Tommy Gilbert, Son of Slain Hedge Fund Founder, Appears in Court

Published at 12:54 pm, January 5, 2015

EastIdahoNews.com Staff

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Southampton Town Police Department(NEW YORK) — The son of a hedge fund founder accused in his father’s death, which police say was “staged” to look like a suicide, made his initial court appearance Monday. He stood before the judge with his defense attorneys and said nothing.

Tommy Gilbert, 30, did not enter a plea. He’s charged with murder in the second degree for the fatal shooting of Thomas Gilbert, 70, along with a weapons charge and 21 counts of criminal possession of forgery devices – with authorities saying they recovered a skimming device and 21 blank credit cards from Gilbert’s apartment.

Monday’s hearing was deferred at the request of defense. Gilbert is remanded into custody until his next hearing, which is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 9.

Thomas Gilbert, the 70-year-old founder of Wainscott Capital Partners, was found shot dead in his Manhattan apartment Sunday. Tommy Gilbert was taken into custody around 10:45 p.m. Sunday, authorities said.

He was interrogated by police and arrested at 11 a.m. Monday, police said.

The medical examiner has ruled that the death was a homicide, and officials believe Thomas Gilbert’s death was “a staged suicide.”

Detectives believe Gilbert was killed by his son, who then left the murder weapon — a .40 caliber Glock 22 — in the bedroom to make it look like a suicide, sources told ABC News. The gun was found in the bedroom near the victim’s body, but the weapon’s case was allegedly recovered in the son’s apartment, sources said.

Police said the son entered his parent’s Beekman place home Sunday afternoon and asked his mother to get him a sandwich. The mother told police that she left the apartment, and when she came back, she discovered her husband shot in the head in his bedroom.

The mother called 911 and told responding police that she had left her son alone with his father.

Detectives immediately began a search for the son, and found him in his Chelsea apartment. Among the evidence taken from the apartment, officers recovered a skimming device and 21 blank credit cards. Investigators say that the father recently discussed no longer paying his son’s rent. They also say he discussed reducing his weekly allowance from $400 per week to $300.

The mother is being questioned by investigators.

Public records show that Tommy Gilbert was arrested in Southampton in September for second degree criminal contempt for allegedly violating an order of protection, though no specifics about the restraining order were released. He has not yet entered a plea in this case and a hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2.

He was also arrested in May 2007 on drug charges but no further information about the status of those two cases were publicly available.

A spokesman for Princeton University confirmed that both Gilberts graduated from the school. The father graduated in 1966 and the son graduated in 2009. The son also attended Deerfield Academy and graduated there in 2003.

Tommy Gilbert’s activity after his college graduation has not yet been revealed publicly.

His father is listed as the founder of Wainscott Capital Partners, a hedge fund that focused its assets on healthcare and biotech investing. The company last reported that it had more than $15 million under management, FINalternatives editor Deirdre Brennan said.