New York Daily News

Big lip from Rackover in E. Side slay

- Dale W. Eisinger and Stephen Rex Brown

THE SUSPECT in a brutal and bizarre 2016 murder on the Upper East Side laughed in the face of detectives, telling them his associates were “none of your f---ing business, ” a cop testified Monday.

The new details about James Rackover’s arrogance as police searched for the body of James Comunale emerged during a hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court regarding evidence in the case.

Rackover, 26 — who called himself the surrogate son of celebrity jeweler Jeffrey Rackover — and Lawrence Dilione, 28, both face murder charges for killing Hofstra grad Comunale in a posh apartment after a wild night of partying.

In the initial stages of the investigat­ion, police had found bloody towels and Comunale’s driver’s license in trash at the building. Surveillan­ce video showed Rackover leaving the building with three duffel bags and a backpack, which he threw into the trunk of his black Mercedes.

Yet Rackover remained confident, NYPD Detective Yeoman Castro testified.

Castro said he had called Rackover to ask him about the identity of a person seen walking out of the building with him.

“It’s none of your f---ing business who I’m leaving the building with,” Rackover said, according to Castro.

The detective also said Rackover taunted him during the collection of surveillan­ce footage. “Good luck getting video!” Rackover said, Castro testified.

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