BY ROBERT POZARYCKI | A Chelsea man was sent to prison for at least the next three decades on Friday for shooting his father to death in his Midtown Manhattan apartment, prosecutors announced on Sept. 27.
Thomas Gilbert Jr., 35, of West 18th Street was convicted back in June of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. A judge ordered him on Friday to serve 30 years to life in prison.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., the junior Gilbert shot his father —Thomas Gilbert Sr., a millionaire, retired hedge fund manager — at close range on the afternoon of Jan. 4, 2015 in the victim’s Beekman Place apartment, then staged the crime scene to make it appear as if his dad had taken his own life.
“Thomas Gilbert Sr. was a beloved member of his family and business community when his own son murdered him in a cold-blooded killing,” said District Attorney Vance. “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. While nothing can undo the tragedy of Mr. Gilbert’s death, I hope that the resolution of this case helps his loved as they continue to heal from this devastating loss.”
According to trial testimony, Gilbert Jr. — who lived a life of luxury and graduated from Princeton University, as the New York Post reported — had been receiving a monthly allowance from his parents, which he used for personal expenses such as travel and gain membership to elite sports clubs. Starting in 2014, they had begun reducing his allowance and encouraging him to be more self-sufficient.
In June 2014, prosecutors said, Gilbert Jr. bought a .40-caliber Glock handgun, along with ammunition and firearm enhancement, from a person in Clarksburg, Ohio.
Gilbert Jr. then walked into his parents’ apartment at 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2015, confronted his father and shot him in the head with the Glock. He then placed the handgun in his father’s hand to make it look as if it were a suicide, then fled the apartment.
Officers from the 17th Precinct and EMS units arrived at the Beekman Place apartment a short time later after Gilbert Sr.’s wife called 911.
Later that day, detectives executed a search warrant at Gilbert Jr.’s Chelsea residence and recovered ammunition fitting a .40-caliber Glock handgun, along with an owner’s manual and carrying case for a Glock pistol, and various firearm enhancements. Two empty shell casings matched the firearm left at the crime scene.
Gilbert Jr. was taken into custody later that evening following an investigation by the 17th Precinct Detective Squad and the Manhattan South Homicide Squad.
