Bernard Madoff's elder son committed suicide, experts conclude

New York medical examiners Sunday ruled the death of Bernard Madoff's elder son a suicide, one day after his body was found hanging in his Manhattan apartment.

Mark Madoff, 46, hanged himself early Saturday with a dog leash in his living room. Madoff took his life on the second anniversary of his father's arrest in the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.

An autopsy Sunday revealed the cause of death. "It is suicide by hanging," medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said, Los Angeles Times reports.

With Saturday's deadline for filing suit having passed, at least 1,000 civil lawsuits will now go forward to try to recover more than $50 billion for victims of the global Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Bernard Madoff.

David Sheehan, counsel for Irving H. Picard, the trustee charged with recovering assets, said yesterday that he expected hundreds of those suits - many filed against individuals, some of them prominent - to be settled before or soon after they reach court in coming months.

The rest are likely to proceed to trial, he said.

Sheehan said the death on Saturday of Mark Madoff, the older of Bernard Madoff's two sons, would not affect the complaints against him, his brother, Andrew, and other relatives, Boston Globe reports.