Who Is Jeffrey Rackover? 'Jeweler To The Stars' Covered Up NYC Murder, Lawsuit Says

A new lawsuit filed in the death of James Comunale claimed that Jeffrey Rackover, the so-called "Jeweler to the Stars," helped his surrogate son cover up the alleged murder. Comunale, 26, was killed in a New York City apartment building belonging to Jeffrey last year.

James Rackover, Jeffrey’s surrogate son, was indicted in Comunale’s death in March. James changed his name from James Bedouin II to James Rackover in 2015 when he was 23, after being released from prison for robbery.

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Comunale was last seen at a party in the apartment Nov. 13, 2016. Authorities located his body in a shallow grave at the Jersey Shore days later. The lawsuit, filed Sunday in Manhattan Supreme Court by Comunale’s father, Patrick Comunale, stated that Jeffrey was involved in the cover-up after the killing.

The lawsuit alleged that Jeffrey and James “discussed the cover up as they watched the Dallas Cowboy’s football game inside of [Jeffrey’s] 32nd-floor apartment,” just hours after Comunale was killed. In addition, the filing said Jeffrey gave James “drugs, money and other benefits” in exchange for “sexual pleasure.”

When changing his last name to Rackover in 2015, James stated that Jeffrey was, in fact, his real father, according to the New York Post. The famous New York City jeweler reportedly helped now-President Donald Trump pick out the engagement ring he gave to wife Melania, according to a profile on Haute Living. Other star clients included Diana Ross, Molly Sims and Jennifer Lopez, the profile stated.

“If you want something special, I’m the guy to go to,” he was quoted as saying.

The lawsuit filed by Comunale’s father said it would have been impossible for Jeffrey not to be complicit since he entered the apartment so soon after the alleged murder took place.

“Jeffrey Rackover was in that apartment within a couple of hours after the murder and yet he claims he didn’t see anything or notice anything even though according to the police report the apartment had a smell from the cleanup, that there was probably at that point still blood and other evidence,” Patrick Comunale’s attorney, Bob Abrams, said Monday.

Abrams said the day after the murder when Comunale’s family appeared at the apartment looking for their son, Jeffrey refused to cooperate.

“Jeffrey apparently got some call from somebody in that building that the police were there and starting yelling at the police that if they didn’t leave he was going to sue them and that they had to get away,” said Abrams. “He was very clearly upset that they were there and made it very clear that he was not going to cooperate in the investigation.”

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James Rackover and Lawrence Dilione were indicted in March for Comunale’s death. A third man, Max Gemma, was charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence. All three men pleaded not guilty. In a January court filing, Dilione said he was involved in beating Comunale after an argument over a cigarette but said he didn’t kill him.

“I didn’t kill Joe,” he allegedly told cops. “It was James. All I did was punch him. Then James said he didn’t want to go to jail and then James stabbed him.”