Nearly a week after a team of private investigators that included several former Toronto homicide detectives said they found evidence of foul play, the Toronto Police Department said Friday that they will now investigate the deaths of billionaire philanthropists Barry and Honey Sherman as a "targeted" double-homicide, according to CBC. The police made the announcement during a 1 pm ET press conference.

Barry, 75, and Honey, 70, were found dead by a real estate agent in the basement of their Toronto mansion on Dec. 15. An autopsy revealed the cause of death for both to be "ligature neck compression," meaning strangulation. Police initially believed it was a "suspicious" murder-suicide. The Shermans are believed to possess a fortune worth nearly $5 billion thanks to Barry Sherman's Apotex, a Canadian pharmaceutical giant that specializes in producing generic copies of popular drugs. At the time of his death, Sherman and his company were embroiled in multiple lawsuits.

A source with direct knowledge of the parallel probe told CBC Toronto that private investigators believe that the billionaire Toronto couple was murdered by multiple killers.

The couple's children expressed outrage at the media's willingness to jump to conclusions in the murder case after the deaths were reported as a "murder-suicide" before the official police announcement.

As we reported previously, the Sherman's were popular on Toronto's gala circuit and were said to be excited about their newest grandchild at the time of their deaths.

Indeed, the Sherman’s gifts included multimillion-dollar donations to hospitals, schools and charities and had buildings named in their honor. They also gave generously to Jewish organizations.

They even hosted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a Liberal party fundraiser in 2015. In a statement released following the initial reports of their deaths, Trudeau said he and his wife were “saddened” and offered “our condolences” to their friends and family.