Bid to make a slay case
Hi-rise kill will go to grand jury
THE MANHATTAN District Attorney’s office will present a homicide case in the death of a 26-year-old Hofstra graduate within two weeks, prosecutors said Friday.
The update was given at a brief court appearance at which prosecutors said upgraded charges could be on the horizon, after delays caused by “witness issues” were resolved with help from the judge.
“We are going to return to the grand jury to seek additional charges,” Assistant District Attorney Peter Casolaro said in Manhattan Supreme Court.
He told Justice Charles Solomon that the presentation to a new grand jury panel would be sometime in the next two weeks, “unless there is something that goes wrong with a witness.”
No details were given about the witnesses or issues that held up the process, which has been in the works for months.
Joseph Comunale was stabbed repeatedly, burned and taken to Oceanport, N.J., where his body was left in a shallow grave after he attended a party at the Manhattan apartment of James Rackover, the adult “surrogate son” of prominent jeweler Jeffrey Rackover.
So far, Rackover, 25, Lawrence Dilione, 28, and Max Gemma, 28, are charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence for the grisly November 2016 murder.
The courtroom was packed with family and friends of Comunale, who have been closely following the case and awaiting murder charges.
The case was adjourned to May 19 for possible information on new charges.
All three men have pleaded not guilty.
The investigation has come under fire as being poorly handled from the start.
Dilione allegedly made extensive admissions to police about the events in Rackover’s apartment and detailed how Comunale died, but the statements may have been taken illegally.