It was a showdown they'd dreamed about for months - a chance to peer into the face of greed and watch Bernard Madoff hauled off in handcuffs.
But for many of the victims who showed up at Manhattan federal court yesterday, it became a day of intense sadness that did little to ease their suffering, anger and overwhelming sense of futility.
The first three rows of one side of Judge Denny Chin's 24th-floor courtroom were occupied by 15 victims.
Those who didn't think the court should accept Madoff's guilty plea were invited to speak directly to the judge. Three did.
George Nierenberg went to the podium and immediately confronted Madoff. "I don't know if you had a chance to turn around and look at the victims," he said directly to the disgraced former NASDAQ chairman.
The judge sternly ordered Nierenberg to address only the court - but not before the shamefaced financier turned to his right and looked sheepishly at the man he conned.
Nierenberg said that he didn't believe Madoff acted alone and that he should be charged with conspiracy.
"Just to produce the reams of documents that were received and the elaborate data that went into them must have required an army of people to produce," said Nierenberg.
Prosecutor Mark Litt assured the investors that the "government's investigation continues."
Maureen Ebel - who discovered that her $7.3 million portfolio was worthless when Madoff was arrested in December - didn't want him to plead guilty because she wanted him to stand trial.
"At trial, we can hear and bear witness to the pain that Mr. Madoff has inflicted on the young, the old and the infirm," Ebel said.
She has had to sell her West Palm Beach, Fla., condo and Lexus SUV and has begun working as a maid and caretaker to pay the bills.
Another victim, Ronnie Sue Ambrosino, said she didn't want the judge to accept the plea because she feared it would mean Madoff would never reveal where he hid the money.
Despite their objections, Chin accepted Madoff's declaration of guilt after an 11-minute allocution of his crimes.
From the overflow room, DeWitt Clinton Baker, 84, listened in amazement. "I don't think he has a sincere bone in his body," said DeWitt, who, with his wife, lost nearly $2.5 million.
An appropriate punishment?
"I'd stone him to death," he said.
His wife, Judith Welling, 70, couldn't understand why it took so long to lock Madoff up.
"He should've been there from day one," she said.
Attorney Helen Davis Chaitman, a duped investor who lost her savings - and who represents 300 other conned clients - was shocked that Madoff could cheat his own friends.
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"To steal from someone you have a trust relationship with takes a complete different kind of human being," said Chaitman after the hearing.
"People were very pleased that he was taken off to jail."
When Miriam Siegman, 65, left the courthouse, she raised her hands high in the air in a sign of jubilation - but admitted she had mixed emotions.
"Seeing him in court meant nothing, seeing him in handcuffs a little better," she said. As for his apology, she called it "absurd."
"For me, justice is a process which helps ensure that the likelihood of the crime happening again is somehow addressed," she said.
"That did not happen today."
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton
bruce.golding@nypost.com
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