Bernie Madoff.Photo: Mario Tama/Getty
The only sister ofBernie Madoff— the financial scam artist behind the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history — and her husband were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in their Florida home late last week, authorities say.
Deputies from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded on Thursday about 12:55 p.m. to a 911 call about a male and female who were found unresponsive inside their home, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The bodies of Sondra Wiener, 87, and 90-year-old Marvin Wiener were discovered in their residence in unincorporated Boynton Beach,The Boca Raton Newswas the first to report.
They were both dead from a gunshot wound in what is suspected to be murder-suicide, authorities said.
The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
Detectives from the violent crimes division arrived on the scene to investigate further. The probe is ongoing.
The couple moved to a $315,000 three-bedroom home in Valencia Lakes in 2009, online records show. Residents of the usually quiet community were shocked about the couple’s tragic deaths.
One resident toldThe Palm Beach Postthe Wieners were “a lovely couple.”
Sondra was often seen swimming in the Valencia Lakes' two pools, the resident told thePost.Marvin, meanwhile, liked to golf but hadn’t done so in recent years because of health issues.
“Our thoughts and condolences go out to their family,” the message reportedly continued. “There is currently an investigation pending. All I can say is at this time there is no security or safety threat to anyone in the community.”
Sondra and her husband moved to Valencia Lakes after downsizing from a home they sold in Palm Beach Gardens for $575,000 in 2009, according to online records.
In 2009, Sondra lost $3 million as part of her brother’s infamous $65 billion scheme and was forced to sell the Palm Beach Gardens home,New Yorkmagazine previously reported.
That same year, the couple’s son, David Wiener, toldThe New York Postthat his parents had been among the many victims of his uncle’s fraud.
“It’s very painful,” he said then.
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Bernie Madoff died in a North Carolina prison in 2021 at the age of 82.
He wasarrested in December 2008on suspicion that his eponymous investment firm had swindled billions of dollars from individuals, businesses and charities.
He pleaded guilty to 11 felony charges related to fraud, money laundering, making false statements and perjury and was sentenced to 150 years in prison, which he started serving in 2009.
Bernie Madoff.TIMOTHY A. CLARY/Getty Images
Andrew Madoff, Mark’s brother, blamed their father for his recurrence of the rare cancer mantle-cell lymphoma, which ultimatelykilled him in 2014.
Inearly 2020, the elder MadofftoldThe Washington Postthat he was suffering from terminal kidney failure and sought a compassionate release.
““There’s no cure for my type of disease. So, you know, I’ve served. I’ve served 11 years already, and, quite frankly, I’ve suffered through it,” he insisted in a phone interview with the paper.
His request was denied later that year.
source: people.com
