Princeton “Golden Boy” Says He’s Innocent Nearly 10 Years After Killing Father Over Reduced Allowance

A Princeton graduate, once known in Manhattan’s elite circles as a “golden boy”, has issued new statements from prison. The statements come nearly 10 years after prosecutors said he killed his hedge-fund manager father during a fight over money.

Thomas Gilbert Jr., who is serving 30 years to life, appeared in a new Court TV interview from Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Looking thin and drastically different, Gilbert insisted he was innocent in the 2015 killing of his father, Thomas Gilbert Sr., which happened inside the family’s luxury apartment on Beekman Place, Manhattan.

“I just want to present my case,” Gilbert said. “That narrative misses a lot of the facts of the case, particularly pertaining to my innocence.”

The interview throws lights on a murder that stunned New York’s wealthy social and finance circles. Prosecutors said Gilbert shot his father in the head after his parents had reduced the $1,000 weekly allowance to $300 that supported his expensive lifestyle.

Authorities said Gilbert sent his mother out to buy him a Coca-Cola shortly before the shooting. Prosecutors argued he used the excuse to get his mother out of the apartment before killing his father. He also tried to stage the death as a suicide by placing a Glock pistol in the victim’s hand.

In Court TV’s special, interviews include those with retired NYPD detectives, forensic experts, and people who knew Gilbert before the killing.

Retired Detective Joseph Cirigliano, one of the first investigators at the scene, recalled the shock surrounding the case. The special also features forensic psychologist Dr. N.G. Berrill and true-crime author John Glatt, who wrote the book “Golden Boy.”

Glatt described Gilbert as increasingly paranoid and unstable in the years before the shooting. Former girlfriend Anna Rothschild said she became frightened after learning Gilbert had killed his father.

The victim, Thomas Gilbert Sr., founded and managed Wainscott Capital Partners Fund and was well known in Manhattan finance circles.

One of the most important moments highlighted in the special was the 911 call made by Gilbert’s mother, Shelley Gilbert, shortly after the shooting.

“My son — he was nuts,” she said during the call. “But I didn’t know he was this nuts.”

Prosecutors pointed to the call and other evidence during Gilbert’s 2019 sentencing, where they argued he “threw the ultimate tantrum” after his wealthy parents pressured him to become more independent.

Despite his conviction, Gilbert continues to deny responsibility. His prison interview ended abruptly after several short and mumbled answers, leaving many of the case’s most troubling questions unchanged nearly a decade later.