On Monday, Tommy Gilbert Jr (top) was charged with homicide and criminal possession of a weapon - one day after 70-year-old Thomas Gilbert Sr (below right) was found dead at his home in midtown Manhattan, the gun left on his body in an attempt to stage a suicide, police said. Last September 18, Gilbert was arrested for violating an order of protection three days after a historic Hamptons home burned to the ground in a case of suspect arson (left).
A 30-year-old Princeton graduate accused of murdering his multimillionaire father and then trying to stage it as a suicide was at center of rumors surrounding a fire at his friend's mansion, it has been revealed.
Tommy Gilbert Jr violated a restraining order days after an acquaintance's Hamptons home went up in flames in an arson attack in September - but he was never identified as a suspect or charged.
Gilbert Jr was on Monday charged with shooting his father dead at a luxury Manhattan apartment in a fight over his allowance - then trying to make the killing look like a suicide.
The 30-year-old Princeton graduate appeared in court on counts of homicide and criminal possession of a weapon - one day after his 70-year-old father Thomas Gilbert Sr was found dead at his home.
Cops say Gilbert Jr visited the Midtown Manhattan home, asked his mother to go and buy a sandwich, shot his father dead and left the gun in the victim's left hand to make it look like a suicide before fleeing.
Police later found the box the gun came in and ammunition that matched the murder weapon at Gilbert Jr's home, investigators said.
Last September 18, Gilbert was arrested for violating an order of protection three days after the Hamptons family home burned to the ground in a case of suspect arson.
This is the moment Thomas Gilbert Jr was walked from his Chelsea building by NYPD officers
On September 15 last year, a blaze destroyed a beautiful Hamptons home owned by retired investment banker Peter Smith Sr and his family
A fire ripped through the home, built in the 1800s, in the early hours in Sagaponack, New York
A gas can and rags soaked in gasoline were found yards from the historic house
The first thing multiple acquaintances said of Gilbert Jr when asked to comment on their fellow Princeton or Deerfield alumnus was the rumor that he'd burned down his one-time friend's house last summer.
Additionally a long-time resident of East Hampton and acquaintance of Gilbert Sr, who was a member of the Tony Maidstone Club there, also repeated the allegation.
However, police have never identified Gilbert Jr as a suspect nor has he been charged in the fire.
The home belonged to a one-time acquaintance, Peter Smith Sr and his family.
Peter Smith Jr, 32, declined to comment on the allegations and his sister, Bettina Prentice, had yet to respond.
In the early hours of September 15 this year, a blaze destroyed the beautiful Hamptons home owned by retired investment banker Peter Smith.
A fire ripped through the property, originally built in the 1800s, in Sagaponack, New York.
The home was entirely destroyed after almost 80 firefighters were unable to contain the flames. A gas can and gasoline-soaked cloth was found in a nearby cemetery, Page Six reported in September.
Rumors spread that Gilbert Jr started the blaze but police have never identified him as a suspect
The home which was constructed in the 1800s was completely gutted by the flames overnight
Investigators were ciphering through the rubble for days after the fire to determine a suspected cause
Nearly 80 firefighters attended the scene in the Hamptons but could not stop the blaze through the building
The beautiful home was entirely destroyed by the blaze. No one has been charged with the suspected arson
Pictured left to right: Jamie Prentice, Peter Smith, Bettina Prentice and Chris Smith pictured at an art benefit in October 2013
Southampton Police detective Lisa Costa told Daily Mail Online on Monday that the house was destroyed in an arson attack and that there were no injuries.
She refused to comment further with regards an ongoing investigation. No one has been charged in the alleged attack.
Southampton Fire Department refused to comment to Daily Mail Online on Monday.
Gilbert Jr was arrested in the Hamptons for second-degree criminal contempt, for allegedly violating a restraining order in September 18 this year, according to ABC.
According to sources, Peter Smith reportedly filed a restraining order against Gilbert Jr this summer after an incident near his Williamsburg, Brooklyn home.
It was unclear whether this was the same restraining order. The details could not be confirmed with Mr Smith.
Tommy Gilbert Jr was arrested at his home on Sunday night in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, following the fatal shooting of his father, the founder of hedge fund, Wainscott Capital.
The 30-year-old was being held pending arraignment and the law office representing him had no comment.
Police said Gilbert Jr. went to his parents' home on the East Side on Sunday afternoon and asked his mother to go out to get him some food.
About 15 minutes later, she got a 'bad feeling' and came back, said Robert Boyce, the chief of detectives for the New York Police Department.
'She found Senior on the floor with a bullet hole in the head,' Boyce said. 'She also found a gun resting on his chest with his left hand covering it.'
But Boyce said it was a staged suicide — his son was trying to cover up the killing.
Officers with a search warrant went to Gilbert Jr.'s apartment on the West Side, where they found magazines, loose bullets and a shell that matched the gun found at the scene, police said.
Authorities were investigating how he got the gun.
The Princeton graduate was upset that his weekly allowance had been cut back when he went to his parents' home in midtown Manhattan on Sunday afternoon.
A source told the New York Daily News that Mr Gilbert Sr had cut back Tommy's weekly allowance to $300 and threatened to stop paying his rent.
Gilbert Jr lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Chelsea where, according to listings, guarantors were accepted on the $2,400-a-month rent.
The Ivy Leaguer, who was a regular fixture at Manhattan's black-tie benefits with society beauties on his arm, reportedly slipped past the doorman and into his parents' building shortly before the alleged attack at 3.30pm.
Police said Gilbert Jr asked his mother to go out to get him some food. About 15 minutes later, she got a 'bad feeling' and came back, said Robert Boyce, the chief of detectives for the New York Police Department.
Gilbert Sr's wife Shelley, 67, found her husband dead in the bedroom within minutes of the alleged attack and called 911, police said.
Gilbert Jr was then seen walking out of the building in Manhattan's Turtle Bay area covering his face with a hoodie around 3.35pm, the New York Daily News reported.
The 30-year-old was found in his ground-floor apartment at 10.30pm on Sunday, after he fled from his parents' home in midtown, multiple media outlets claimed, citing police sources.
Police recovered a Glock 22 .40-caliber handgun from the scene.
At 10.30pm on Sunday, Gilbert Jr was arrested without incident at his apartment after NYPD officers dressed in riot gear chopped down the door and found him hiding inside.
Social: Tommy Gilbert, pictured with friend Monika Plocienniczak, at the Young New Yorkers Summer Party
Parties: Tommy Gilbert, far right, at the Parrish Art Museum Midsummer Party in 2012 with friends
Read more:
Manhattan hedge fund manager fatally shot by son, 30, over cut allowance?
Thomas
Gilbert Jr. flew off the handle and killed Thomas Gilbert Sr., 70, after his
parents shrank his allowance to $300 a week and said they would stop paying
rent for his posh Chelsea pad, the source said.
Manhattan hedge fund manager fatally shot by son, 30, over cut allowance
No comments:
Post a Comment