Page 25 - Bloomberg Businessweek-October 29, 2018

Bloomberg Businessweek October 29, 2018

crowds with his band, Frank D’Angelo and the Steelback 2-4. somebody felt she would get in the way of the scratch.”
For Sherman’s colleagues at Apotex, the friendship could We were on to dessert, washed down with more wine—our
be hard to understand. “Some of that stuff just left you shak- second bottle. “Money,” he said, spitting on the floor with an
ing your head,” Bruce Clark, a former regulatory affairs audible splat. “F--- it.”
executive, later told me. “You’d come in some days, and A few minutes later, we walked out of the hotel together. As
D’Angelo would be in his office, and Barry would have a case we prepared to part ways, D’Angelo pulled me close. “Do the
of Cheetah outside his door. Like, you’ve got a global phar- right thing for my friend,” he said. “If you don’t, I’m going to
maceutical company with all these high-tech, brilliant peo- come to London and find you.”
ple in the building, and you’ve got this energy drink piled
up in the hallway.” V. THE WINTER’S TALE
Frank’s endeavors lost a lot of money, and when his
company, D’Angelo Brands, filed for bankruptcy in 2007, The person with the most obvious rea-
it owed Sherman more than C$100 million. Sherman took son to confront Sherman at the time
control, installing his son to run the company. But he of his death was almost certainly his
kept financing D’Angelo’s ventures, including his movies. estranged cousin, Kerry Winter. Winter
D’Angelo has directed eight films since 2013, largely paid and his siblings—the children of Louis,
for by Sherman. One, Sicilian Vampire (2015), features James who’d hired Sherman at Empire
Caan, Daryl Hannah, and a star turn from D’Angelo as a mob- Laboratories in the 1960s—spent much
ster who’s transformed into a bloodsucker after being bit- of the past decade fighting Sherman in
ten by a bat. (“Of all of Frank’s films, Sicilian Vampire … is court, claiming he’d concealed a pro-
undoubtedly the Frankiest,” read the Globe and Mail’s one- vision in his acquisition of Empire Winter in 2017
star review.) As D’Angelo described it, movies looked like a that would have let them buy 20 percent of its shares if cer-
low-risk investment to Sherman: Canada has generous tax tain conditions were met. They further argued that Apotex
credits for film production, and one hit, however unlikely, wouldn’t have existed without Empire to build upon—and
could wipe out the losses from a dozen flops. that they should therefore receive the same proportion of
Nor did a high-profile encounter with the law shake Apotex, or the cash equivalent. But then the judge threw out 53
Sherman’s loyalty. D’Angelo was acquitted of a sexual assault their claim, finding that Sherman had acted properly and
charge in 2009; weeks later, prosecutors accused him of that any such provision disappeared with his sale of Empire.
obstruction of justice, claiming he’d conspired with a police The timing of the ruling, so close to the murders, looked sus-
sergeant to tilt the earlier trial. (The charge was ultimately picious to just about everyone involved—something Winter
dropped; the sergeant, Michael Rutigliano, was accused well understood.
of more than a dozen corruption-related offenses in one of I first spoke to Winter in late April, when I called him to
Canada’s most sensational law enforcement scandals, though ask if we could meet in Toronto. He was initially enthusiastic,
all were eventually withdrawn.) but when I later tried to confirm our appointment, he was
D’Angelo said he was as confounded by the Shermans’ hesitant. “I’ve been told I’m a prime suspect,” he said, almost
deaths as anyone else—and that he had nothing to do with apologetically, asking that I give him time to consult with his
them. “Frank D’Angelo?” he said, mimicking an investiga- lawyer before he committed to an interview. Two days later
tor crossing off suspects. “The worst thing that could have he emailed, suggesting lunch at United Bakers, a vast can-
happened to Frank D’Angelo is Barry dying.” Sherman, teen devoted to Ashkenazi comfort food in a heavily Jewish
he said, was “my f---ing leprechaun, my four-leaf clover.” neighborhood. He gave me the address, unnecessarily—I’d
Price, the lead detective, interviewed D’Angelo earlier this been there dozens of times as a child for potato latkes and
year, and D’Angelo said the questions were “typical shit. split-pea soup.
I’m pretty sure he was trying to get a psychological profile Winter arrived alone, looking slim and much younger
about me and see if I had any reason to lie.” The detective, than his 56 years, wearing a navy blue polo shirt and jeans
D’Angelo continued, “would ask the same question three or under a slightly frayed Nike windbreaker. He ordered a
four times, moving around,” feigning surprise when his sub- niçoise salad; I stuck to the hits, with a platter of lox and
ject pointed out the repetitions. They included “the million- a bagel. After Sherman’s sale of Empire, Winter told me, the
dollar question: ‘Who do you think did it?’ Well how the four siblings lost touch with their cousin for years. When they
f--- do I know? You’re the cop.” reconnected in 1988, Kerry was addicted to crack cocaine; his
But like everyone in the Shermans’ orbit, he had his brother Dana was also struggling with drug addiction. Sherman
theories, which he expressed Godfather-style. “I think reacted with generosity, writing checks and bankrolling his
somebody came to make Barry an offer he couldn’t refuse, troubled kin’s business ideas. Kerry got clean, got married, and
and he refused,” D’Angelo said, suggesting that someone went to work building homes, developing a close relationship
wanted Sherman’s cooperation, his money, or both, and that with Sherman along the way. (Dana was less fortunate, dying
Sherman wouldn’t yield. And “Honey had to die because of a heroin overdose in 1995.) The amounts involved were