Thomas Gilbert Jr is alleged to have traveled 570 miles to Ohio to pick up a gun that he bought online and would later use in the alleged murder of his father
Emails written by the Princeton graduate accused of killing his own father, as he attempted to buy a gun off the internet, which would ultimately be used in his dad’s slaying, have been revealed to the jury in a New York courtroom.
Thomas ‘Tommy’ Gilbert Jr, 34, is accused of shooting dead his investment banker father Thomas Gilbert Sr in January 2015 by pressing the muzzle of the gun ‘tightly’ on the victim’s head and pulling the trigger.
Prosecutors say Gilbert, who has a history of mental illness, became angry because his father planned to reduce his $1,000-a-week allowance.
On Friday, a jury was told how Gilbert came to buy the Glock gun in the first place, which saw him allegedly travel to Ohio after seeing an advert for it on Facebook.
The seller, John Jay Bennett from Clarksburg, Ohio, told the jury: ‘If I knew he was psychotic, I would not let him in the house.’
Bennett had uploaded a photo of a .40-caliber pistol on Facebook in the hopes of finding a buyer.
‘I’m interested in buying it,’ Tommy wrote in email dated May 2014. ‘I’m based in NY.’
Three weeks after writing the initial emails, Gilbert Jr., ended up driving from New York to rural Ohio to pick up the Glock pistol in person.
An image of the gun used to shoot Gilbert Sr was shown to jurors earlier in the week
Gilbert Jr is on trial for fatally shooting his father Thomas Gilbert Sr on January 4, 2015
John Jay Bennett from Clarksburg, Ohio, had uploaded a photo of a .40-caliber pistol on Facebook in the hopes of finding a buyer. He testified in court on Friday
The seller, Bennett, took to the stand on Friday afternoon, the New York Times reported.
Bennett said Gilbert had driven 570 miles from New York to Ohio to buy the gun.
Emails between the two men during May 2014 reveal how the pair thrashed out the details of the deal.
Bennett told Gilbert. ‘I know you will have a great deal of fun with her,’ as he wrote about the gun and how he had been using it in target practice in his back yard.
The back-and-forth messages saw the pair eventually agree on a price of $575 but it was going to prove costly to ship the weapon to New York with hundreds of dollars likely added to the final sale price.
Gilbert then suggested he might travel over to Ohio and pick it up in person.
‘I might be able to just drive there since I have free time over the next few weeks,’ he wrote in emails shown to the jury. ‘It would fantastic if you could drive out here,’ Bennett replied.
Prosecutors say Gilbert Jr (left in a mugshot taken the night of the murder) killed his father (right) at the family’s Manhattan apartment because Gilbert Sr slashed his son’s allowance
Bennett told how once Gilbert arrived at his home and handed over the cash, he got very excited about the gun.
The defendant, now 34 years old, wore a dark jacket, gray sweatpants, pristine sneakers and a blank expression as he posed for mugshots after his arrest in January 2015
‘He seemed overly excited, like a kid with a new toy,’ Bennett testified.
He was ‘talking to the room,’ Bennett explained. He said Gilbert spent about 30 minutes simply babbling away, talking to the room, saying things like ‘I can’t believe what a deal I’m getting.’
Before Gilbert drove back to New York, Bennett offered him the opportunity to fire the gun in a target range in the back yard but he declined.
After learning about the murder Bennett said that he felt guilty, especially since he had also included ammunition in the sale.
Gilbert’s lawyers are trying to convince a Manhattan Supreme Court justice that their client is not competent to stand trial, and that he has suffered from severe mental illness since he was in high school.
Gilbert’s lawyers have signaled that they may very well mount an insanity defense.
His attorney has maintained that Gilbert was in the midst of a psychotic break when he pressed a .40 caliber Glock to his father’s head and pulled the trigger.
This is the upscale Manhattan apartment where the alleged murder took pace