31-Year-Old Man Was Convicted Of Killing His Dad After His Weekly Allowance Was Cut
He was receiving $1,000 a week.
Instagram A Princeton graduate killed his father after said father cut his allowance — because, apparently, getting a job and earning your own money, even with an Ivy League degree, is too much to ask.
Fox News has a brutal and scary description of the crime:
"Thomas Gilbert Sr. was fatally shot on January 4, 2015. The younger Gilbert showed up unannounced, angry that he lost his weekly allowance of $1,000. According to prosecutors, he spent the money on travel, memberships to elite sporting clubs and other personal expenses, but was not able to hold down a steady job. His parents, who also covered his basic daily expenses, had been encouraging him to become more self-sufficient and incrementally reduced his monthly allowance."
So, who is Thomas Gilbert Jr., and what happened after he killed his father?
1. There's been some criticism as to how he's referred (and rightly so).
Buzzfeed reports that there's been some criticism, and rightly so, about how Thomas Gilbert Jr. is referred to.
The outlet reports that the focus is on his Princeton degree, rather than on the fact that he was little more than a spoiled adult who couldn't hold down a job.
2. Thomas Gilbert Jr.'s mother tried to argue that he was mentally ill.
As if the basis of this story wasn't offensive enough, CNN reports that Thomas Gilbert Jr.'s mother pleaded with the court to get some leniency for her son.
The outlet reports that Shelley Gilbert told the court that her son was "mentally ill," forgetting the fact that the vast majority of mentally ill people aren't violent and certainly aren't patricidal.
Fortunately for all of us, the jury saw through it all and dismissed the insanity claim.
3. He staged the murder to look like a suicide.
According to People Magazine, Thomas Gilbert Jr. shot his father in the head, then staged the crime scene to look like a suicide.
Not that it matters at this point, but the very fact that he could do that — that he could mess with the crime scene so that he could get away with the killing — proves that he did, indeed, have the presence of mind to know the difference between right and wrong.
4. Thomas Gilbert Jr. was 31 and still getting an allowance from Mommy & Daddy.
"He received a weekly $1,000 allowance from his parents — which the defendant spent on travel and other personal expenses.
That allowance had been cut prior to the killing. Gilbert Sr. reduced his son's allowance to $300 hours before the shooting, prosecutors said, according to a CNN report.
Gilbert Sr. was the founder and manager of the New York-based Wainscott Capital Partners Fund," reported USA Today.
5. Jake Gyllenhaal signed on to produce a movie about the killing.
Oxygen reports that Jake Gyllenhaal has signed on to executive produce a film called Gilded Rage, which is all about the murder of Thomas Gilbert Sr. Isn't that great?
Oxygen also reports that prior to his conviction, Thomas Gilbert Jr. stood to inherit money from Thomas Gilbert Sr.'s will.
6. The judge sentenced Thomas Gilbert Jr. to life in prison with a chance of parole after 30 years.
"You knew exactly what you were doing,” the judge told him. “You were not insane at the time you killed your father. You were not insane then. You are not insane now.”
Mr. Gilbert, clean-shaven and wearing an orange jail uniform, stared ahead without emotion as Justice Jackson sentenced him to life," reported The New York Times.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor and writer whose work has appeared in People, Teen Vogue, Us Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, and more.