. 15 by a maid and a real estate agent.

(AP)