Uncover

If Honey Sherman showed up unannounced at her favourite hair salon and someone was in her chair — that person got moved pretty darn quickly. Honey wasn't the one who made the billions, but she certainly spent them. So much is known about her husband, but very little about Honey Sherman. A child of Holocaust survivors, family and community meant everything to Honey. And as for her friends? They aren’t talking.

For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

Rosemary Sexton’s website

The lack of justice, or any resolution, has left a void in this story that has been filled by online sleuths, investigative reporters, nosey neighbours, and conspiracy theorists. From Covid to the Clintons. From family to the Mafia. With more than a dozen theories on the table, and little information from the police, is it any wonder this case remains constant fodder for the darkest corners of the internet?

For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

Websleuths

Snopes

Corrina Oates’ Sleuthing Websleuths

Ann Brocklehurst

After a notorious 2018 interview on CBC television, Kerry Winter became a familiar figure in the tale of the Shermans’ deaths. “The Cousin Did It” wasn’t just a snappy headline on the cover of The National Enquirer, it also became a favourite theory. Yet Kerry is not a suspect. And all these years later the humiliation, anger, and deep sadness Kerry feels towards his cousin Barry are still right on the surface. How did such a good thing go so bad, and why is Kerry so certain Barry killed Honey then killed himself? Was a man capable of “ripping off little orphans” also capable of killing his own wife? And himself?

Kerry Winter on The Fifth Estate

For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

After our year-long investigation, in this final episode we revisit the murder/suicide theory. That misstep set the whole investigation off on the wrong foot, and might have derailed any chance of finding out who killed the Shermans. To the Sherman's children, it's one of the biggest police screw-ups in recent history – a botched job that muddled the truth and stained the family. But the theory hangs in the air because its adherents, especially Kerry Winter, aren’t budging. In the end, what is the Shermans’ legacy? And what was all that money really for?

Itiel Dror’s Cognitive Bias in Forensic Pathology Decisions

Douglas Young’s website

For transcripts of this series, please visit here.

In the early hours of May 13, 1985, police direct residents of Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia to leave their homes, and not return for 24 hours. It’s Mother’s Day, and authorities have come to resolve a years-long conflict with a family of local revolutionaries — the Africas, collectively known as MOVE. There are 13 people in the Africa home that morning. Six of them are children. By the end of the day, most will be dead, and a neighbourhood will lie in ruins.

The Africas VS. America is nominated for a Webby! Vote for the series here.

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Artwork by Yannick Lowery.

A quiet and reclusive young man is conscripted to war in Korea and returns having been made anew. Vincent Leaphart becomes the enigmatic John Africa, whose revolutionary vision will prove irresistible to followers seeking a new way of living. But what begins as a movement concerned with the protection of all life, will gradually turn to nonviolent direct action and large-scale civil disobedience in reaction to the state. This is the origin story of John Africa, leader of what will soon become known as MOVE.

The Africas VS. America is nominated for a Webby! Vote for the series here.

By the 1970s, both local and federal law enforcement have perfected a system to subvert and neutralize Black liberation movements across the United States. The civil rights movement has been uprooted, and Black Power is now here. In Philadelphia, the most famous police officer in America is elected mayor. Frank Rizzo’s objective is to turn the city into centre stage in the nationwide fight against Black liberation activists. His power and influence will have deep implications for MOVE.

The Africas VS. America is nominated for a Webby! Vote for the series here.