Bernie Madoff's Sister and Her Husband Found Dead

Police say it was a murder-suicide
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2022 1:45 AM CST
Bernie Madoff's Sister and Her Husband Found Dead
Bernie Madoff exits Manhattan federal court, March 10, 2009, in New York.   (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano, File)

A couple found dead inside their home in Boynton Beach, Fla., Thursday afternoon were identified Sunday as relatives of the late Bernie Madoff. The disgraced financier's sister, Sondra Wiener, 87, was found alongside her husband Marvin, 90; they had fatal gunshot wounds, the Miami Herald reports. Police responded to a 911 call regarding a man and a woman found unresponsive inside the home, and ultimately determined the case was a murder-suicide. It's not yet clear who allegedly shot whom before turning the gun on themselves, but the Sun-Sentinel reports the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner will likely determine that, along with the official cause of death.

As Boca News Now reports, the couple was sued by the trustee representing Madoff's victims in 2010, alleging they had received at least $1,715,000 of ill-gotten gains while Madoff ran his Ponzi scheme, which collapsed in 2008. The outcome of that case is not clear, but it had been reported in 2009 that Sondra Weiner lost $3,000,000 in her brother's scam and had to sell her Palm Beach estate at a loss as a result. The couple bought the home where they died in 2009 for $315,000. "They were very lovely neighbors and very, very nice people," says a neighbor.

(More Bernie Madoff stories.)

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