Bernie Madoff’s 87-year-old sister Sondra and her 90-year-old husband Marvin Wiener were found dead inside their Florida home Thursday afternoon. from what investigators suspect to be a murder-suicide, The Guardianreports.
“Detectives from the violent crimes division arrived on scene to investigate further,” the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Sunday. “After further investigation it appears to be a murder-suicide.” Sondra and Marvin were discovered with gunshot wounds, but it’s unclear how exactly the incident unfolded. The medical examiner’s office will later determine the cause of death.
The Guardian was able to contact a woman who claimed to be the wife of their son David. She asked for privacy “at this time of grief,” adding, “we are not making any comment at this time.”
Madoff was charged with 11 counts of fraud, money laundering, perjury, and theft in 2008, and sentenced the following year to 150 years in prison for orchestrating one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. He pleaded guilty to defrauding his victims out of as much as $65 billion. According to the New York Post, Sondra and Marvin Wiener lost a reported $3 million as a result of his Ponzi scheme.
Madoff died last year at the age of 82. His attorney said he had been dealing with terminal kidney disease prior to his passing
Madoff’s son Mark died by suicide in 2010, on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest. His other son Andrew died in 2014 while undergoing treatment for lymphoma after suffering a relapse the previous year. His wife Ruth, who was never charged, has since settled in a home in Connecticut where she remains out of the public eye.
