The Princeton grad who allegedly shot dead his millionaire hedge-fund dad refused Wednesday to emerge from his cell for court and, when his lawyer tried to persuade him, bizarrely requested a meeting with Cablevision.
“My client refused to come to court, my client would not give me a reason why,” the defense lawyer for Thomas Gilbert Jr. told Justice Melissa Jackson in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Attorney Alex Spiro continued matter-of-factly, “He asked me to provide information about Cablevision. He would not explain why he needed to speak to people at Cablevision.”
Jackson ordered Spiro to turn over to prosecutors additional information about the psychiatric defense he might use at trial.
But Spiro argued that his hands were tied as Gilbert Jr., 31, was refusing to meet with defense experts.
ADA Craig Ortner pointed out that Jackson had ruled after a hearing in December that Gilbert Jr. was fit to proceed.
“That the defendant is supposedly refusing to cooperate with the psychiatric examination is on the defense,” the prosecutor said. “That is the defendant’s choice. If he won’t comply with the psychiatric examiner, he won’t have a psychiatric defense.”
The failed stock trader allegedly murdered his dad, Thomas Gilbert Sr., 70, the founder of hedge fund Wainscott Capital, on Jan. 4, 2015.
The patriarch had just slashed Gilbert Jr.’s allowance by $200, according to prosecutors.
Spiro said Gilbert Jr. suffers from schizophrenia and delusional disorder.