Viswa Vanapalli
In November 2016, Joey Comunale’s night out in New York City, New York, started like any other. The young twenty-something was hanging out with his friends in the early morning hours, but a terrible sequence of events led to a devastating outcome. Joey’s father, Pat, learned of his son disappearing, and just days later, his worst nightmare came true when Joey was found dead. CBS News’ ’48 Hours: What Happened in the Sutton Place Apartment?’ focuses on Joey’s story and has Pat talk about what he went through.
Pat Comunale Fought Hard to Attain Justice for His Son
Pat is a Bronx, New York, native who later settled down in Connecticut, where he met Lisa, his future wife. Together they had two children: Joey and Alexa. Pat and Joye were quite close, with many describing them as best friends. They spoke every day and met at least five times a week. Pat remembered how Joey loved traveling to New York City to watch live sports. His son traveled from Stamford to hang out with a few friends on November 12, 2016. When Pat couldn’t reach him the next day, he wasn’t too worried initially.
Pat said, “I know it sounds crazy, but in New York, things don’t really start until late. It’s not unheard of for kids to come home at 6:00 in the morning, and I figured he’s sleepin’.” But on November 13, when he called Joey’s phone, it was answered by his friend, Stephen Naso. Stephen told Pat that Joey had stayed back in New York City and left his phone behind. Then, Joey’s loved ones began to scour social media to figure out who Joey had gone with the previous night.
Eventually, they were led to Lawrence “Larry” Dilione, one of the guys Joey met at the club. Pat got a hold of his phone number and called him. Larry told him that Joey went to get cigarettes and had not come back with him into the apartment building. However, security footage showed that Joey and Larry went back in after walking three women at the party to their cab. Pat reported his son missing on November 14, 2016.
The authorities were eventually led to the apartment of James Rackover; this was where the party happened. There, Pat remembered telling the police, “‘Don’t let the garbage go. Make sure you search all the bags…’ I just kinda had that sense that if these guys are lying, there could be something in the garbage.” His instinct turned out to be right when incriminating evidence was found in the trash.
Eventually, Larry admitted to what happened and claimed that he and James had a hand in killing Joey and disposing of the body later. A friend of Larry’s, Max Gemma, was also implicated in part of the crime. James, who had a criminal history, was an adoptive son of Jeffrey Rackover, a celebrity jeweler. However, in a civil suit, Pat claimed that Jeffrey adopted James and provided him with gifts in exchange for sex. The two met in 2013 and had lived together before James moved into an apartment of his own in the same building.
Pat Comunale Leads a Relatively Quiet Life Today
While waiting for a verdict in James’ case, Pat said, “An animal attacks a human, he gets euthanized without the fancy attorneys, without his day in court. These are three animals. Euthanizing them is probably what they need. There’s no reason that they should be mingling in a free society.” Ultimately, James and Larry were convicted and put behind bars for killing Joey. As for Pat, he was a successful figure in the security business before selling his company for over $400 million. In 2018, he was presented with an award for his contribution to the security industry. It seems like Pat still lives in Stamford, Connecticut, with his family, where he appears to be doing his best to move on while still keeping the memories of his son alive in his heart.
Read More: How Did Joey Comunale Die?
