'It wasn't psychosis - it was entitlement': Prosecution eviscerates Princeton graduate Thomas Gilbert Jr., who shot his father dead 'because he had just had his allowance cut and "didn't want the free ride to end"'

  • Thomas Gilbert Jr. shot his father, Thomas Sr. 70, in the head in January 2015
  • The 34-year-old had been living off his parents' money but was being cut off
  • He told his mother to go out to fetch him a Coke and a sandwich and shot his father in the head
  • He claims he is schizophrenic and committed the killing during a psychotic break
  • His mother Shelley testified in support of him, saying he was 'sicker' than 'any of us knew' 
  • Prosecutors have rejected his claims of insanity and say it was premeditated
  • Before killing his father, he drove to Ohio to get the gun and researched murder online 
  • The jury began deliberating Gilbert's fate on Wednesday; he will either be jailed for life or committed to a mental institution  

By JENNIFER SMITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: | Updated:

Prosecutors eviscerated Thomas Gilbert Jr., the Princeton graduate who shot his father dead in 2015, as they rested their case in New York on Wednesday, tearing apart his mental insanity defense and arguing instead that he was merely furious about being financially cut off. 

Gilbert Jr., now 34, shot his father, Thomas Sr., in the head at his Upper East Side Home in 2015 after telling his mother to go out to fetch him a sandwich and a Coke. 

He then staged the scene to make it look like a suicide.

He claims it was a moment of insanity and that he was in the midst of a psychotic break. Prosecutors say it was nothing of the sort.  

Thomas Gilbert Jr., now 34, shot his father, Thomas Sr, 70, in 2015 in his parents' Upper East Side home after being told his allowance was being cut again
Thomas Gilbert Jr., now 34, shot his father, Thomas Sr, 70, in 2015 in his parents' Upper East Side home after being told his allowance was being cut again

Thomas Gilbert Jr., now 34, shot his father, Thomas Sr, 70, in 2015 in his parents' Upper East Side home after being told his allowance was being cut again 

On Wednesday, Assistant DA Craig Ortner argued that it was pre-meditated and that he was unhappy about being cut off. 

At the time of the murder, Gilbert Jr. was 30, living off his parents and spending most of his time surfing

At the time of the murder, Gilbert Jr. was 30, living off his parents and spending most of his time surfing 

'The defendant rejected hard work, instead, preferring an easy life handed to him on a silver platter,' he said, according to The New York Post, which attended the trial. 

Thomas Sr. had been gradually reducing his son's $1,000-a-week allowance, he said, and on the day he died, he told him the help was over for good. 

He had just reduced it from $400 to $300.  

'The free ride was going to an end,' Ortner said, adding: 'It wasn’t a symptom of psychosis, it was a symptom of entitlement.' 

Gilbert Sr. had recently set up a hedge fund but had been turned down for a $1.5million loan to finance it. 

Until then, Thomas Jr. had lived off his parents lavishly, traveling the world on their money. 

They paid for his memberships to exclusive clubs in the city and the Hamptons, paid his rent on his Chelsea apartment, his Jeep and all of the parking tickets he incurred with it.  

The defense claimed that he was unable to keep a job because he was schizophrenic and that his parents supported him because of it. 

Since going on trial, his mother Shelley has remarked on the change in his appearance and how he has lost his good looks

Since going on trial, his mother Shelley has remarked on the change in his appearance and how he has lost his good looks 

Shelley Gilbert, Thomas' mother, testified for the defense and said he was mentally ill, adding: 'He was sicker than any of us knew'

Shelley Gilbert, Thomas' mother, testified for the defense and said he was mentally ill, adding: 'He was sicker than any of us knew'

His mother Shelley testified for the defense and said he was mentally ill. 

'Tommy was far sicker than we ever really knew,’ she said earlier this year. 

It was Shelley who called 911. In her recorded call, she told the operator when asked who had shot her husband: 'My son. He’s nuts, but I didn’t know he was this nuts.

'He shot him in the head.' 

Gilbert Jr. used a 40-caliber Glock, which he had driven to Ohio to buy to commit the killing.  

Beforehand, he had researched websites such as 'hireakiller.com' and 'hitman.com'. 

Gilbert Jr.'s old roommate testified at the trial that he had tried to kill him 'several times'.    

Most watched News videos