Madoff Daughter-In-Law: I Will Tell My Young Children Their Grandfather Was Evil
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Bernie Madoff's daughter-in-law is sharing her husband's heartbreak in the months leading up to his suicide.
Stephanie Mack (formerly Madoff Mack) said that during the final months before her husband, Mark Madoff, killed himself he was in agony over what his father had done, reports CBS 2's John Slattery reports.
Mack said her husband was distraught over the $64 billion Ponzi scheme, to which Bernie Madoff pleaded guilty.
The daughter-in-law writes:
"Mark obsessively followed every scrap of news about the Madoff scandal. Every single picture of Bernie came down in our home. One day I came across Mark cleaning out a closet... 'What are you doing?' I asked, pulling a suede jacket I loved out of the garbage bag he was filling. 'My father gave it to me,' he answered grimly, stuffing it back in the bag."
In the book excerpts, published in this week's People magazine, Mack said she will tell her two children that their grandfather was evil.
"I will tell them what he did to so many innocent people, and how he drove their father to his death when they are mature enough to understand such horrors."
Mack's husband hanged himself in December 2010 inside their SoHo apartment while their 2-year-old son, Nicholas, slept nearby.
At the time, Mark Madoff had left a note that read, "Bernie: Now you know you have destroyed the lives of your sons by your life of deceit. F--k you."
As for Bernie's wife Ruth, Mack said: "I do still think of Ruth often...I don't regret my decision to honor Mark's wishes and cut her off, but I wonder if I will ever face her again. My heart softens and hardens."
Bernie Madoff, now 73, is in a federal prison for 150 years.
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