A quick update on a story we first posted about late last year:

"Bernard Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence in North Carolina for running a fraud scheme that cost investors billions of dollars, was physically assaulted by another inmate in December, according to three people familiar with the matter." (The Wall Street Journal)

The Journal's sources include a current and former inmate. Prison authorities tell the newspaper they have no information to confirm the claim. Madoff's lawyer wouldn't comment.

Ironically, the Journal writes, "the former inmate said the dispute centered on money the assailant thought he was owed by Mr. Madoff."

ABC11 in Raleigh, N.C., reported last December that Madoff had sufffered facial fractures, broken ribs and a collapsed lung in the incident. Today, its headline is: "Newspaper Confirms Madoff Beaten In Prison."