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Privileged Princeton Grad Accused Of Killing Dad Is "Person Of Interest" In Hamptons Arson
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 7, 2015
Modified Jan 7, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 7, 2015
Modified Jan 7, 2015
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The 30-year-old man who allegedly killed his father over an allowance reduction (from $400/week to $300/week) is being called "dangerous" by a "close" friend. The "friend" tells the Post that Tommy Gilbert was "able to charm...with his good looks and his waspy background, but behind that, he was dangerous."
Gilbert has been charged with murder in of Thomas Gilbert Sr., who was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in his Midtown Manhattan apartment on Sunday afternoon. His son had been visiting his parents' home and had asked his mother to go buy him a sandwich. During her absence, Gilbert allegedly shot his father before fleeing. The 70-year-old was discovered with a gun posed in his left hand, "laying where it was didn’t seem like a self-inflicted wound as we’ve had in the past," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.
Police found Gilbert in his West 18th Street apartment, along with a case for the gun. The Princeton graduate was apparently upset about having his allowance cut, and his father, who founded a hedge fund, had reportedly been threatening to stop paying the $2,400/month rent on his apartment.
The friend who spoke to the Post said that Gilbert should have been in jail for an arson that took place in the Hamptons last fall. Southampton Town Police never arrested anyone for the fire that gutted a 17th-century Sagaponack house owned by Peter Smith Jr.—a "gas can and rags soaked in gasoline were found in the cemetery across" from the home—but 27East reports today, "Southampton Town Police Chief Robert Pearce confirmed Wednesday that Thomas Gilbert Jr. is a “person of interest” in the ongoing investigation of the arson at Mr. Smith’s Sagaponack home on September 15."
Gilbert had been arrested for violating an order of protection that Smith had against him; apparently Gilbert thought his girlfriend was cheating on him with Smith. The friend told the Post, "It’s a case of systemic racism. If Tommy were black or brown, he’d be locked up right now."
A former girlfriend had said Gilbert's father was extremely critical of his apparently jobless son, who spent much time going to yoga classes and surfing in the Hamptons. The police also found a skimming machine and nearly two dozen blank credit cards in his apartment, leading them to charge him with forgery as well.
Gilbert is currently being held without bail.
Tagged
arson
gun violence
Hamptons
hedge fund
murder
thomas gilbert
Tommy gilbert
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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