Model is eyed over jail talks with Rackover
ACCUSED MURDERER James Rackover may be spilling secrets to a fitness model pen pal looking to make a buck off of his disturbing story, the Daily News learned on Thursday.
The 26-year-old surrogate son of celebrity jeweler Jeffrey Rackover — charged with killing a guest at his posh Upper East Side apartment — has been in constant contact with Carri Lyn Ciamarra since being jailed, court papers in the shocking case reveal.
Ciamarra, the one-time mistress of Christie Brinkley’s exhusband, claimed on a now-defunct Facebook page that she routinely spoke to the suspect in the horrific slaying of 26-yearold Joseph Comunale after his arrest in phone calls from jail.
“I want nothing to do with this case,” the 40-year-old told The News on Thursday.
She denied sending a photo of a letter sent to her from Rackover (photo right) to the moderator of a Facebook page commemorating Comunale.
Ciamarra wrote in an email that “someone hacked my Facebook account and wrote these messages” but later tried to negotiate an interview with the Daily News for “the right price” and also insisted she’s a “very good friend” of the accused murderer.
“I believe in his innocence,” she wrote. She also denied being behind a missive sent to the moderator of the “Justice for Joey C” page that promised to make Rackover fess up to the killing.
“Lately I have been beating him down and I urge him to give the family answers,” the message said. “He trusts me and lately it makes me sick, but I continue (because) I can help get through to him,” it went on. “I am not going to stop until I can get him to talk.”
Rackover and pal Lawrence Dilione, 28, were charged in Comunale’s November murder last month. They are being held without bail at the Manhattan Detention Complex.
Prosecutors say Comunale, a Hofstra grad from Stamford, Conn., was stabbed 15 times and his burned body was left in a shallow grave near the Jersey Shore.
A lawyer for 29-year-old Max Gemma, who is charged with helping the duo dispose of evidence, is arguing that the Manhattan district attorney should turn over anything they know about Ciamarra’s involvement in the case. It was not clear what if any information she has provided to prosecutors.
Ciamarra became tabloid fodder in 2008 after she was entangled in Brinkley’s high-profile custody battle with husband Peter Cook. The Uptown Girl named Ciamarra as one of her husband’s paramours.
The attorney, Mark Bederow, also disclosed in court papers that there was an “abundance of steroids, hypodermic needles, cocaine scales and marijuana” recovered from Rackover’s apartment.
Earlier this week, The News reported that Rackover confessed to an undercover cop that he had a bout of “roid rage” and feared his buddies were fingering him for the murder.