A wealthy Canadian couple found dead in their Toronto home last year were the victims of a double homicide, according to experts working on behalf of their family.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, relatives of Barry and Honey Sherman insisted they did not die as a result of a murder-suicide, as some early reports speculated.

Now the family can point to the conclusions of former homicide investigators in attempting to steer the investigation away from the billionaire businessman and his wife and toward an outside killer.

According to The Star, the hired detectives found that wrists on both bodies showed evidence that their hands had been tied together. Their hands were reportedly unbound when their bodies were found.

Neither tested positive for any substance that could have caused the death.

Furthermore, based on available information, a second autopsy ruled both deaths to be homicides.

According to reports, both victims died as a result of ligature compression caused by leather belts wrapped around their necks.

Police have not provided updates except to reiterate that the deaths are being treated as “suspicious.”

Shortly after the bodies were discovered on Dec. 15, a Toronto police spokesperson said investigators were “not seeking a suspect” at that point.

Several of the preliminary and unverified reports of a murder-suicide have been contested by experts hired by the family and unnamed sources cited by The Star.

Those sources, the newspaper reported, used terms like “professional,” “contract killing” and “staged homicide” in their depiction of the crime.

Several early reports indicated a realtor found the bodies hanged near their pool, though the latest expert theory indicates they were killed by the belts, which were wrapped around their necks and attached to a rail in order to keep them seated upright.

Attorney Brian Greenspan confirmed the family is funding a team of experts to continue probing the deaths. As of the latest reports available, they had not yet been granted access to the Sherman residence.

[Featured image: Associated Press]