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
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
