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Privileged Princeton Grad Accused Of Killing Hedge Fund Dad Found "Mentally Unfit"
By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 10, 2015
Modified Jul 24, 2017
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By
Jen Chung
Published Sep 10, 2015
Modified Jul 24, 2017
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A man accused of killing his hedge fund founder father over a $200 reduction in his allowance has been found "mentally unfit" to stand trial.
Thomas Gilbert Jr., known as Tommy, was arrested after his father, Thomas Gilbert Sr., 70, was found fatally shot in his parents' Midtown home. Authorities say that the son asked his mother to buy him a sandwich and, during her absence, killed his father and positioned the gun to make it look like the elder Gilbert had shot himself. His mother discovered the body.
Police found Gilbert barricaded in his Chelsea apartment—paid for by his parents—with a case for the alleged murder weapon. It's been reported that he had been arguing with his father over his allowance: Gilbert, who attended Princeton, didn't have a job, and his $400 a week allowance was supposedly cut to $100 a week and he was allegedly being pressured to pay for the $2,400/apartment himself. Friends described the 30-year-old as a "gorgeous loner."
An ex-girlfriend said, "[H]is dad was hypercritical of him — he couldn’t do anything right... He talked a lot about his dad and how mean he was to him and how nothing was good enough." Gilbert also spent much of his time in the Hamptons, where he "surfed and went to the gym and went to yoga, he was very fit." Gilbert, who has been at Rikers since January, apparently asked the jail staff for yoga classes.
In July, Gilbert's lawyer asked for a psychiatric evaluation, saying, "My client has a long history of psychiatric issues and we believe at this time he is not competent." Last year, Gilbert was a person of interest after a rival's historic Hamptons home burned down.
The NY Post reports that he was found "mentally unfit" by "two court-appointed psychiatrists: "Assistant District Attorney Craig Ortner asked the judge for another week to decide whether the Manhattan district attorney’s office would challenge the findings. The psychiatrists recommend that Gilbert Jr., be transferred to a state hospital for treatment until his mental condition stabilizes."
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fatal shooting
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
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