‘Golden boy’ Ivy League grad who murdered hedge-fund dad over allowance speaks out in new interview
The privileged Princeton graduate who gunned down his millionaire hedge-fund father inside the family’s luxury Manhattan apartment after a fight over money is speaking out publicly nearly a decade after the grisly killing that horrified New York’s elite.
Thomas Gilbert Jr., once dubbed Manhattan’s "golden boy," resurfaced in a new Court TV prison interview in which he bizarrely maintained his innocence despite overwhelming evidence and despite his own mother identifying him as the killer moments after the 2015 shooting.
Gilbert, now imprisoned at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York, appeared gaunt and withdrawn during the interview, at times mumbling short responses before abruptly cutting the conversation short.
"I just want to present my case," Gilbert said in the interview with Court TV. "That narrative misses a lot of the facts of the case, particularly pertaining to my innocence."
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But prosecutors long argued the facts were unmistakable.
Gilbert is serving a sentence of 30 years to life for fatally shooting his father, wealthy hedge-fund founder Thomas Gilbert Sr., in the head inside the family’s luxury Beekman Place apartment after becoming enraged over cuts to the $1,000-a-week allowance funding his lavish lifestyle.
Authorities said Gilbert sent his mother out of the apartment on a bizarre errand to buy him a Coca-Cola before pulling the trigger and attempting to stage the killing as a suicide by placing the Glock pistol in his father’s hand.
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"My son — he was nuts," Shelley Gilbert said in a 911 call highlighted during the Court TV special. "But I didn’t know he was this nuts."
Gilbert's father was the founder and manager of New York-based Wainscott Capital Partners Fund and was well known in Manhattan finance circles.
The Court TV special revisits the killing through interviews with Gilbert himself, retired NYPD detectives, forensic psychologists, true-crime author John Glatt author John Glatt and former friends and acquaintances who watched the once-promising Ivy League graduate unravel in the years before the killing.
Among those interviewed was retired NYPD Detective Joseph Cirigliano, one of the first investigators to respond to the Beekman Place apartment after the shooting. The special also featured forensic psychologist Dr. N.G. Berrill, who discussed Gilbert’s mental health, and former girlfriend Anna Rothschild, who recalled becoming fearful after learning Gilbert had killed his father.
Glatt, who wrote the book "Golden Boy," described Gilbert’s worsening paranoia and detailed allegations that the Princeton graduate had become increasingly unstable in the years leading up to the murder.
During Gilbert’s 2019 sentencing, prosecutors argued he "threw the ultimate tantrum" after his wealthy parents gradually reduced the allowance and pushed him to become more self-sufficient.
Gilbert addressed the court for roughly 10 minutes and repeatedly referred to himself as "the defendant," according to The New York Times.
"The defendant expresses remorse," Gilbert said at the time.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Melissa Jackson rejected the defense’s claims that Gilbert was legally insane.
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"You knew exactly what you were doing," Jackson said during the 2019 sentencing, according to The Times. "You were not insane at the time you killed your father. You were not insane then. You are not insane now."
The jury rejected Gilbert’s insanity defense after prosecutors laid out what they described as a calculated murder plot, including purchasing a .40-caliber Glock months earlier from a seller in Ohio and attempting to stage the crime scene as a suicide.
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The recent interview reignited longstanding questions surrounding Gilbert’s mental health.
Over the years, doctors reportedly diagnosed him with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mental health experts and people close to the case described Gilbert as increasingly unstable in the years leading up to the killing.
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Despite those claims, prosecutors argued Gilbert’s actions before and after the murder, including sending his mother out to buy a Coca-Cola and later contacting a criminal defense attorney, showed clear awareness of wrongdoing.
Berrill said during the interview that mental illness and criminal responsibility are not mutually exclusive.
"He’s mentally ill, but still criminally responsible," the forensic psychologist said.
Nearly a decade after the killing shocked New York City, Gilbert remains behind bars serving a sentence of 30 years to life.
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At his 2019 sentencing, Shelley Gilbert insisted her son was mentally ill and unable to fully comprehend his actions, according to The New York Times. She pleaded with the judge to place him in a psychiatric facility instead of prison.
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"I know this is what my husband would have wanted for him," she said.
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But jurors rejected Gilbert’s insanity defense, concluding he murdered his hedge-fund manager father with a close-range shot to the head using a .40-caliber Glock purchased months earlier from a seller in Ohio. Prosecutors said Gilbert then placed the weapon in his father’s hand in an attempt to stage the killing as a suicide before fleeing the apartment.
"Thomas Gilbert, Sr. was a beloved member of his family and business community when his own son murdered him in a cold-blooded killing," then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said following the conviction in 2019. "But now, thanks to my office’s prosecutors, the defendant has finally been held accountable and he will serve a life sentence for this unconscionable crime."
Gilbert was also convicted on charges of criminal possession of a weapon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.