Ruth and Bernie Madoff' Attempted Suicide on Christmas Eve
Financial criminal behavior does have its pressures and stresses! At least that's what Ruth Madoff told "60 Minutes" during an interview to be aired this Sunday evening, October 30, when she said she and her husband, vilified Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff attempted suicide on Christmas Eve. (CBS News)
"I don't know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening," Ruth Madoff told Morley Safer. "We had terrible phone calls. Hate mail, just beyond anything, and I said '...I just can't go on anymore.' " (CBS News, "60 Minutes")
Ruth Madoff took pills that were on hand, perhaps Klonopin and Ambien, but not alcohol because she was afraid she would vomit. Her husband took even more pills.
"I took what we had, he took more," said Ruth. "It was Christmas Eve," she continued. "That added to the whole depression." But in this instance, the pills didn't complete their intentions. "We took pills and woke up the next day....It was very impulsive and I am glad we woke up," she responded. (Huffington Post)
These revelations precede the new confessional memoir from the widow of Ruth and Bernie's son Mark, Stephanie Madoff Mack. On the second anniversary of his father's arrest in the living room of his SoHo loft Mark hanged himself. He took his life while his son was sleeping nearby and his wife and daughter were in Disney World. (Darlene Long and Tom Hays, Huffington Post)
During the "60 Minutes" interview son Andrew discusses how he received a package from his mom which included "pieces of jewelry" that he recognized. In the interview, he said he didn't understand why he was receiving the jewelry. Three years later his mother told him why. (Washington Post clip from CBS News)
Sending the package was less "impulsive" than Ruth Madoff's description of the suicide pact with her husband. But most likely, the Madoffs, unused to such oppressive circumstances were considering alternatives and attempting to cope.
Biographer Jerry Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer told The New York Post Ruth was "totally disgusted with [Bernie] and blames him for her son's death." Now Stephanie Mack is "having her say." And Ruth and Andrew Madoff are having theirs on "60 Minutes."
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