What Happened in Apartment 4C?
Episode of 48 Hours · May 7, 2026 · 42 min
Erin Moriarty reports on the 2016 murder of Joey Comunale in a Sutton Place apartment and the trial of impostor heir James Rackover.
Summary
This classic 48 Hours episode, reported by Erin Moriarty, recounted the disappearance of 26-year-old Joey Comunale after a night out at the Gilded Lily club in Manhattan in November 2016. Comunale left with strangers for an after-party at apartment 4C of the Grand Sutton on Sutton Place. Friends including Max Brancinelli used Instagram location data and Facebook to identify people from the party, and his father Pat Comunale filed missing-person reports in Stamford and New York.
Surveillance video showed Joey re-entering the building with Larry DeLeon after the party, contradicting DeLeon's story, and Pat Comunale urged police to search the building's garbage, where Joey's bloody clothing was found. DeLeon then confessed, describing a fight, a stabbing he attributed to James Rackover, an attempted dismemberment, dropping the body from a window, and burying and burning it in Oceanport, New Jersey. Investigators learned that Rackover was actually James Bowden, a Florida ex-convict who had moved in with celebrity jeweler Jeffrey Rackover and legally claimed to be his son.
At Rackover's 2018 trial, defense attorneys Maurice Sercarz and Robert Caliendo argued he was guilty of the cover-up but not the murder, pointing to DeLeon's dented ring and a four-minute gap in video. Late witness Louis Ruggiero testified that Rackover confessed to slitting Joey's throat, which the defense attacked as inaccurate and unreliable. Rackover was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 28 and two-thirds years to life; DeLeon pleaded guilty to manslaughter (23 years) and Max Gemma to hindering prosecution (six months). The episode closed with family and friends remembering Joey.
Chapters
- 0:07
Cold open: Joey is missing
Family and friends describe the panic when Joey Comunale failed to return after a night out.
- 3:44
The night at the Gilded Lily
Friends recount Joey's night at a Meatpacking District club and his departure with strangers to a Sutton Place party.
- 7:08
A social media search
Joey's friends use Google, Facebook and Instagram location tags to identify party attendees and hear conflicting stories.
- 10:56
A family and a missing person report
Pat Comunale grows suspicious of Larry DeLeon's cigarette story and files a missing persons report.
- 13:00
The Grand Sutton and three young men
The episode profiles apartment 4C and the privileged backgrounds of DeLeon, Max Gemma and James Rackover.
- 15:56
Surveillance video and the garbage
Video shows Joey re-entering the building and police find his bloody clothes in the trash at Pat's urging.
- 18:58
DeLeon's confession
DeLeon describes the fight, stabbing, cleanup, window drop and burial and burning of Joey's body in Oceanport.
- 26:24
Arrests and Rackover's true identity
Charges are filed and James Rackover is revealed to be Florida ex-con James Bowden who claimed to be Jeffrey Rackover's son.
- 31:20
The trial of James Rackover
The defense concedes the cover-up but denies murder while prosecutors play a boastful jail call.
- 34:42
The surprise witness
Louis Ruggiero testifies that Rackover confessed to him, and the defense attacks his credibility.
- 37:47
Closing arguments and verdict
The defense cites a dented ring and a four-minute video gap, but the jury convicts Rackover on all counts.
- 40:11
Remembering Joey and sentencing
Loved ones share memories and tattoos, and the sentences for all three men are announced.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Max Brancinelli
Max Brancinelli explains he used Instagram's location feature to find people who had posted from the club that night.
“Instagram, you can click on the location of the place and it will show people that posted a picture there from that place”
Linked moment · 12:40Skip to 12:40 using a listen link in the info box.
Pat ComunalePat Comunale says DeLeon's claim that Joey went to buy cigarettes made no sense because Joey never bought cigarettes.
“Didn't make any sense, because if you talk to his friends, they'll tell you that he never bought a pack of cigarettes in his life”
- Murray Weiss
Murray Weiss, who grew up near Jeffrey Rackover, describes him as someone who wanted to be among the celebrities he served.
“He not only cultivated becoming a jeweler to the stars, he wanted to be among them”
- Pat Comunale
Pat Comunale recounts that after seeing the video he sensed evidence might be in the building's garbage and told police to search it.
“Just kind of had that sense that if these guys were lying, there could be something in the garbage”
- Murray Weiss
Murray Weiss reports that DeLeon admitted to police he attacked Joey in a rage after an argument.
“Larry DeLeon admitted to the police that he just flew into a rage and slammed Joey, knocked him down and hit him a few times”
- Bob Abrams
Bob Abrams relays DeLeon's account that he and Gemma became so frightened of Rackover that they followed his orders.
“They got so very nervous because Rackover was now beating the crap out of Joey that they would do anything Rackover said”
- Bob Abrams
Bob Abrams relays DeLeon's account that Rackover poured gasoline on Joey's body and set it on fire before burial.
“Rackover took gasoline and started to pour it over Joey's body, and in fact, did light Joey's body on fire”
- Bob Abrams
Bob Abrams says James lied in his name-change documents about being Jeffrey Rackover's son and that Jeffrey confirmed the false information.
“James lied in that document, and Jeffrey Rackover confirmed the information”
- Maurice Sercarz
Maurice Sercarz argues Rackover's motive for removing the body was fear of losing his relationship with Jeffrey Rackover, not guilt of murder.
“James knew that if Jeffrey ever found out that a dead body had been discovered in his apartment, that was the end of their relationship”
- Murray Weiss
Murray Weiss reports Ruggiero testified that Rackover told him he slit Joey's throat to avoid having a body in his apartment.
“And I didn't want a dead body in my apartment. So I slit his throat”
- Maurice Sercarz
Maurice Sercarz contends Ruggiero's testimony was factually wrong because Joey's throat was not slit.
“Ruggiero testified that my client slit his throat. Joseph Comunale did not have his throat slit”
- Robert Caliendo
Robert Caliendo argues Ruggiero, then struggling with severe drug use, was an unreliable basis for a murder conviction.
“There were a number of reasons to think that Mr. Ruggiero might not be the person you want to hang the hat of a murder conviction on”
- Robert Caliendo
Robert Caliendo argues the dent in DeLeon's ring suggested DeLeon struck Joey hard enough to be the killer.
“The ring had a sizable dent in it. And if you conclude that he hit Joseph so hard that he dented it”
People
In the conversation
- Erin MoriartyCBS News correspondent for '48 Hours' who reported and narrated the episode
- Murray WeissVeteran New York crime reporter working for 48 Hours
- Pat ComunaleFather of Joey Comunale and founder of a Connecticut security firm
- Bob AbramsAttorney for the Comunale family
- Max BrancinelliJoey Comunale's close friend and restaurant manager who searched social media for clues
- Elisa LabrettoJoey Comunale's longtime girlfriend and a teacher
- Steven NasoFriend of Joey Comunale who was with him the night he disappeared
- PreetamJoey Comunale's college friend and part-time club promoter at the Gilded Lily
- Robert CaliendoDefense attorney for James Rackover
- Maurice SercarzDefense attorney for James Rackover
- Mike MullenFriend of Joey Comunale
Discussed
- Jeffrey RackoverNew York celebrity jeweler who took in James Bowden and allowed him to take his surname
- Larry DeLeonParty attendee who confessed and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Joey Comunale's death
- Max GemmaParty attendee who pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence
- Louis RuggieroFriend of James Rackover and prosecution witness; son of Rosanna Scotto
- Rosanna ScottoNew York television morning news anchor
- Yeoman CastroNYPD detective who investigated Joey Comunale's disappearance
- Lisa ComunaleMother of Joey Comunale
Topics
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From the publisher
In 2016, Joey Comunale was out clubbing in New York City and accepted an invitation to a party at an apartment with people he had just met. That was the last time he was seen alive. No one wanted answers more than his family, but the truth of what happened in apartment 4C was far worse than they could have imagined. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 8/10/2024. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays and stream on demand on Paramount+.
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.