Madoff's Wife: We have tried suicide after his arrest Ponzi
The wife of disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff says the couple tried to commit suicide after he confessed to his family that he stole billions of dollars in the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Ruth Madoff, who will be appearing on an episode of the Sunday CBS «60 Minutes" in his first interview since December 2008 arrest of her husband, said that they had been receiving hate mail and "scary phone calls" and was upset.

"I do not know whose idea it was, but we decided to kill himself, because it was so terrible that happens," she said in an interview, according to excerpts released CBS.

She said that it was Christmas Eve, which added to his depression, and she thought: ". I just can not take it anymore"

She says the couple took "a bunch of pills" in the treatment of insomnia, including Ambien prescription, but they both woke up the next day. She said that the decision was "very impulsive," and she was glad that they did not die.

Son Andrew Madoff couples will also talk about their experiences.

Another son, Mark Madoff, hanged himself on a leash your dog in the past year on the anniversary of the arrest of his father. Like his parents, he swallowed a lot of sleeping pills in a failed suicide attempt 14 months earlier, according to a new book by his widow, "End of Normal:. Anguish of his wife, the widow of New Life"

Bernie Madoff was arrested December 11, 2008, on the morning after his sons had notified the authorities through a lawyer that he had confessed to them that his investment business was a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. He admitted cheating thousands of investors. He pleaded guilty to fraud charges and is serving a 150-year prison sentence in Butner, North Carolina

Madoff, who in 70 years, had the scheme, at least two decades, using his investment advisory services to fool people, charities, celebrities and institutional investors.

The investigation revealed Madoff never made any investments, instead using money from new investors to pay returns to existing clients - and to finance the lavish lifestyle for his family. Losses were estimated at about $ 20 billion, making it the biggest investment fraud in U.S. history.