Season 3 of “Homicide: New York” opens with “Party Monster,” detailing how Comunale, 26, disappeared after going out on Nov. 12, 2016.
Comunale, a Westhill High School graduate and former athlete, had plans to go out with friends before heading into Manhattan that night. When his parents did not hear from him the next day, they contacted authorities, prompting an investigation that quickly escalated to the NYPD homicide squad.
Detectives learned Comunale, a Hofstra University graduate, had been at the Gilded Lily nightclub before going to an afterparty at the Grand Sutton, a luxury building in Manhattan, hosted by James Rackover, a man whose “long lost father,” Jeffrey Rackover, is widely known as a jeweler to the stars. Surveillance footage showed Comunale arriving at the building around 4:19 a.m. and later leaving with Rackover’s associate, Larry Dilione, of Jersey City, without returning.
“Homicide: New York” interviews the NYPD detectives who cracked the case. What they ultimately found was that Comunale had gotten into an argument and scuffle with Dilione inside of Rackover’s luxury apartment. Rackover, who is really named James Beaudoin II and is a repeat offender out on bail from Florida, said he “refused to go back to jail” and ultimately grabbed a steak knife and stabbed Comunale, detectives explain on the show.
Dilione led investigators from Manhattan to Oceanport, NJ, where they searched a wooded area behind a flower shop. There, detectives uncovered Comunale’s body in a shallow grave, which had been stabbed 14 times and burned.
Rackover and Dilione were arrested on May 10 and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. Rackover was sentenced to 28 years in prison, while Dilione got 23 years in prison.
Max Gemma, another man from New Jersey who was partying in Rackover’s apartment that night, had initially told investigators he was sleeping on the couch and knew nothing about Comunale’s disappearance, but he later pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and was sentenced to six months in prison, in what was widely considered a sweetheart deal.