Joey Comunale Murder

From NEW YORK POST: Murder suspect in ‘jeweler to the stars’ case boasted he’d beat charges ‘like Rocky’ By Rebecca Rosenberg October 15, 2018 | 9:37pm

An accused killer bragged that he would beat his rap “like Rocky” — but a Manhattan jury could put him down for the count.

Boasting that he’d beat the rap for the murder of a young Connecticut man after a night of partying in the Sutton Place pad paid for by his jeweler-to-the-stars surrogate dad, James Rackover said, “They’re going to be like yo, this kid just f–king beat this sh-t like Rocky and he’s home, oh my god.”

Rackover, who’s trial was in jury selection Monday, made the prediction from the Manhattan Detention Complex after he was arrested for the barbaric Nov. 13, 2016, murder of Hofstra University grad Joseph Comunale, who was beaten, strangled and stabbed to death.

“I’m going to get all the, a lot of respect, like, a lot of people are going to be like, damn, like, he did his thing, he like kept his mouth shut and f–king went home, like beat this sh–t, like, damn,” he blustered in the call, referring to himself as “Jimmy Guns.”

Meanwhile, The Post has learned his “dad,” Jeffrey Rackover, famous for clients such as Melania Trump and Oprah Winfrey, will not take the stand at the trial. ”Jeffrey Rackover will not be called as a witness by either the district attorney or the defendant,” his lawyer Ben Brafman said.

The statement made in a jailhouse call was disclosed Friday at a hearing for James Rackover, 27, whose trial is slated to begin this week.

James Rackover — along with his co-defendant Larry Dilione — allegedly strangled, stabbed and bludgeoned Comunale inside the posh Manhattan apartment.

The vicious beating allegedly began after Comunale accused Dilione, 30, of mooching off him after a night of partying.

In another jail call, Rackover allegedly said, “So, I got good news, it doesn’t look like Larry is being a f—king — running his mouth in court, and trying to flip on me, so that’s good.”

Defense lawyers Maurice Sercarz and Robert Caliendo argued that the calls don’t prove anything and would inflame the jury.

“An innocent person who feels aggrieved by a wrongful arrest is capable of making the same statements,” Sercarz said.

But Assistant DA Rachel Ehrhardt countered that the calls showed consciousness of guilt. Justice James Burke ruled that they can come in.

Prosecutors also previewed the gruesome autopsy photos that will be presented to jurors.

James and Dilione — who will be tried next in a separate trial — allegedly tried to dismember Comunale, 26, in the pad’s bathtub, leaving saw marks on his arm, then tossed the corpse out the luxury apartment’s fourth floor window, shattering his skull. Jurors will see photos of both injuries.

The pair allegedly put Comunale’s battered remains in the trunk of Jeffrey’s Beemer and drove to Oceanport, NJ, where they doused the corpse in gasoline, set it aflame then dumped it in a shallow grave.

Images of the Hofstra grad’s mutilated and charred body, which had to be identified from dental records, will be shown, prosecutors said.

Jury selection continues Tuesday before Judge Burke.

A third defendant, Max Gemma, will be tried last on lesser charges of hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Rosner

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