New lawsuit says ‘jeweler to the stars’ helped cover up murder of Joseph Comunale

Jeffrey Rackover, dubbed “jeweler to the stars” due to his A-list celebrity clientele, is facing a lawsuit after the dad of a murder victim accused him helping the suspects cover up the crime.

New York Post reports that Rackover, 57, considered suspect James Rackover, 26, to be his son, although the two allegedly shared a past intimate relationship filled with drug use, while Jeffrey passed himself off as the younger Rackover’s long lost parent. He’s accused of supplying his newfound son with paper towels and cleaning supplies after the murder of Joseph “Joey” Comunale (pictured).

In November 2016, while attending a Manhattan party, Comunale was stabbed to death at James Rackover’s Grand Sutton co-op tower apartment. An argument over cigarettes supposedly started between Comunale and another person at the party, Lawrence Dilione, 28. Dilione told authorities he beat up Comunale. He then stated that James Rackover beat Comunale further, stabbed him, and attempted to cut his limbs off with a serrated knife.

According to the new lawsuit, surveillance footage shows Jeffrey Rackover, who lives on the 32nd floor of the same building, going to James Rackover’s 4th story apartment with cleaning supplies. Per police, the 4th floor apartment “smelled from cleaning chemicals and the stench of death.”

Further, the lawsuit accuses Jeffrey Rackover of helping haul Comunale’s body to Oceanport, New Jersey, where Dilione and James Rackover burned the corpse and buried it in a shallow grave.

The victim’s father, Pat Comunale, said he filed the lawsuit because he wanted justice for his son. The filing also accuses of Jeffrey of giving his James, who legally changed his name to Rackover in 2015 after claiming the elder Rackover was his real father, drugs and money and a lavish lifestyle in return for sexual favors.

The lawsuit is asking for an unspecified amount in damages.

[Feature Photo: Family Handout]