Son Kills Millionaire Father After He Threatened to Slash His Weekly Allowance (Photo)

 

Thomas Gilbert Jr, 31, is accused of murdering his father, Thomas Gilbert Sr, after he threatened to slash his weekly allowance from $600 to $400 and stop paying the rent on his $2,400-a-month Chelsea apartment, authorities say.

Gilbert Sr, 70, was found with a single gunshot wound to the head at the family's apartment in Midtown Manhattan after what prosecutors say was a failed attempt to make it appear as if he had committed suicide.

Gilbert Jr. had allegedly tried to stage his father's body to make it look like a suicide - placing the .40-caliber Glock pistol on his chest. Gilbert Jr., who is charged with his murder, has been seriously mentally ill and should not stand trial, his lawyer claimed.

The New York Times reported that Gilbert Jr was taking medication for his mental illness while at Princeton, according to evidence eluded to in a State Supreme Court hearing in Manhattan.

He is also said to have spent months on end holed up in a hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, and only left his room for occasional visits to a psychiatrist. The court hearing was also told how Gilbert Jr had experimented with illegal drugs while at Princeton, including LSD, magic mushrooms, cocaine and marijuana.

Gilbert Jr was reportedly ordered to undergo anger management in 2013 after assaulting his roommate and friend Peter Smith, breaking his nose during a bust-up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The millionaire heir was also banned from an exclusive health club in the Hamptons after allegedly threatening to kill a member of staff there.

Furthermore, he has previously talked about people 'infecting his mind' and has claimed skits on Saturday Night Live were attempts to mock him.  It took two hours for two court-appointed psychiatrists to conclude that he was mentally unfit for trial in September.

However, a month later, Dr Stuart Kirschner, hired by the district attorney's office, took just half an hour to find him sane enough to be put before a court.

A verdict is yet to be reched on Gilberts case as the trial continues.