How Jeffrey Rackover a celebrity jeweler took on a seasoned Florida criminal, passing him off as his son only to wonder if he is now complicit in murder?
As authorities continue to hold on to 25 year old man James Rackover as a ‘person of interest’ in relation to the murder of 26 year old Stamford, Connecticut man, Joseph Comunale, new details are emerging as to the behind the scenes dynamics that may have ultimately allowed for the implosion of one aspiring socialite.
Reacting to the possible involvement of ‘his son’ in the murder of Comunale, celebrity jeweler, Jeffrey Rackover, 56, has expressed ‘deep shock and hurt’ over his ‘adopted’ son’s current dilemma, saying ‘I can not understand what happened,’ according to friends.
Yet while Jeffrey Rackover may have sought to pass the new man suddenly living in his upscale luxury Upper East Side building, The Grand Sutton, as simply his son, the reality is that neither Jeffrey or his ‘adopted son’ James were ever family to begin with.
Instead, a report via the dailymail reveals how Jeffrey Rackover came to take a liking to Florida man, James Beaudoin, a seasoned Broward County, Florida criminal who had turned up to NYC looking to re-invent himself and escape a former tortured life.
Somehow the two men met, with the two men soon developing an unshakable bond. A bond that eventually led to the celebrity jeweler treating James Beaudoin as ‘the son he never had’.
Soon after James Beaudoin became James Rackover, with the celebrity jeweler who counts Donald Trump as one of his clients and confidantes taking in the dislocated young man, housing him in a lavish apartment on the fourth floor (where one bedrooms rent out over $6K a month) while he lived in his own apartment in the same building on the 32nd floor.
Offered a longtime friend of Jeffery Rackover, private detective Bo Dietl: ‘Jimmy was a troubled young man and Jeffrey hoped to get him back on his feet.’
Added the founder and CEO of Beau Dietl & Associates and friend of Jeffrey’s for 30 years: ‘Jeffrey never had children, he developed a relationship with this young man and introduced him to his family,’
‘He got him a job at Willis Towers Watson insurance company and an an apartment in the same building he lives in. Jeffrey was on the 32nd floor and James on the fourth floor.’
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Meanwhile, individuals who live in the same building as the two men said that the two had an incredibly close relationship. A friendship that nevertheless appeared to be more than just father and son.
Neighbors in the upscale building began to suspect in reality, James Rackover was really Jeffrey’s same sex lover.
‘I have seen them working out together in the gym and there is no way they were father and son,’ told one neighbor via the dailymail.
Adding: ‘Another friend saw them at a wedding and that was definitely not an appropriate father son relationship.
‘The kid moved in about a year ago – Jeffrey decorated it to his liking – and apparently told people he was Jeffrey’s long lost son.
‘And Jeffrey introduced me to him in the elevator as his son. The kid is covered in tattoos. No one thought he was Jeffrey’s son.’
Dietl meanwhile described how the two first met years ago.
‘They first met, I believe, at a health club about three-and-a-half years ago. Jimmy moved into the apartment about a year ago,’ said Dietl.
‘Jimmy changed his name to James Rackover because Jeffrey liked this kid so much.
‘Jeffrey is devastated by all of this. Something happened in the [fourth floor] apartment but Jeffrey know nothing about this. He has no idea what occurred.
“He cannot understand what happened. He is devastated.’
From there Dietl offered a timeline of what Jeffrey told him had happened over the weekend.
‘Jeffrey went to sleep on Saturday night, then at 10am he went down to Jimmy’s apartment to walk to dog. The place looked fine,’ the private detective explained via the dailymail.
Adding: ‘I spent all day Wednesday with Jeffrey and his attorneys. He is extremely upset. He doesn’t know what the hell happened.’
‘Jimmy had no father, Jeffrey tried to help him, he took him in.’
James had a long criminal history back from his days in Florida, but that did not bother Jeffrey according to Dietl, stressing that the celebrity jeweler ‘only wanted to help him out.’
Reiterated Dietl: ‘Jeffrey took a liking to him. The heart that Jeffrey had for this kid. He tried to help him and look what happened,’
‘Jeffrey is a big hearted man. I have been a fmily friend for 30 years and have celebrated passover and other holidays with Jeffrey and Jimmy.’
Dietl said he did not know the young man’s real name and was not sure if the Mercedes Benz he was driving when police arrested him belonged to Jeffrey.
According to the dailymail, Jeffrey Rackover never married, having once worked for upscale jeweler, Graff Diamonds and hosting the company’s grand New York opening party attended by minor European royals Princess Michale of Kent and Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia.
The perma-tanned jeweler later set up on his own, providing jewels for Oprah Winfrey and Jennifer Lopez, as well as helping Donald Trump pick out the engagement ring he bought for future third wife Melania.
In the interim, Jeffrey Rackover waits to find out whether authorities will press homicide charges against his ‘adopted son’ as the man who was arrested on unrelated charges remains incarcerated as police continue to search the man’s home and gather evidence after the victim’s blood was found on a luggage cart that James was observed handling along inside his 4th floor apartment.
Why Joey Communale came to be murdered remains a mystery, except to say what had started as a tempting impromptu invitation to return to James Upper East Side boite after a night out on the town in the end turned out to be a deadly turn of events.
A turn of events that Jeffrey Rackover may have completely underestimated when he took in a one tortured soul just over two years ago…..
