What Happened in Apartment 4C? | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] Joey's missing he's somewhere it's got to be somewhere Hey where's Joey have you
heard from Joe this isn't like him to not call me [Music] back there's something really
wrong let's go back to November M 12th 2016 a bunch of people were going out to New York City Joey would go into
Manhattan a good amount he would meet all of our friends there he had hundreds of friends
hundreds of friends Joey always had this positive outlook on life when you were with him
you felt like you could fly he was a an athlete L sports bright future smart kid that night we went to the Gilded
Lily the Gilded Lily is in the meat packing District it's a lounge he has Club type
music it's kind of high-end everyone dresses up were you drinking we were drinking
how would you describe Joey he looked fine he didn't look like he was even buzzed
3:30 or so the night was ending so everyone exits I remember Joey on my left and
these girls were looking at him a certain way and he was looking back at me and just smiling like you know that
he was interested I get approached on my right side by two guys and they try to start
some conversation with me Joey's on my left and they kind of form a group on that side he jumped in a cab and went
off with these two guys why do you think he did do you know I just don't know but
I guarantee they're saying that they have a penthouse apartment there's girls this guy's dad's a
jeweler and that jeweler was a jeweler to the Stars you're talking about Oprah Winfrey you're talking about Jennifer
Lopez he sold an engagement ring to Melania and Donald Trump Saturday night came and
went I can't get in touch with them has your son ever gone a whole day without texting or calling you Noe I started
getting phone calls from a bunch of our friends have you heard from Joey have you spoke to Joey Joey's with you right
they thought he was at my house what [Music] happened so I went on Instagram I went
on Facebook I called everyone on my phone we go and we just start looking for them Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday
everyone was still trying to get a clear-cut answer as to what was going on sources say 26-year-old Joseph communale
came to this building early Sunday morning with friends why why were you there why did you meet them why did you
go out that night you were invited to go to sudden place you would want to go there it's like its own private Enclave
that only money can penetrate commun Al's father reported him missing when he never came home
what's now going through your mind the worst the worst yeah what do you think happened in
apartment 4C something went terribly terribly [Music] [Applause] [Laughter] [Music]
[Music] wrong 48 Hours what happened an apartment 4C reported by Aaron [Music] [Music]
morti I met Joey freshman year of college we've been best friends ever since Joey was one of my best friends my
best friend best friend everybody called him their best friend but I was his best friend Joe com
and aly's Father Pat knew his 26-year-old son well and at first he wasn't worried when he couldn't reach
him the morning after Joey went out with some friends on Saturday night November
12th 2016 I know it sounds crazy but in New York things don't really start until
late it's nothing unheard of for kids to come home at 6:00 in the morning and I figured he's
sleeping he was sick earlier in the day looking back Joey's friends like Steven naso will tell you that Joey never even
intended to go out that Saturday night I think he took a nap for like 3 hours but
then Joey's College buddy pram Daka baru a part-time promoter texted and offered
Joey VIP treatment at the Gilded Lily a club then located in the Chic meat packing District in downtown Manhattan I
was working so I'd be able to take care of everyone that came in did you ever worry about him I
worried about Joey because I loved him but I knew that you know he always surrounded himself with good people
Alisa laeto dated Joey Kelli on and off but mostly on for 5 Years first at Hoffer University and later when Joey
became a sales associate at his father's security company and Alisa became a teacher he is like the rest of us he
wants to have fun doesn't want any problems but that particular Saturday she and Joey like a lot of longtime
couples were taking a break we had a little bit of like a disagreement and I was like you know what I just need a
little bit of space like I'll talk to him in the morning so Joey headed into Manhattan
from Stanford Connecticut we hop on the May Parkway shoot down in New York City Joey was with Steven nasso and they met
up with a group of friends it was always a good time to meet people and that's why Joey and them came out to Guild them
tonight as the club was closing you could see Joey and his friends exiting on surveillance
video it was early Sunday morning and the crowd emptied onto the street that's when Joey began talking to three women
standing outside the club then out of the blue two men joined them the men did not know the women and they didn't know
Joey and his friends either there's 6 or S million people in New York City and they cross paths with us at that point
Steven borrowed Joey's phone and stepped away from the group when Steven turned back Joey and the group were gone and
this new group that he had met somebody said hey you want to go to a friend's apartment in suton place and continue
having some fun Veteran New York crime reporter Murray Weiss covered the Joey Kelli story when it first broke and is
now working for 48 hours so Joey went along leaving his phone behind with his friend thinking I'll get
it tomorrow no big deal they just jumped in a couple of cabs and off they [Applause]
went Steven got word that Joey had gone to a party uptown at someone's apartment
so he headed home with Joey's phone hours later on Sunday afternoon back in Steven's apartment Joey's phone began
ringing it was his father he said Hey where's Joey I said he stayed in the city and he was like all right well
something happened um find him for me so then I went to Joey's place and he wasn't there did you talk to him every
day yeah every day talk about the Yankees and the Rangers and so sorry Steven got in touch with pram who
Tracked Down the phone number of a guy named Larry who had been at the party Larry told us that he doesn't know where
Joey went that's when the vast network of Joey's friends got to work homing through social media searching for any
scrap of information friend Mike Mullen says they pluged Larry's phone number into Google and got a last name and
actually his Facebook popped up Lawrence dilon is this the kid yeah that's the kid we were with last
night Max was the one who really put everything in motion Max branchinelli was perhaps Joey's closest friend he
manages a restaurant but when he heard Joey was missing he turned himself into an online detective did you ever try to
track down or retrace somebody's steps before using social media no you're in a panic and you're trying to find your
your friend so show me where you started so I went on Instagram here and why Instagram why would you start there
Instagram you can click on the location of the place and it will show people that posted a picture there from that
place here's what Max did he began using Instagram's locator function for the Gilded Lily looking for users who had
posted the previous night and that morning he kept his eye out for Joey as I was scrolling I landed on this picture
and why did this catch your eye this caught my eye because I happened to know him in the middle by total coincidence
Max spotted a friend Alvin but that's not the only reason he stopped at this photo I know the type of girls Joey
chases their dark features and I just had a punch I screenshotted the picture and I sent it to the group of the guys
that were out at the club with him the night before and what' they say they're like yeah it's that girl right there on
the right and I was like wow that woman had also gone to the Sutton Place party that night Max called his friend Alvin
who had her phone number so I then hit her up do you remember being with Joey last night like we can't find him he's
missing and she told me like yeah we were with him last night she told him that when the party
ended early that Sunday morning Larry dilon and Joey walked her and her friends to an Uber she told me they
waved and he looked like he was going back inside with Larry but when Max called Larry Dilli own he said Joey did
not go back inside the building and he's like he left with the girls he left in the Uber with the
girls those were two very different stories at this point I'm not sure who's lying to
[Music] me how does a 26-year-old man simply disappear Joey konell was part of a
close-knit loving family with a younger sister Alexa and parents Pat and Lisa he loved going to city he did it
all the time he loved it you know he'd go to Ranger games he'd go to the Yankee games he'd go to the Giant games Pat
common Al lives in a Tony part of Connecticut but he's a bronx kid at heart he moved here met his future wife Lisa
and founded a successful security firm that he later sold for more than $400 million but that meant nothing now that
his only son was missing how important is family to you Pat yeah family's important
that's that's everything tell me about his relationship with his dad I have never
seen a person admire their father so much I've never seen a father admire their son so much they were
inseparable by Sunday evening with Joey now missing about 10 hours Pat phon Larry dilon who had been at the Sutton
Place apartment with Joey Larry says they walked the girls out to the car and that's the last they saw them
but then dilom provided one small additional detail about Joey that to Pat seemed off he said the last I heard he
said he was going to get cigarettes did that make sense didn't make any sense cuz if you talk to his his friends I'll
tell you that he never bought a pack of cigarettes in his life Joey smokes cigarettes from time to time but he
never bought them that that's why it doesn't make any sense Pat thought so too he decided to file a missing
person's report so I said all right let me go to the Stanford PD by then Pat had Larry
dillion's phone number the on duty Sergeant called dilon who denied knowing where Joey was but he did provide the
names and numbers of two friends at the party James rackover and Max Gemma dilon
also provided the address 418 East 59th Street in Manhattan a building that calls itself
the Grand Sutton the Grand Sutton is a luxury condo in one of the wealthiest sections
of New York City an apartment 4C was home to 25-year-old James rackover you're not expecting an issue in suton
place suton place is a is a beautiful place to live no one would disagree over the years the neighborhood's been home
to a parade of celebrities including Marilyn Monroe Michael Jackson and Rockstar Fredy
Mercury what could go wrong on the Upper East Side and do you know anything about
Larry dilon or James rackover or Max Gemma at that point you know nothing about them but as the days passed the
police would find out a lot more about the three young men all in their 20s who partied that morning with Joey the three
young men in the story Are Young men are privileged Larry dilon worked in real estate and came from a well-off New
Jersey family that owned thoroughbred horses Max Gemma was a computer software salesman whose father was once the mayor
of Oceanport New Jersey and had been in business with Jared Kushner president Trump's
son-in-law but no one appeared to live a more Charmed life than James rackover who was living in Sutton plays his
father Jeffrey who had a much larger apartment in the same building on the 32nd Floor specialized in getting one of
aind pieces of jewelry for the world's rich and beautiful I grew up in the same town
with Jeffrey rackover we grew up a block apart and while we weren't close our families knew each other he not only
cultivated becoming a jeweler to the Stars he wanted to be among them he was friend friends with Jerry Jones me the
owner of the Dallas Cowboys he came to know Oprah his apartment has photographs of himself with all these personalities
James enjoyed the good life he was an aspiring model working in the insurance business loved boxing and even had a
boxer named gloves of course I think Joy had an opportunity to go to a fancy part
of New York City into a fancy apartment and he went along hey and there were those three young ladies along for the
ride Jenna ssy Katie Conroy and Samantha Guardiola but all that mattered to Pat was finding his son he had already filed
a missing person's Report with the Stanford police but also wanted to alert the New York City cops so at 9:00 a.m.
Monday morning some 25 hours since anyone reported seeing Joey Pat was at the 17th police precinct where he told
NYPD detective Yan Castro everything he knew the detective C I still remember saying let's go to the building and we
jumped in the police car when they arrived at the Grand Sutton detective Castro asked to view the building
surveillance video and then he starts reviewing video they asked me a couple times to come in to identify if that was
my son [Music] so we did at some point you see your son so sorry Pat was overcome when he spotted
son Joey and Larry dilion walking the three women out to the curb but then what do you
see we see him come back into the building so you see Larry dilon and your son walking back in the building and
what did that say to you they're lying there's a problem here remember Larry dilion had said Joey did not go back
inside the building it was all too much for Pat detective Castro asked him to wait at
the 17th police precinct so as I went outside to make phone calls the porter started to bring garbage
out and I ran back inside and I said to the police don't let the garbage go make
sure you search all the bags just kind of had that sense that these guys were lying there could be something in the
garbage and sadly he was right inside those bags police discovered Joey's bloody
pants his shirt and his driver's license also tossed in the trash a special chain Joey always
wore given to him by his father I said to myself I don't think he walked out of the building
[Music] [Music] alive 14 hours after Joey konali and Larry dilon were seen on video walking those
women to their Uber surveillance cameras caught James rackover taking his father's mercedesbenz for a drive with
the help of nypd's network of cameras detectives were able to track some of his movements they quickly put in rack
overs mercedesbenz license play and Bing Bing Bing it started showing up going down the FDR
Drive the car went South around southern Manhattan it then made a turn into the Holland
Tunnel that led out to New Jersey but detectives could not pinpoint precisely where the car eventually stopped they
needed a break and they soon got it from Larry dilon he agreed to meet with them
and they sensed that there was something that he wanted to say and so the detective said to him you know what do
you want to tell us we have a missing boy here his family you know wants to know what happened to
him on Tuesday dilom began talking the party at the apartment in the wee early hours of Sunday morning had been Lively
he said one of the women videotaped some of it on her phone there was cocaine and
plenty of drinking dilone and rackover even competed to see who could give the best lap dance but by 6:45 a.m. the
women left in that Uber and that's when cameras captured dilon and Joey walking back into the building and up to
apartment 4C where dilon says a fatal argument erupted Larry dilon tells the police he has an exchange of words with
Joey communal that Joey says something like James got the cocaine you know I got the cigarettes what have you brought
to the table and kind of pounded his hand on a table and Larry dilon admitted to the police that he just flew into a
rage and slammed Joey knocked him down and hit him a few times dilon says that when he began
punching Joey his friend Max Gemma was asleep on the couch then dilion says rackover a boxing fan who took pride in
his chisel physique jumped right in and according to Larry James start's also beaten the crap out of Joey who's now
defenseless and gurgling because he can't hardly breathe commun alley lawyer Bob Abrams has heard dillion's
confession he claims that after he had beaten a defenseless Joey and almost killed him Max woke up they got so very
nervous because rakov was now beating the crap out of Joey that they would do anything rakova said and this is really
difficult for me to talk about because what they did and how they did it is just so horrific dilon says he
told Gemma to leave the room and that's when dilon says rackover began stabbing Joey the stabbing ended Joey's
life dilon says Gemma left the apartment and had no involvement in the murder he says rack over then drag Joey's
lifeless body into the bathroom he tries to dismember him with a serrated knife dismembering somebody is not an
easy thing to do and rackover was not able to do it while they plotted their next move
they began a frenzied cleanup of the apartment mopping up Joey's blood with bleach and paper towels all the while
Fielding calls from Joey friends and his father you're talking to Larry dilon and your son's still in the
apartment and they act like there's nothing wrong yeah incredibly evidence shows that
rackover and dilon took time out to eat placing a delivery order then as shown on building surveillance cameras they
explored the basement looking police say for a way to get Joey's body out of the
Grand Sutton without being seen then they had another idea what they do next is totally
insane as Darkness settled on the city dilon claimed he moved Joey's body now wrapped in a comforter to the ledge of
Rover's fourth floor window while rackover moved the mercedesbenz into position on East 59th
Street when rova gave him the class sign daon pushed the body uh out of the window four
floors and nobody saw it we're we're talking about a upscale apartment Midtown Manhattan and nobody
saw it the Grand Sutton faces the Queensboro Bridge in Manhattan and it was dark it fell into an area where
there may have been some bushes and concrete and then when nobody was looking after
de Leon came back down they stuffed the body into the trunk of the car and then they drove
off Laria told them that they had driven the body down to Oceanport New Jersey and that they had deposited him in a
wooded area behind a florish shop it was an area that dilon was very familiar with he grew up in Oceanport a jersey
short Town some 60 miles from Manhattan he admits to helping take the body and to participate in digging I don't want
to call it a grave because it's not a grave a hole and then dumping Joey's body in a hole but right before they
were going to cover up the hole rackover took gasoline and started to pour it over Joey's body and in fact
did light Joey's body on fire after dillion's confession police raced out to Oceanport and discovered Joey's
burned body in a field behind the florish shop exactly where dilon had said it would
be 2 hours later Sergeant Yan Castro arrived at Pat common Al's home in Stanford you heard a car door
closed I popped up and I saw detective uh Castro I already knew yeah that was it what happened that night did you do
it James rackover and Larry dilon were arrested and charged with second degree murder what happened early Sunday
morning did you did you St Max Jemma who remembered dilon insists had nothing to
do with Joey's death was arrested later but he was not charged with murder he was charged with hindering prosecution
and tampering with physical evidence Gemma was granted bail all three men pleaded not guilty
even Larry dilon he challenged his confession saying police had ignored him when he informed them he had a
lawyer but the biggest shock was yet to come when it was revealed that James rackover who seemed to live such a charm
life was not who he claimed to be James rackover wasn't really James rackover was it
no and it just seemed like there was always more to learn about James more terrible
things to the outside world James rackover was a wealthy young Heir and would be model living in the lap of
luxury on suton place but the man that Larry dilon claims is the ring leader in Joseph common Al's vicious murder is not
at all what he appears to be James rackover was not his real name detectives discovered James
rackover was not the son of celebrity jeweler Jeffrey rackover police say James rackover is also this man James
Bowden from Brower County he's an excon from Florida a world away from the underated wealth of Sutton plays and
James Bowden has a WRA sheet dating back to his teens he spent nearly a year and
a half in prison for second deegree burglary 3 months after his release in September
2013 after moving to New York he reportedly met Jeffrey rackover at a gym they were both working out and they kind
of hid it off surprisingly the multi-millionaire Bachelor then in his mid-50s soon invited the 22-year-old
James to live with him in his lavish Grand Sutton apartment on the 32nd Floor and if anyone asked why the two were
suddenly living together Jeffrey explained it this way Jeffrey rackover told his closest friends and relatives
that one day there was a knock on his door and a young man was standing at the door and said you don't know me but I'm
your son Jeffrey even took the extraordinary step of allowing James to change his last name to rackover James
claimed he was Jeffrey's biological son these are the documents for name change they put this in a legal document James
rackover said Jeffrey rackover is his biological father he lied in this document didn't he James lied in that
document and Jeffrey rakova confirmed the information commun Al family attorney Bob Abrams says it was all an
act they're not related they are not related Abrams alleges there was a sexual relationship between the two but
jeffy's lawyer categorically denies it what's more James's defense attorneys Rob candoo and Maurice cirar say they've
only seen a fatherson relationship Jeffrey rackover provided structure in the life of this young man
Jeffrey paid for James's education and helped him find a job he even paid James's nearly $4,000 a month rent when
in early 2016 James moved into apartment 4C at the Grand Sutton after James was arrested for Joey Kelli's murder Jeffrey
paid at least initially for James's defense attorney what does James rackover face if he's convicted of all
charges he faces spending the rest of his life in jail charged with second deegree murder and other crimes James is
set to St on trial first before Larry dilon and Max Gemma cirar has a unique strategy he says James is guilty of
covering up a murder but not of committing one you were asking this jury to separate the murder from other pretty
terrible acts trying to cut up the body getting rid of the body burying the body
burning the body it is tough but but they are separate things they say it was Larry dilon who killed Joey in October
2018 2 years after Joey's murder James Rover's trial began opening statements today in the murder trial of James
rackover but Jeffrey James's biggest supporter and surrogate father did not appear in the
courtroom it was a much different scene for Joey whose family and friends packed
the courtroom every day it's been the worst part every day Pat was the first witness and his
emotional testimony quieted the courtroom I know it affected the jury it affects the jury in any murdered case
prosecutors painted James rackover as a monstrously callous killer playing this phone call recorded in jail where James
brags to a friend I don't know if you been Fallen but I start trial September so I'm looking at being home around
October is my bre's going to be up there bro like my weight when I hit the street
they're gonna be like yo this kid just beat this Rocky and he's home oh my God prosecutors called to the stand
women who had attended that party benis and Katie Conroy but parts of their testimony helped the defense Katie
in particular said dilom was the one brandishing a knife he was using it to do Coke off of the women uh painted a
picture of him being pretty quick to use this knife for any variety of tasks James's defense lawyers also point out
that he had nothing to gain but everything to lose by killing Joey James knew that if Jeffrey ever found out that
a dead body had been discovered in his apartment that was the end of their relationship and that had to be factored
into account as well when you consider why James felt so compelled to get that body out of the
apartment after more than a week of testimony prosecutors had a strong case proving the cover up but there was
nothing that directly pointed to James rackover as Joey's killer they seem to need something or someone more and sure
enough they announced that they had a star witness who was going to take the stand
[Music] prosecutors hope to Seal James rack over's conviction by unleashing an 11th
Hour witness Lewis rugiero a close friend of James rackover the new witness turned out to be the troubled son of a
very very popular New York television morning anchor woman named Rosanna Scot popular and well connected Good Day New
York I'm Rosanna Scot Rosanna Scot is as Hometown as New York gats and her 24-year-old son told the court that he
met James because of his mother's friendship with Jeweler Jeffrey rackover the day after Joey kali's
murder rugiero said he was working out at the gym when James called him desate to talk Lewis testified that James
looked strung out he had bags under his eyes and he said that James told him I've done something awful there was a
kid in the apartment lren de Leon got into a fight with him kind of knocked them out and then James says I got my
own licks in there and I didn't want a dead body in my apartment so I slid his throat we then put him in a comforter
threw him out the window drove him 60 miles and buried him in a grave and then he adds don't worry about it because I
bleach clean the entire apartment and nobody will know about it rugiero testified he thought James was just
making a sick joke but the reaction in the courtroom was very different gasps came out of half of the room that was
filled with Joey's family and friends you could see the jurors actually recoil when he used the word I slid his throat
it was a stunning moment because rugiero was the first witness who directly implicated James rackover in Joey
Kelli's murder the testimony by Mr rugiero was very damaging but defense attorney Maurice cirar maintains that
ruo's testimony was riddled with factual errors rugiero testified that my client
slid his throat Joseph comunali did not have his throat slit cirar stuck to his defense that rackover is guilty of the
cover up but not the murder on cross-examination the defense attacked rugiero he had a lot of issues attorney
Robert cendo in the fall of 2016 he was in the throws of as bad a drug problem as you could have rugiero admitted on
the stand that he had been spending 12200 $ a day on marijuana oxycotton xanax and cocaine he never called police
to tell them about James's confession there were a number of reasons to think that Mr rugiero might not be the person
you want to hang the Hat of a murder conviction on the prosecution rested soon after ruo's damaging
testimony the defense then presented only one piece of evidence the ring reportedly warned by Larry dilon when
the fight broke out and why is that ring so important the ring had a sizable dent
in it and if you conclude that he hit Joseph so hard that he dented it that certainly uh is a fact that we would
want the jury to consider and it certainly speaks to who might have committed murder and who might not
have in his closing argument cir cars had one last surprise he showed jur 4 minutes of video where James could be
seen in a building elevator and then in Jeffrey Rover's bedroom where Jeffrey is
sleeping sir cars argued that in those four minutes when James was not in apartment 4C dilon alone killed
Joey 4 minutes is plenty of time but prosecutors have a different theory that James was looking for cocaine in jeffy's
bedroom didn't find any and the fight broke out when he returned to apartment 4C
empty-handed after 10 days of witness testimony and evidence the jury got the case just got to get
Justice that's really it now it's a waiting again on Friday November 2nd 2018 after nearly 5 hours of
deliberations the jury announced it had reached a verdict the former James Bowden of Florida now James rackover
from New York was convicted on all counts for the murder of Joey Kali the verdict was greeted with relief
and tears I want to thank the Manhattan District's attorney's office I couldn't be more proud of the
NYPD and all Joey's friends and everybody else who supported us over the last 2 years I can't wait to
get these other two sons of to go down just like this ass part of my language this picture is me and Joey in
Manhattan those who knew Joey best like girlfriend Alysa labr this is actually one of my favorite pictures it just
shows how much I love him are left with their memories I definitely thought I was going to marry him one day honest ly
um he was just a beautiful person inside and out and my life without him has been
crazy Joey's mother Lisa can barely speak about her only son so this was our last family photo
together what do you think when you take a look at Joey just miss him every day as a way of remembering Joey some of
his friends got tattoos with a number nine which is the number Joey always wore when he played Sports I do have
one but of course Pat common alley just had to get the most elaborate tattoo can
you see so your son's always going to be with you yeah I said I don't want you better make sure it looks just like them
and it does honestly I never saw a kid cry never one time it's ironic I'm making up
for it he was a special kid he really [Music] [Music] was [Music] [Applause] [Music]

When a man goes missing, his friends turn to social media to track his final hours. What they learn is horrific. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty investigates. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Joseph Comunale's disappearance leads to a shocking murder investigation involving friends and a violent crime in New York City.

Key points

The Night Joey Went Missing. Joey Communale disappears after a night out in Manhattan, leaving friends and family worried.
The Search Begins. Friends and family launch a frantic search for Joey, fearing the worst.
Conflicting Stories. Witnesses provide conflicting accounts of Joey's last moments, raising suspicions.
A Father's Instinct. Pat Communale's gut feeling leads to a search of the garbage, uncovering evidence.
The Horrific Truth. Larry Dilon confesses to the violent events that led to Joey's death.
James Rackover's Chilling Confession. James Rackover admits to a friend about committing murder, shocking the courtroom.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He was an athlete, bright future, smart kid.

Describing Joey's character and potential.

0:51WatchApr 9, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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