Ruth and Bernie Madoff Tried to Commit Suicide, Ruth Madoff Tells CBS’s 60 Minutes

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In her first interview since her husband, Bernie Madoff, was found guilty of orchestrating one of the largest ponzi schemes in American history, his wife, Ruth Madoff, tells CBS’s 60 Minutes that when the scandal first broke, she and Bernie attempted to commit suicide.

Ruth Madoff tells CBS, “‘I don’t know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill ourselves because it was so horrendous what was happening.’” Ruth Madoff went on to describe the harrassment that she and her disgraced financier husband encountered, stating, ‘We had terrible phone calls. Hate mail, just beyond anything and I said ‘…I just can’t go on anymore.’”

Oddly, Ruth seems to be implying that she and Bernie Madoff were somehow victimized, though the general public feels no sympathy for Ruth Madoff’s plight, her confession of a double suicide attempt with her husband is certainly newsworthy. From the way Ruth Madoff speaks in the CBS interview, it is not clear whether the Madoff’s were feeling any remorse, or simply feeling uncomfortable with what was happening to them.

Ruth Madoff goes on to describe what would have been the absolute topper of a headline on top of an already huge and tragic news story. Ruth and Bernie Madoff had planned to quietly overdose on pills together, where they no doubt would have been discovered by NYPD detectives and a media frenzy the very next day. But… they both woke up. Ruth Madoff describes the scene telling 60 Minutes, “We took pills and woke up the next day… It was very impulsive and I am glad we woke up.”

I’m not so sure others echo her sentiment, although, the thousands of people worldwide who were swindled out of their lifesavings, courtesy of Bernie Madoff, certainly wanted to see him brought to justice, alive.

Ruth Madoff’s revealing interview comes on the heels of her daughter-in-law, Stephanie Madoff Mack’s memoir, where she chronicles how she and her late husband Mark Madoff came to find out about her father-in-law’s elaborate ponzi scheme, leading Mark Madoff to take his own life.