Can of soda is key to son’s conviction in slay of rich dad

A Princeton graduate with a history of mental illness was convicted Friday of fatally shooting his father by a jury that didn’t buy his insanity defense.

Thomas Gilbert, 34, was found guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court of putting a bullet in the head of 70-yearold hedge fund manager Thomas Gilbert Sr. on Jan. 4, 2015, inside the family’s apartment on Beekman Place in Turtle Bay. He faces a possible life prison term at sentencing, set for August.

During the month-long trial, Gilbert’s defense attorney argued his client was not guilty because his mental illness prevented him from understanding the slaying was wrong.

But Manhattan prosecutors argued Gilbert — who they portrayed as a spoiled party boy with no work ethic — was enraged over his father’s decision to slash his allowance, and knew what he was doing when he carried out the slaying.

Two holdout jurors believed the younger Gilbert was mentally ill. But they eventually decided the steps he took to carry out the crime — including sending his mother out of the apartment on an errand to get him “a can of Coke” — showed he planned the slaying.

While his mother Shelley was on the errand, Gilbert shot his father in the head.

Kimmy Lee, 61, who lives in lower Manhattan, was sympathetic to the defense argument but ultimately voted to convict.

Lee said it became clear to her that Gilbert “planned it” by asking his mother to get the Coke. “He was logical. He found a way to get the mom out of the house,” Lee explained.

In her mind, that knocked down the defense’s insanity argument. “My wall came down,” Lee said. She added: “When I go home I’m going to cry because [Gilbert] does need help.”

The other holdout was Steven David Torres, 36, a Columbia University doctoral student from East Harlem. He said Gilbert’s plotting made clear that “he did have a comprehension that this was morally wrong.”

Torres said that at first, he felt Gilbert was not responsible for his actions. But by the end of deliberations, he had changed his mind.

“We all kind of came to the conclusion that yes, we think mental illness drove him to do it,” Torres said. “But it didn’t take away … that he knew what he was doing was wrong.”

Had Gilbert been found not responsible, he’d likely spend many years or the rest of his life in a state psychiatric ward.

Gilbert — who at one point during the trial was dragged from the courtroom after mumbling to the jury that they should disregard some evidence — showed no reaction as the verdict was read by the foreman. He kept his head down, and did not look at the jurors as they were dismissed.

Gilbert has been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia and other afflictions. Shelley Gilbert has argued that the mental health system failed to address her son’s needs before and after his arrest.

“I didn’t know he was this nuts,” she testified during the trial.

Gilbert’s lawyer Arnold Levine called the verdict “disappointing.” He said the legal standard necessary for a successful insanity defense “is much too restrictive.”

Manhattan prosecutors were pleased with the verdict.

“A brilliant businessman, passionate tennis player, and beloved family man, Thomas Gilbert Sr. meant a great deal to all who knew him,” DA Cy Vance Jr. said in a statement. “But in spite of all his love and generosity, this defendant shot his father at close range in his own apartment in an unconscionable and brutal crime.”