Princeton grad who killed his father after his allowance was cut gets 30 years to life

Gilbert’s attorneys did not dispute that he killed his father but said he was not guilty by reason of insanity. Jurors in June dismissed the insanity defense and convicted him of second-degree murder. They also found him guilty on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. He was found not guilty of criminal possession of forgery devices.

“We will appeal, but cannot appeal until after he is sentenced,” defense attorney Arnold Levine told CNN at the time.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. had said that the elder Gilbert was killed “in spite of all his love and generosity.”

In a new statement Friday, the prosecutor said: “While nothing can undo the tragedy of Mr. Gilbert’s death, I hope that the resolution of this case helps his loved ones as they continue to heal from this devastating loss.”

Once part of Manhattan’s social elite, the younger Gilbert lived off his parents, prosecutors say, spending his time surfing in the Hamptons. He declined to appear in person for much of his five-week trial.

Emails between Gilbert and his parents that were shown in court depicted a tumultuous relationship. He repeatedly asked for money, sometimes “for a charity thing,” sometimes forwarding past-due bills from an exclusive athletic and social club for thousands of dollars to his mother.

In October 2014, prosecutors said, Gilbert’s computer showed searches for websites that discussed forging checks and offered blank check templates. Some of the charges he faces stem from credit card forging devices found at his home at the time of his arrest, prosecutors say.

Levine argued that Gilbert “deteriorated” around the time he began to attend Princeton.

“Nobody wanted to look at him — that background, those looks, that schooling — and say he could be mentally ill,” Levine said. “Nobody wanted to think it.”