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Ruth Madoff Blames Bernie for Son's Suicide

By DNAinfo Staff on December 13, 2010 12:17pm

By Jennifer Glickel

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Ruth Madoff, the wife of disgraced Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, is blaming her imprisoned husband for their son’s suicide this weekend, according to the New York Post.

Bernie Madoff's son, Mark, was found dead in his SoHo home early Saturday, exactly two years after his father was arrested for running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme. Mark Madoff had hung himself with a black dog leash while his two-year-old son, Nicholas, slept in a nearby room.

Madoff biographer Jerry Oppenheimer quoted a family friend to the Post that Ruth Madoff believed that Mark "would not have died if it weren't for what [Bernie] had done."

"Her wrath is aimed at her husband," Oppenheimer said.

Mark Madoff's body was removed from his Mercer Street apartment on Saturday.
Mark Madoff's body was removed from his Mercer Street apartment on Saturday.
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DNAinfo/Della Hasselle

Ruth is "totally disgusted with [Bernie] and blames him for her son's death. She thinks this is the end of the family," Oppenheimer told the Post, quoting Madoff family members and sources close to them.

"It has made him [Bernie Madoff] realize what this whole thing has all been about. It's a Greek tragedy."

Mark Madoff had been a broker in his father's firm, but claimed not to know about his crimes.

He and his brother told police about their father's activities after he confessed to them two years ago.