Did Tommy Gilbert Jr accused of murder set fire to friend's Hamptons mansion?

• Tommy Gilbert Jr, 30, charged with homicide and criminal possession of a weapon on Monday
• His father Thomas Gilbert, 70, was found with a gunshot wound to the head at his $6,000-a-month Manhattan home on Sunday
• Last September 18, Gilbert was arrested for violating an order of protection three days after a Hamptons family home burned to the ground
• Gilbert Sr founded $200million hedge fund Wainscott Capital in 2011
• Gilbert Jr, attended $50,000-a-year Deerfield Academy before Princeton

By Louise Boyle for MailOnline

Published: 19:34 EST, 5 January 2015 | Updated: 20:09 EST, 5 January 2015

A 30-year-old Princeton graduate, accused of murdering his multimillionaire father, reportedly violated a restraining order, brought by an acquaintance, days after a historic Hamptons home went up in flames in an arson attack.

On Monday, Tommy Gilbert Jr was charged with homicide and criminal possession of a weapon - one day after 70-year-old Thomas Gilbert Sr was found dead at his home in midtown Manhattan, the gun left on the victim's body in an attempt to stage a suicide, police said.

Last September 18, Gilbert was arrested for violating an order of protection three days after the Hamptons family home burned to the ground in a case of suspect arson.

Thomas Gilbert, 30, pictured in his arrest photo from September 2014 over second-degree criminal contempt. The Princeton grad (pictured at a black-tie event last year) was charged with murder on Monday following the shooting death of his hedge-funder father

On September 15 last year, a blaze destroyed a beautiful Hamptons home owned by retired investment banker Peter L. Smith and his family

A fire ripped through the home, built in the 1800s, in the early hours in Sagaponack, New York

Nearly 80 firefighters attended the scene in the Hamptons but could not stop the blaze roaring through the building

The first thing multiple acquaintances said of Gilbert Jr when asked to comment on their fellow Princeton or Deerfield alumnus was the rumor that he'd burned down his one-time friend's house last summer.

Additionally a long-time resident of East Hampton and acquaintance of Gilbert Sr, who was a member of the Tony Maidstone Club there, also repeated the allegation.

However, police have never identified Gilbert Jr as a suspect nor has he been charged in the fire.

The home belonged to a one-time acquaintance, Peter Smith Sr and his family.

Peter Smith Jr, 32, declined to comment on the allegations and his sister, Bettina Prentice, had yet to respond.

In the early hours of September 15 this year, a blaze destroyed the beautiful Hamptons home owned by retired investment banker Peter Smith.

A fire ripped through the property, originally built in the 1800s, in Sagaponack, New York.

The home was entirely destroyed after almost 80 firefighters were unable to contain the flames. A gas can and gasoline-soaked cloth was found in a nearby cemetery, Page Six reported in September.

The beautiful home was entirely destroyed by the blazee. A gas can and rags were found nearby but no one has been charged with the suspected arson, according to police

Pictured left to right: Jamie Prentice, Peter Smith, Bettina Prentice and Chris Smith pictured at an art benefit in October 2013

Southampton Police detective Lisa Costa told Daily Mail Online on Monday that the house was destroyed in an arson attack and that there were no injuries.

She refused to comment further with regards an ongoing investigation. No one has been charged in the alleged attack.

Southampton Fire Department refused to comment to Daily Mail Online on Monday.

Gilbert Jr was arrested in the Hamptons for second-degree criminal contempt, for allegedly violating a restraining order in September 18 this year, according to ABC.

Thomas Gilbert Sr, 70, was found with a gunshot wound to the head at his New York home on Sunday

According to sources, Peter Smith reportedly filed a restraining order against Gilbert Jr this summer after an incident near his Williamsburg, Brooklyn home.

It was unclear whether this was the same restraining order. The details could not be confirmed with Mr Smith.

Tommy Gilbert Jr was arrested at his home on Sunday night in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, following the fatal shooting of his father, the founder of hedge fund, Wainscott Capital.

The 30-year-old was being held pending arraignment and the law office representing him had no comment.

The Princeton graduate was upset that his weekly allowance had been cut back, according to published reports, when he went to his parents' home in midtown Manhattan on Sunday afternoon.

A source told the New York Daily News that Mr Gilbert Sr had cut back Tommy's weekly allowance to $300 and threatened to stop paying his rent.

Gilbert Jr lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Chelsea where, according to listings, guarantors were accepted on the $2,400-a-month rent.

The Ivy Leaguer, who was a regular fixture at Manhattan's black-tie benefits with society beauties on his arm, reportedly slipped past the doorman and into his parents' building shortly before the alleged attack at 3.30pm.

Police said Gilbert Jr asked his mother to go out to get him some food. About 15 minutes later, she got a 'bad feeling' and came back, said Robert Boyce, the chief of detectives for the New York Police Department.

Gilbert Sr's wife Shelley, 67, found her husband dead in the bedroom within minutes of the alleged attack and called 911, police said.

Gilbert Jr was then seen walking out of the building in Manhattan's Turtle Bay area covering his face with a hoodie around 3.35pm, the New York Daily News reported.

The 30-year-old was found in his ground-floor apartment at 10.30pm on Sunday, after he fled from his parents' home in midtown, multiple media outlets claimed, citing police sources.

Police recovered a Glock 22 .40-caliber handgun from the scene.

At 10.30pm on Sunday, Gilbert Jr was arrested without incident at his apartment after NYPD officers dressed in riot gear, chopped down the door and found him hiding inside.

Police remove a body bag from the luxury Manhattan apartment building late on Sunday where a multimillionaire hedge-funder was found with a gunshot wound to the head

The NYPD broke down the door of Gilbert Jr's West 18th St ground-floor apartment (pictured) to arrest him on Sunday. According to published news reports, Gilbert Jr had his allowance cut back by his father who was paying his $2,400-a-month rent

He was taken to the 17th precinct in midtown Manhattan and questioned.

Thomas Gilbert Sr started Wainscott Capital in 2011, growing the fund to a value of $200 million.

He attended Princeton and Harvard Business School before a 40-year career on Wall Street. According to Wainscott Capital's website, he had extensive knowledge of the stock market, private equity, real estate and the fixed income market.

His son, Tommy Gilbert Jr, attended The Buckley school on Manhattan's Upper East Side from kindergarten until eighth grade. Tuition costs around $35,000 a year.

Noteable alumni of the school include actor James Harder, philanthropist David Rockefeller Jr and Robert Wagner, former deputy mayor of New York.

He then went on to the $50,000-a-year Deerfield Academy in Western Massachusetts, which counts the King of Jordan and Prince of Jordan among its alumni.

After graduating from Deerfield in 2003, Gilbert Jr accepted a place at Princeton University where he graduated in 2009.

A friend told Daily Mail Online on Monday: 'He was a really nice person. He was smart, athletic and he went to Princeton.

'He took some leave of absences from Princeton which is why it took him so long to graduate. He must have been really angry to do something so out-of-character.'

A classmate, who attended Deerfield with Gilbert Jr, also said: 'Tommy was my classmate. This story is an incomprehensible tragedy. My heart goes out to the entire Gilbert family.'

Details of Gilbert Jr's profession remain unclear but he was photographed on multiple occasions at black-tie society events.

The 30-year-old was pictured in March 2014 at the School of American Ballet's winter ball with Arielle Patrick, a 2012 Princeton grad, child of Manhattan private schools and now a PR director, who sources told the Daily Mail Online that he had dated.

Miss Patrick refused to confirm whether the pair had dated on Monday.

A fellow Princeton graduate told Daily Mail Online that Gilbert Jr was a 'highly disturbed individual'.

Another friend told Today that 30-year-old Gilbert Jr had become 'volatile' in recent years.

Friends in the 30-year-old's circle told Daily Mail Online that he loved surfing, was 'handsome and nice' but extremely quiet and never talked.

The Gilbert family property is a $6,000-a-month rental apartment at 20 Beekman Place on 50th Street, a few blocks north of the United Nations on the east side of Manhattan.

Mr Gilbert Sr also owned a property in the Hamptons which was listed for sale at $11.5million.

The 2.5 acre-property has five bedrooms, four baths, a heated pool and screened in porch and sits in one of the area's most exclusive enclaves.

Wainscott Capital avoided losses which plagued other hedge funds in October last year, gaining 1.65 per cent that month.

Thomas Gilbert Sr owned this $11.5 million property in the Hamptons which is set in 2.5 acres of land

The 30-year-old went to Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts (pictured left), which counts the King of Jordan as an alumnus after studying at the prestigious Buckley school in New York City (right)