Authorities suspect that the man accused of murdering his wealthy father in New York City over the weekend was also responsible for a fire that destroyed a home outside of the city late last summer.
According to the New York Post, Thomas Gilbert, Jr., 30, is the primary suspect in a Sep. 15 act of arson which burned down a 17th-century home in Sagaponack, N.Y. The Post notes that the home belonged to the father of one Gilbert, Jr.'s former friends, Peter Smith, Jr. The two reportedly fell out over a woman:
The home was owned by millionaire ex-Lazard financier Peter Smith Sr., whose son, Peter Smith Jr., had had a falling-out with Gilbert Jr. over a girl, a source said. Smith Jr. already had a restraining order against Gilbert Jr., a court source said.
Gilbert was suspected of killing Smith’s dog before the fire, a source added.
The two families knew each other from the exclusive Maidstone Club overlooking the Atlantic in East Hampton, whose members have included many of New York’s most prominent families, such as Jacqueline Kennedy’s father, John Black Jack Bouvier III.
Gilbert, Jr. allegedly killed his father, hedge fund manager Thomas Gilbert, Sr., at the man's Manhattan apartment on Sunday afternoon. He reportedly killed his father, who the Post says he hadn't seen since August, because he refused to continue paying his rent and was reducing his monthly allowance.
Anna Rothschild, who dated Gilbert briefly last year, told the Post he was a loner who claimed his father was "hypercritical of him." Another source claimed that he struggled with "severe" obsessive-compulsive disorder and had stopped taking his medication at the time of the murder.
Gilbert, Jr. was arrested at his Chelsea apartment on Sunday night. He's been charged with second-degree murder and weapons possession.
[via New York Post]
