Cousin of murdered Canadian billionaire says he fantasized about decapitating him

In this Oct. 15, 2017 photo provided by the United Jewish Appeal via Canadian Press, Barry and Honey Sherman pose for a photo in Toronto, Canada. (AP/United Jewish Appeal Federation - Greater Toronto/Canadian Press)

A cousin of the Canadian billionaire who was found murdered with his wife in their home has bizarrely claimed to have had fantasies about decapitating Barry Sherman and rolling his bloody head around a parking lot.

The startling admission, made during a TV program set to air on CBC Friday, came after Kerry Winter reportedly failed a lie detector test about his past claim that Sherman approached him and asked him to kill his wife, Honey. The Shermans were found dead in their mansion near Toronto on Dec. 15, and police last week ruled the deaths a double homicide, ending weeks of speculation.

"I would talk about killing Barry, and it was very graphic," Winter told CBC, recalling conversations he said he had with a psychiatrist. "He would come out of the parking lot of Apotex, and I'd be hiding behind a car, and I'd just decapitate him. I wanted to roll his head down the parking lot, and I'd sit there and wait for the police."

Winter, who told the Toronto Sun that he is a recovering addict, said on the day the Shermans were last seen alive, Dec. 13, he had left a Cocaine Anonymous meeting and went home to fall asleep.

Dec. 17, 2017: A police forensics photographer works outside the home of Barry and Honey Sherman. (Reuters)

"Very easy for me to have left work at any time because I'm not on the clock… I could easily have driven over to [the Sherman home] and did the deed,” he told CBC. "I admit to that, but I didn't, I didn't, and that's why I'm not nervous."

Winter also said he was told by police he was not a suspect and is planning to meet them for an interview.

Authorities – who said the Shermans were found hanging by belts from a railing that surrounded an indoor pool at their home – have declined to discuss possible suspects.

Sherman founded Apotex in 1974 with two other employees and it has grown to become the largest Canadian-owned pharmaceutical company.

The family said last week that they continue “to support the Toronto Police Service in their efforts to seek justice for their parents and pursue those responsible for these unspeakable crimes.”

Winter and other Sherman family siblings in September lost a lawsuit seeking a piece of Barry’s Apotex fortune. As a part of an Ontario court decision – which they have since appealed – Winter was ordered to pay Sherman back $8 million and he and his cousins were also told to pay Sherman $300,000 in legal fees, CBC reported.

Dec. 16, 2017: Police officers gather while canvassing neighbors for information on the deaths of Barry and Honey Sherman. (Reuters)

Winter then surfaced this week and said Sherman asked him twice in the past to kill Honey.

"He said, 'I want you to whack my wife,'" Winter told CBC. "I called him and said: 'You know, there's no turning back, Barry, if I push the button.'”

But Winter and his lawyer agreed to take a lie detector test over the claim as part of the CBC program, and failed it, the station said, citing a former Quebec police officer and polygraph expert who commissioned the test.

Winter then, according to the CBC, told the officer he “embellished” and fabricated parts of his story. He also said he is going public now with such claims because he wanted to “hurt” Barry’s legacy.

"This was a tragedy no matter how you slice and dice it," Winter said. "This was a terrible thing that happened, even though my cousin and I had an extreme falling out."

In a separate interview with the Toronto Sun, Winter insisted that the Shermans’ deaths were a murder-suicide – despite statements from police and Brian Greenspan, the family's lawyer, saying otherwise.

“You will see I am not a kook, I am not a nut,” he said. “But when Brian Greenspan starts spinning this yarn, I am not going to keep my mouth shut anymore.”

Greenspan did not respond to a request for comment from the newspaper.