Attempted suicide or planned escape? http://www.marketwatch.com/story//madoff-moved-to-prison-medical-facility-2009-12-23
There was a rumor when he went to jail that he was already suffering from some terminal illness. Maybe that's why he turned himself in rather than letting his family deal with it after his death. Or, maybe like OJ he got the crap beat out of him by another inmate. It is prison afterall.
High blood pressure. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2...&sq=Madoff&st=cse/news/breaking/80011297.html Give him some fries and send him back to his cell with Bubba.
If he is protected it is probably because the right people are being paid or hopeful of being paid. If you thought your cellmate was hiding 50B, you would be nice to him too.
The dude is on the top of the foodchain. He is the old and wise criminal, stole from the rich and lived like the king on their dime. Guy fell on his own sword and did not rat anyone else. etc.. The worst off are the child molesters etc.. those guys are shit in the prison system. They get the real justice by the rest of the inmates.