The private investigation into the slaying of billionaires Barry and Honey Sherman is over, Toronto police and the Sherman family said Monday.

Police also announced that the case is “active” and “ongoing” and urged the public to provide tips on the couple’s death to authorities.

“The Sherman family appreciates the hard work and dedication of the police officers working on the case,” Toronto police homicide Insp. Hank Idsinga told reporters.

“They are committed to working with us, and have full confidence that the Toronto Police Service will solve this crime.”

Led by criminal lawyer Brian Greenspan and former homicide cop turned private detective Tom Klatt, the investigation began a day after the bodies of the pharmaceutical titan and his wife were discovered in their Toronto home.

At a press conference at police headquarters Monday morning, Idsinga said the case was now solely in the hands of his detectives, led by Det.-Sgt. Brandon Price, with assistance from detectives Dennis Yim and Kristy Devine.

“The work of the private investigative team hired by the family at the outset has been completed,” Idsinga told reporters.

The private tip line established by the Sherman investigators has been shut down. Idsinga said the family had received 343 tips from the public and forwarded them to the police.

He also said 205 tips have been provided directly to the police from the public.

Idsinga said detectives want information sent directly to them. Idsinga encouraged anyone who previously provided a tip to the private investigative team to re-submit directly to police at shermantips@torontopolice.on.ca or through Crime Stoppers.

“The family and police urge anyone who has reliable information regarding the murders, no matter how small, or unimportant that information may seem, to please contact the police,” he said.

As the Star has reported previously, members of the Sherman family hired Greenspan after rumours of a murder-suicide (Barry killing Honey, then himself) emerged less than 24 hours after the discovery of the bodies.

Private investigation into murders of billionaires Barry and Honey Sherman is over, Toronto police and Sherman family say.

Greenspan was hired and made a significant contribution by, with the help of retired Ontario deputy chief coroner Jim Cairns, retaining a veteran forensic pathologist to conduct a second set of autopsies. That pathologist concluded it was a double murder, and police confirmed this finding at a Jan. 26, 2018 press conference.

But the relationship between police and the Sherman family was rocky. One year into the dual investigations, Greenspan and his private investigation team held a press conference at Apotex (the Shermans’ family company) to criticize the police probe for missing clues at the crime scene and for initially misidentifying the crime they were investigating.

Greenspan also announced a $10 million reward for information helping to catch the killers but in an unprecedented move in late 2018 he created a tip line and asked tipsters to contact the family’s investigators — not police. Police said Monday that the reward is still being offered by the Sherman family.

The Star reached out to Greenspan several times over the past six weeks asking if he and his team were still on the case.

On Monday, he told the Star that he continues to be involved as an adviser, consultant, and when necessary, a spokesperson.

The strangled bodies of the 75-year-old founder of Apotex and his 70-year-old wife were discovered in the basement swimming pool room of their Toronto home on Fri. Dec. 15, 2017.

It is believed they were killed two days earlier, on the evening of Dec. 13. Recently, the Star reported additional details from the crime scene, including the eerie similarity between the Sherman bodies positioning — seated with Barry’s legs crossed — and two life-sized, human-shaped art sculptures in another room in the basement.

Initially, police explored the possibility that it was a murder-suicide, with Barry killing Honey, then taking his own life. Six weeks into the case, and following a second set of autopsies organized by Sherman family lawyer Brian Greenspan, police announced at a news conference it was a “targeted” double homicide. Initially, a homicide detective at the scene said police were not seeking suspects and there was no sign of forced entry in the Sherman home.

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Since then, the only substantive comments by police prior to the Monday news conference have come through court hearings involving the Toronto Star, which has been seeking to unseal hundreds of pages of search warrant and production order documents related to the case. Roughly 40 search warrant and production orders have been approved by Justice Leslie Pringle of the Ontario Court of Justice and served on entities including banks and cellular telephone providers.

While Yim has been a constant in the case, the leadership of the Sherman murder probe has changed. In the first year of the case, Inspector Sue Gomes was in charge, with detectives Brandon Price and Kristy Devine assisting.

Gomes then moved to take over the police force’s operations unit, then had a stint in the Toronto Police Talent Acquisition (hiring) unit, before returning to operations. Price, now a detective sergeant, took over as the officer in charge. Idsinga, well known for his work on the Bruce McArthur serial killing case, has taken a keen interest in the Sherman investigation.

In court during the Toronto Star application, Yim explained that much of the investigation over the past eight months has centred on obtaining “voluminous” amounts of electronic data from an “entity” he would not identify. Asked in court if it was GPS or cellular phone locational information, or banking information, Yim said he could not answer that without jeopardizing the probe.

The new data, obtained in the spring, was analyzed this summer by civilian analysts with the police force’s Intelligence Services. The report from the analysts was given to the homicide unit in September, and more production orders were to be served on other entities as a result, Yim told court.

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