Hedge fund exec linked to Madoff jumped to his death

A hedge fund executive, who invested $7 billion in Bernard Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme, jumped to his death from the Sofitel New York Hotel on Monday afternoon according to police authorities.

Charles Murphy, 56, leaped from a room he rented on the 24th floor at 4:42 pm before landing on the fourth-floor terrace.

Murphy, who worked at the Fairfield Greenwich, was at the top of his game, controlling the hedge fund when the firm invested billions with Madoff. Fairfield lost almost $50 million that led to investors filing a class action lawsuit. Accordingly, both reached an $80 million settlement.

The hedge fund exec owned a multimillion-dollar limestone townhouse in Lenox Hill, which comprised of eight bedrooms, 11 fireplaces and two elliptical staircases. Murphy also purchased the building on East 67th Street for $33 million in 2007. It was previously owned by Seagram heir Matthew Bronfman.

Murphy also served as a partner with Paulson & Co., an investment management firm. Head of the hedge fund recalls Murphy to be "a brilliant man, a great partner and true friend" in a press release statement on Monday. An insider claims the family is currently grieving.

The incident was reported by a witness at 4:42 pm when he saw a man jump off from a balcony. The landing caused the tiles to shatter with the hedge fund exec lying in a business suit. This marks as the third high-profile suicide in relation to the Madoff Ponzi scheme.

Madoff was arrested in December 2008 for defrauding investors of $20 billion, in addition to the Ponzi scheme. The verdict left him pleading guilty to the charges and serving 150 years in a federal prison in North Carolina. Madoff's eldest son, Mark, reportedly hung himself to death in his Soho apartment in December 2010, which marked the second anniversary of his father's arrest.

Other notable figures, William Foxton also committed suicide in 2009 because of fear and shame that he will be going bankrupt. Rene-Thierry Magon De La Villehuchet was found dead shortly after the scandal broke in 2008.