NYC man convicted of murder in stabbing death of partygoer

A 27-year-old New York City man was convicted of murder Friday in the beating and stabbing death of a party guest at a luxury apartment who was then quickly buried in New Jersey.

A Manhattan state Supreme Court jury found James Rackover guilty in the 2016 death of Hofstra University graduate Joseph Comunale.

The men had met on a November night at a city nightclub and invited some women to Rackover's Manhattan apartment where authorities say they kept drinking and snorting cocaine.

By the next morning, 26-year-old Comunale, of Stamford, Connecticut, was dead. It was not clear what triggered the violent confrontation.

Two partygoers also charged in the attack will be tried later.

Prosecutors say Comunale's body was pushed out a fourth-floor window, stuffed into a car trunk and driven to New Jersey, where he was doused with gasoline, set ablaze and buried in a shallow grave in a wooded part of Oceanport, about 60 miles from the apartment on East 59th street.

Rackover also was convicted Friday of concealing a human corpse and tampering with evidence.

Prosecutors relied on a trail of evidence from the apartment including bloodstained bedsheets, clothing and towels that ended up in the building garbage and Comunale's wallet, ID and credit cards.

Rackover had a close relationship with noted jeweler Jeffrey Rackover, who considered him a son, a spokesman for the jeweler said in 2016. James Rackover was from Florida, where he was known as James Beaudoin. He changed his name to that of his partner, multiple outlets reported. 

James Rackover had been convicted of robbery as a juvenile, pleaded no contest to a burglary charge and had multiple probation violations, The New York Times said, citing records. Rackover served 18 months behind bars at Florida's South Bay Correctional Facility before being released in 2013, according to the Times.

Rackover is to be sentenced next month.

With Newsday Staff