Cops break down door to arrest man accused in fatal shooting of hedge-fund founder dad
Thomas Gilbert Sr., founder of Wainscott Capital Partners, was found dead after an argument with his son in his posh East Side apartment Sunday, police said. The son, Thomas Gilbert Jr., fled the scene and barricaded himself in his Chelsea apartment for hours before he was finally nabbed, officials said.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Sunday, January 4, 2015, 4:54 PM
Updated: Monday, January 5, 2015, 10:45 AM
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JENNIFER MITCHELL FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWSPHOTO EXCLUSIVE: Detectives take away Thomas Gilbert Jr., who is accused of murdering his father Sunday in an apartment on the East Side.
A Wall St. whiz who headed a $200 million hedge fund was killed by his son Sunday inside his posh East Side apartment — and the suspect was nabbed after barricading himself in his apartment for hours, cops said.
Thomas Gilbert Sr., the 70-year-old founder and president of Wainscott Capital Partners, was shot in the head during the violent encounter with his son inside the victim’s multimillion-dollar apartment at 20 Beekman Pl., police said.
The murder sent cops fanning out across the tony Sutton Place neighborhood seeking the son, Thomas Gilbert Jr., who fled the scene on foot and headed to his W. 18th St. pad, officials said.
FACEBOOKThomas Gilbert Sr., 70, was allegedly killed by his son Thomas Gilbert. Jr., 30, on Sunday afternoon.
The son, 30, was captured about 10:45 p.m. after cops in riot gear chopped down the door of his ground-floor apartment and found him hiding inside, officials said.
He was taken away in handcuffs, but a motive for the alleged patricide remained unclear. Gilbert Jr., a Princeton grad, showed no emotion and appeared stone-faced as cops took him to the 17th Precinct stationhouse for questioning.
FACEBOOKThomas Gilbert Jr. fled the scene his father's fatal shooting on foot, according to cops.
His distraught mother called 911 at 3:31 p.m. after finding her mortally wounded husband in a bedroom of their eighth-floor pad, a source said. It was not clear if she was home at the time of the shooting.
A porter at the luxury building said he had seen Gilbert Sr. earlier Sunday, but the financier gave no indication of trouble brewing.
“I opened the door. He goes outside, he comes in, like always,” said the porter, who described Gilbert as “friendly,” “very nice” and a “gentleman.”
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Police said the murder weapon — a Glock 22 .40-caliber handgun — was recovered inside the apartment.
The doorman on duty at the time of the murder said a young man believed to be Gilbert’s son slipped past the front desk moments before the shooting, a neighbor said.
“If the doorman had done his job this man would have been alive,” said the neighbor, who only gave his name as Bernard.
FACEBOOKGilbert Jr. was captured late Sunday.
He said he overheard the doorman telling detectives he saw a young man wearing a hoodie walk into the lobby.
“I immediately got a bad vibe. The kid got into the elevator before I got the chance to pick up the telephone,” the doorman told police, according to the neighbor.
“I don’t care if he said he was his son,” added Bernard. “Five minutes later he comes running out covering his face with a hoodie.”
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The dead man’s wife declined to speak with reporters when police officers escorted her out hours after the murder, her head covered with the hood of a black coat.
A Wall St. veteran, Gilbert founded his hedge fund in 2011 and helped build it into thriving firm managing $200 million in total assets.
Gilbert had more than 40 years of investing experience after graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Business School.
He previously co-founded Syzygy Therapeutics, a biotech asset acquisition fund. He left Syzygy in April 2011 to form Wainscott Capital Partners.
In an interview in November, Gilbert said his company’s success came from a knack for investing in high-performing biotech stocks in a bumpy market.
“The performance that we had in September and October really set us apart,” he told FINalternatives.com.
The company’s website touted annual returns in the range of 20% to 30%.
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Gilbert’s slaying marks the city’s fourth homicide in the first four days of the year.
Records show there were no homicides in the Sutton Place neighborhood since Jan. 2, 2006, when a mentally ill man stabbed his 86-year-old mother to death in her apartment.
Sunday’s murder stunned Gilbert’s neighbors in the ritzy area, whose celebrity residents have included Michael Jackson, Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller.
“It’s horrible,” said one neighbor, who declined to give his name. “It’s a quiet Sunday. All of a sudden police started running in.”
Dick Fulmer, 68, who has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years, said it was an unlikely setting for a gruesome murder.
“It’s a pretty peaceful neighborhood frankly,” Fulmer said. “You have a building with doorman security. Crime is minimal.”
