Did Celebrity Jeweler Help ‘Son’ Cover Up Brutal Murder?
Jeffery Rackover Image by Getty Images
A new lawsuit accuses celebrity jeweler Jeffery Rackover of helping to cover up a murder carried out by his adoptive son — and says the younger man was really his lover.
It’s another bizarro turn in a shocking murder investigation launched last November, when Joseph Comunale was found dead in Oceanport, N.J.
James Rackover, 26, was arrested along with two friends after video surveillance placed Communale in his apartment on the night of the murder.
Authorities determined that the apartment was paid for by Jeffery Rackover, jeweler to Melania Trump, Jerry Jones, and Oprah Winfrey, among others. Rackover claimed James as his adoptive son. James Rackover, born James Beaudoin, changed his name in 2015 after claiming that Jeffery was his “real father.”
The lawsuit, filed by Comunale’s father, says that Beaudoin was in fact Rackover’s lover, given an apartment and a monthly allowance. Furthermore, citing newly available surveillance footage, the lawsuit also claims that Rackover allowed Beaudoin to use his own car to transport Comunale’s body to New Jersey.
Lawyers for Rackover wouldn’t comment.
Contact Jesse Bernstein at [email protected] or on Twitter @__jbernstein
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Senate rejects Bernie Sanders’ proposal to block some weapons sales to Israel
-
Fast Forward Sotheby’s to auction earliest known kiddush cup
-
Fast Forward Jerusalem Post editor Zvika Klein, arrested in ‘Qatar-gate,’ says he’s being unfairly prosecuted for his reporting
-
Fast Forward Trump fires national security officials, reportedly at urging of Laura Loomer, far-right Jewish ‘Islamophobe’
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion The ADL reversed its support for Trump’s student deportations. You should too
-
Fast Forward Senate rejects Bernie Sanders’ proposal to block some weapons sales to Israel
-
Fast Forward Sotheby’s to auction earliest known kiddush cup
-
Opinion Trump’s new tariffs on Israel are a BDS dream come true
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.