How hard was it to be Mark Madoff? In the end, due to media attention, the Madoff family decided to cremate his body and not hold a funeral. They had a small private remembrance instead.

The New York Times offers some interesting, quite sympathetic  details about a man who wanted to build a new life--but just couldn't. Not that he wasn't trying. He had launched a new real estate newsletter, which he published without using his name. He even sent out an issue the day he killed himself. He had sought professional help and seemed okay to his friends at times.

But there were also darker episodes, like when he his wife reported him missing in October 2009 after a fight. He was found in the Soho Grand Hotel.

The very end remains a mystery. His behavior didn't seem out of the ordinary to friends. He made plans for ski trips and visited his older son at college. He had kept routine appointments--including one the Friday afternoon before his death, notes the Times.

These things always defy explanation. This is a tragedy to be sure, more terrible than his father could ever have imagined. But the work of Irving Picard remains, as does the mystery of the family's involvement. It may be very, very complex.

Perhaps at one point people had reservations about Bernard's too-good-to-be-true track record but dismissed them. What else could they do? That burden would be too much for any son. As for outright involvement in his father's scheme, that is best left to the professionals to decide.

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