Wealthy US philanthropist commits suicide

A New York-based philanthropist and the wife of a millionaire leapt to her death from the 14th floor terrace of her Upper East Side apartment, the media reported.

Margaret Fagenson, 68 -- who had been suffering from depression -- pulled a small ladder from her closet and set it against the railing of her terrace on Thursday as a maid worked in another room, police said.

She climbed the ladder, lifted herself over the terrace railing and fell to a sidewalk alongside her building, the Henderson House apartments at East 86th Street near Carl Schurz Park, the New York Post reported.

"She is the last person who would do such a thing," a friend said.

Fagenson's husband, Robert, is chairman and CEO of Fagenson and Co., a boutique investment bank.

The couple has for many years supported animal rescue groups, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society.

They donated to the North Shore Animal League America, in 2011 giving $75,000 to fund mobile adoption units for shelter groups across the country.

--IANS

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