Bernie Madoff Reveals The Worst Part of Prison

While Ruth Madoff has just revealed that Bernie and she tried to commit suicide shortly after he was put under house arrest, her husband has just revealed what keeps him up at night: And it's not, as you might think -- or hope -- his victims.

Madoff, who perpetrated the biggest fraud in history, says he is most affected by the impact that his crimes have had on his family.

In an interview unlikely to ingratiate him with the public, he told ABC's Barbara Walters: "I can understand why clients hate me. The gravy train is over. I can live with that."

But the worst thing about life in prison, he says, is "Not seeing my family and knowing they hate me. I betrayed them."

Madoff's family has indeed been destroyed by his fraudulent actions: His son Mark tragically committed suicide last year, while his 2-year-old son slept in the room next door. And Bernie's son Andrew no longer speaks to his parents.

Despite the loss his family has suffered, though, one can't help but think that a bit of remorse for his victims wouldn't be a miss.

Then again, Ruth Madoff has also startlingly failed to mention her husband's victims, at least in the first part of an interview published by The Times. Revealing why she and Bernie tried to kill themselves, she says: "It was so horrible what was happening to us. We had terrible phone calls, hate mail. Just beyond anything."

The hundreds of people who lost their life's savings at her husband's hands probably, and quite rightly, have very a different point of view.

Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio