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Homicide New York Season 3 Episode 1
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04:49and Pat tells me
05:49to go to the
06:19and the
06:20and the
06:28and the
06:28and the
06:29and the
06:35and the
06:35and the
06:50and the
06:50and the
06:50and the
06:51and the
06:54and the
06:57Pat was actually able to give me the name and phone number of the last person Jenna saw with Joey,
07:04and his name was Larry DeLeon.
07:08So I called Larry, and I explained that we're looking for Joey Caminale, who he was partying with at the
07:14after party.
07:15She says, yeah, I met him outside of Gilded Lily, invited them to this after party for this rich kid
07:21that lives on the Upper East Side.
07:23At the Grand Sutton apartment building.
07:28Larry told me the last time he had seen Joey was when he left the building to walk Jenna and
07:35her friends to an Uber to send them back to New Jersey.
07:38It was 6.30 in the morning, and all he remembers is he walked back into the building alone.
07:45So then I gave Jenna a call, and Jenna described the after party in apartment 4C.
07:52And the host was James Rackover.
07:56According to Jenna, when the group arrives, she gets into the apartment, and there was a male in there.
08:03His name was James Rackover.
08:05And James was shirtless.
08:10And according to Jenna, he never bothered to put a shirt on the entire night.
08:15At one point, she said James claimed to have been a male stripper, and he wanted to give Jenna a
08:24lap dance.
08:25And fortunately, you know, one of the girls videotaped it.
08:31You know, James has no shirt.
08:33He's giving one of the girls a lap dance.
08:37He's competing with Larry DeLeon.
08:38Who gives the best lap dance?
08:42She said that Larry DeLeon was in possession of a folding knife that he was snorting cocaine off of.
08:52And she kept noticing that Joey's calm, but he appeared to be extremely inebriated, that he was consuming a lot
09:01of whiskey and beer.
09:03But he wasn't having any issues with any of the people inside the apartment that evening.
09:10Jenna does recall that after the party, once she got to the Uber, they get inside.
09:16I guess she's looking back to say bye.
09:17And she sees that Larry and Joey fist bump each other.
09:22And then she assumed he either walked off or went back inside to the party again.
09:27So Jenna painted a great picture of what was going on in the after party.
09:32But she never answered the crucial question, which is, where is Joey?
09:39So I could tell Pat was concerned.
09:41And I have sons of my own.
09:42So I'm like, you know what?
09:43Let's go take a ride to the building.
09:47Detective Castro really was conscientious.
09:51He took an interest.
09:53And no bullshit.
09:54He wanted to know what was going on.
09:57And he knew there was a problem here.
09:59We jumped in his patrol car and went over to Grant Sutton.
10:03So the Grant Sutton Apartments is located on East 59th Street.
10:09For those people that aren't aware of that area, that is known as Sutton Place.
10:14And it's not for the rich.
10:17It's for the filthy rich.
10:21So at 11 a.m., we arrived in front of the Grant Sutton.
10:25And when you walk in, it's almost as if you're walking into a hotel.
10:28They've got a doorman, a concierge.
10:31We decided, let's go to 4C.
10:34James Rackover's apartment.
10:36We knock on the door.
10:37The cleaning lady opens the door.
10:40James wasn't there.
10:41So I said, listen, there was a party here last night.
10:44There was a kid that's missing.
10:46Do you mind if I come and just take a quick look?
10:47She goes, no problem.
10:48She opens the door.
10:51It's a small apartment.
10:52It's not very big.
10:54We went in.
10:55It was very clean.
10:57We didn't see anything that would have raised any flags.
11:02We didn't find Joey in there, and we exited the apartment.
11:06So I called James Rackover.
11:09He says he doesn't know Joey Caminale.
11:12He's a stranger.
11:14He came for the after party with Larry and one of Larry DeLeon and James Rackover's friends, Max Gemma, and
11:23the three girls that he had met at Gilded Lily.
11:26All he knows is Joey walked out of the building with Larry and never came back.
11:33And when we spoke to Max Gemma, he says, yes, he's at this after our party, but he gets tired,
11:39and he basically falls asleep on the couch.
11:42He wakes up.
11:43He doesn't see Joey.
11:45He doesn't see anybody else.
11:46He just goes home.
11:49So I decided to go back to the lobby to start looking at video surveillance from the Grand Sutton.
11:56Just looking for any evidence, any clues to let us know where Joey may be.
12:03And from time to time, he would call me over and say, is that Joey?
12:08So we're watching the video.
12:10And he goes, that's Joey right there.
12:14You see the group arrive at about 4.30 in the morning and go in to the Grand Sutton and
12:21go up to the fourth floor.
12:22And then at 6.30, you see Joey Cominale, Larry DeLeon, and the three girls.
12:31And they come down the elevator.
12:33We switch the camera angle.
12:35We go to the exterior.
12:37We see them walking out.
12:38And they walk to the curb line.
12:40Perfect.
12:42If he makes a left, if he makes a right, then we'll know we have to get more video from
12:47next door and we can start tracking him.
12:49And as we're watching the video play, we see Larry DeLeon walking back in and Joey is with him.
12:57And I was like, wait, you told me he didn't come back.
13:04At that point, I knew there was a problem.
13:08And I said to my brother, you don't walk out of here alive.
13:20I don't know why.
13:25Excuse me.
13:27It was just the hunch I had.
13:33Joseph was my first son.
13:36And he was always a great kid.
13:40Joey and I always got along because of our love for sports.
13:44I was a big hockey fan.
13:45And I took him to his first hockey game.
13:47And he caught the bug.
13:50And he started skating at five years old.
13:53And he started playing competitive hockey at eight.
13:57Every year we took a trip.
13:58Whether it was a New York Giant football game or a Ranger game, a Yankee game.
14:04We always connected through sports.
14:07Joey loved his food, Italian food, even after he moved out.
14:12Most nights he was here for dinner.
14:14And he was a bit, even though he loved his sports, he would always put on the food network
14:18to see what was good to make and what was, what I could make for him.
14:25Joey graduated Hofstra with a business degree.
14:29Fortunately for Joey and his friends, I owned a security business on Long Island.
14:35And if you talk to his friends, they'll tell you he was the HR director.
14:39He placed all of his friends in my company, knowing that they would get a start there.
14:47He used to bring a lot of girls over to see if I'd give him the thumbs up.
14:51Every one I gave the thumbs up, I was hoping he'd get married.
14:55But if dad and I'd tell him, I'm 35, is what he'd always tell me.
15:01You know, one of the qualities about Joey is when I talk to his friends, they always told
15:05me that Joey was their best friend.
15:06And I was like, well, how is it possible that one kid could have 40 best friends?
15:12You know, I think they always say, you know, you never judge a man by how much money he has.
15:22But by how many friends he has, he had a lot.
15:30He had a lot.
15:38Pat was visibly upset.
15:41So at this point, I just paused the video, and I asked his brother, Joseph,
15:46to take Pat and go back to my precinct and just wait for me there.
15:52Once the detective's suspicion level starts getting raised, that's when they call the homicide squad.
15:58Detective Castro was the assigned detective from the 17th detective squad,
16:01and I was the detective from the homicide squad that caught this case.
16:05But it's not just us.
16:07All the detectives in that squad and all the detectives in the homicide squad,
16:11they work together to investigate the case.
16:16The young man calls me, and he goes, Marty, come over here.
16:20Help me with this.
16:22So I go over to the building.
16:24There's really only two options.
16:26Either Joey's still in the building, or he left the building.
16:30You need to search the building from top to bottom.
16:35I grabbed the building super, and I'm like, let's go to the roof.
16:38We'll start at the roof and come down.
16:40We'll go upstairs, exit the elevator.
16:45But I'm afraid of heights.
16:48I could see in the corner of my eye the 59th Street Bridge, Ed Koch Bridge.
16:53And I'm trying to not look over to realize exactly how high I am off the floor.
17:01And then once I was satisfied that Joey was not on the roof,
17:06we started doing the searches floor by floor,
17:09down 36 flights of stairs, down into the basement,
17:13into the cellar, into the courtyards.
17:16And I'm hoping to run into Joey and be like, hey, wake up.
17:19Go home.
17:21And, uh, it never happened.
17:27I go to the parking garage, and I ask the parking attendant,
17:31I go, hey, James Rackover, apartment 4C, does he park his, uh, car here?
17:36He goes, oh, yeah, he drives a big black Mercedes.
17:39I go, is that the car that's parked over there?
17:42He goes, yeah, that's the car.
17:44Looked pristine, clean, except that it was covered in dust,
17:48brown dust, maybe a little, like, dirt.
17:51Took a look around, and, uh,
17:52I noticed that there was, like, brown smudges,
17:55like, fingerprint smudges on the rear trunk lid.
17:59And I'm like...
18:01Something didn't sit right with me at that point.
18:03I said, we're securing this car until we can figure out what went on.
18:07But the parking attendant says,
18:09James Rackover, he doesn't own this car.
18:12It's owned by a gentleman who lives in apartment 32B,
18:16Jeffrey Rackover.
18:19So the name Jeffrey Rackover kind of rang a bell
18:22because he has a billboard when you come outside of the Midtown Tunnel going into Queens.
18:27He would sell jewelry to Oprah.
18:30He helped Trump get his engagement ring for Melania.
18:34So he was known to be the jeweler to the stars.
18:37I'll be honest with you, everyone was like,
18:40oh, yeah, Jeffrey Rackover is the jeweler to the stars.
18:43I don't know who he is.
18:45Yeah, I don't buy jewelry in that, uh, income bracket.
18:49I, uh...
18:53The concierge, Edward Souza, told us James Rackover
18:57was the long-lost son of Jeffrey Rackover,
19:00who recently, over the past few years, had come back into his life.
19:06Around 2014, James started to come around the building with, uh, Jeffrey.
19:11And then he started spending more time there.
19:15After about two years, Jeffrey was looking to get James his own place.
19:20So he came down and inquired if there was any apartments available.
19:24And then he officially moved in.
19:26And then that's when we learned that he was the long-lost son.
19:31He had had a relationship with a woman in the late 80s or early 90s
19:36that had resulted in a mystery son
19:39who had mysteriously appeared at his doorstep.
19:43I found it strange.
19:45But as a concierge, we don't want to delve too much
19:48into people's personal lives.
19:51Once James moved into his own apartment in 4C,
19:53the party's ramped up considerably.
19:58We watched hours and hours of video
20:00just hoping to see Joey appear on one of the screens.
20:05While we're still reviewing the video surveillance,
20:08the concierge, Edward Souza, taps me on the shoulder
20:12and says, that's James Rackolder coming in.
20:15So I peek up, I see him.
20:18As he's walking by, he makes a statement,
20:21good luck getting the video, and keeps walking.
20:24So now I was called by surprise.
20:26I'm like, wait, what?
20:29I looked over at Detective Cash, what the fuck is that?
20:32He looks at me, he gives me a single look,
20:34what the fuck is that?
20:36I was so shocked, like he was that cocky,
20:38and I was like, why is he so fucking cocky?
20:39Like, walking through there with his shoulders back,
20:42cockier than I had ever seen him.
20:44That's when the concierge says to me,
20:47you know, James had called me yesterday.
20:51The night before, James had called me
20:53and asked me about the length of time
20:56that the cameras record for.
20:58And I said, that's a strange question.
21:00You know, why would you ask that?
21:02And he told me that he had had an argument
21:05with his girlfriend and suspected her
21:08stealing something, and he wanted to check the tapes.
21:11And I had told him that they record for 24 hours,
21:14and then we changed the tape.
21:16I think maybe James understood that after 24 hours,
21:20that that tape was, like, taped over,
21:21but we wouldn't erase them.
21:24We would just change the tape,
21:25and that would be the record for that day.
21:28So I think his assumption was that the video
21:31for the past 24 hours had disappeared,
21:34when in fact, we had access to that video.
21:37So Dad just was throwing off alarms.
21:43So my phone rang, and with Detective Castro,
21:47and he said, look, I need you to bring me
21:50some of Joey's clothes.
21:52We're going to get some dogs to see
21:54if we can pick up Joey's scent
21:55to see where he may have gone.
21:58I went to Joey's place.
21:59I grabbed a towel and some of his other clothes,
22:02and I remember I held out a sliver of hope.
22:08Maybe.
22:09It's not what I think it is.
22:15I was requested to search inside of a garage area
22:18of the grandson.
22:19I put the collar on my dog,
22:21and I'm like, you want to work?
22:21He looked at me, and his ears went up.
22:23I deployed him.
22:26So the dog took himself to the back,
22:28and all of a sudden, he started working.
22:29Like, I know my dog when he works.
22:31Like, his tail just keeps going.
22:33And then all of a sudden,
22:34I see his tail going faster and faster and faster.
22:36So me, he's on odor.
22:40He went to the four-door black Mercedes Benz.
22:43He threw his nose right into the trunk area,
22:45and he went, like, he barked.
22:48Like, real, like, you know, like, it came out.
22:52He's telling me that he has an odor
22:54of some sort of human decomposition, blood,
22:58anything that indicated human decomposition.
23:02But you'll have to get a search warrant
23:04to go into that vehicle and check out
23:07to see if there actually is evidence
23:10or a body inside that trunk.
23:13After the garage, the detectives asked me,
23:16can we do the apartments
23:17to see if he indicates I'm on an apartment?
23:19I grabbed the dog.
23:20We went up to the fourth floor.
23:21I gave him the word search.
23:24He went to the left, down the hallway,
23:27and then the dog indicated he scratched really hard.
23:30On the door jamb, we'll see.
23:33And then James opens the door, James Rackhover.
23:37He's like, fuck you, you scumbags, you cops.
23:40You come in and you need a warrant.
23:42You fuck you, fuck you.
23:45And to me, I'm like, this guy, you jerk off.
23:49Once I learned that the dog had given an active alert,
23:51I knew that he was given an active alert on blood,
23:55and something had occurred in there.
24:00Meanwhile, other members of the 17th Precinct Detective Squad
24:03from my office began sifting through the garbage
24:06from every apartment.
24:09So we put the dog on the bags
24:11so that we can identify bags that he gives an alert,
24:15and we'll search those first.
24:21And the dog hits upon a bag that had not been opened yet.
24:24Inside the bag is, like, a comforter cover.
24:28And it also has the name James Rackhover on it.
24:33The crime scene starts finding, like, paper towels
24:36and towels that appear to be soaked in blood.
24:40They open up a second bag.
24:42Then we find, covered in blood,
24:44articles of clothing that belong to Joey
24:46that match the video surveillance.
24:49His gold chain is in there, his bank card,
24:53and they found Joey's ID in that bag as well.
24:58Once you find all of those things,
25:00you need to get that search warrant,
25:02and you need to go back with the crime scene unit,
25:04and you need to go into that apartment.
25:10While Yeoman goes down to get a search warrant,
25:12I'm back at the office doing computer checks
25:15on James Rackhover, Lawrence DeLeon, and Max Gemma.
25:20What we learned about Max Gemma
25:22is he comes from basically privilege.
25:24You know, his father was the mayor
25:26of Oceanport, New Jersey at one point.
25:29He lives in an apartment with Larry DeLeon.
25:34Larry DeLeon, he basically is very much like Max Gemma.
25:38He comes from a good family in New Jersey.
25:41They had owned thoroughbred horses.
25:44There were some stories that he had gotten
25:46into some fights at certain times,
25:48but other than that, he didn't have
25:50what you would consider any kind of
25:51substantial criminal background.
25:56When we looked into James Rackhover,
25:58it turns out he's not James Rackhover.
26:01His name is James Bodine,
26:03and he doesn't come from New York.
26:06He comes from Florida,
26:07where he had numerous arrests
26:09and had done time,
26:10about a year and a half,
26:11in jail for burglary down in Florida.
26:14We found that he was given bail,
26:18left Florida,
26:19and ended up in New York.
26:22After digging a little bit more
26:23into James Rackhover's background
26:26and his name change,
26:28we were able to learn that
26:30Jeffrey Rackhover is not the biological father
26:33of James Rackhover.
26:34And Jeffrey Rackhover had petitioned
26:38to have James Rackhover take his name.
26:45I believe Jeffrey met James
26:48at the neighborhood gym
26:48close to our building.
26:54They became friends
26:56and was introduced over the weeks
26:59as first my friend
27:02and then my nephew
27:03and then my son.
27:08We didn't know what to make
27:09of the relationship
27:09between Jeffrey and James,
27:11quite frankly.
27:13The story that James
27:15is the long-lost son of Jeffrey
27:17and somehow they found each other
27:19after all those years
27:20and it's not the truth.
27:23And you start to look at it
27:25and you're like,
27:26well, what is the truth
27:27about this relationship
27:28that they have?
27:31They did not in any way
27:33resemble father and son.
27:36The way they would act
27:37with each other,
27:39you know,
27:39I love my father
27:40but there were ways
27:42that they were affectionate
27:42with each other
27:43that I wouldn't be with my father.
27:48When you look at
27:49everything involved with James,
27:51it definitely raises the level
27:53of red flags.
27:57James comes from almost nothing,
27:59is working a menial job
28:01in Florida
28:02and in a relatively short time
28:05is transformed
28:06into James Rackover
28:09and he's living in this building
28:11and he's driving this car
28:12and he's at these clubs
28:13and there's restaurants
28:14and, you know,
28:16you don't want to lose that
28:17if you're James.
28:21I think everyone else
28:22is still going to have
28:22their family,
28:23they're still going to have
28:24the money that their family's in,
28:25but James could lose everything.
28:28He's, I think,
28:29willing to do anything
28:29to maintain his life
28:32and the style he has going on.
28:40While we're waiting
28:41for the search warrants,
28:42we looked at video
28:42from the garage
28:43and we know
28:45that James leaves
28:45at about 9.45
28:46on Sunday night,
28:48the night after the party
28:49and takes Jeffrey Rackover's car.
28:55When we did
28:56the background check
28:56on James,
28:58we were able to determine
29:01that he had
29:02a suspended license.
29:03So that gave us
29:04an avenue
29:04to be able to
29:06place him under arrest
29:07for driving
29:07without a license.
29:11James,
29:11why did you kill him?
29:12What happened
29:13in there, James?
29:15But unfortunately,
29:16once we placed him
29:17under arrest,
29:17he immediately invoked
29:19his right to counsel.
29:19So we weren't allowed
29:20to speak with him.
29:21That little glimmer
29:23of hope that we had
29:24that he might tell us
29:25where Joey is,
29:26we weren't getting it.
29:37So on Tuesday the 15th,
29:39we had the search warrants
29:40for apartment 4C.
29:43The crime scene comes in.
29:45As they start
29:46conducting their search,
29:47they're processing
29:49the scene with luminol.
29:50So under certain light,
29:52you can see blood.
29:55When a crime scene unit
29:56processes the bathroom,
29:57the entire bathroom
29:59lights up.
30:01All over on the walls,
30:02in the bathtub,
30:03and on the floor.
30:05Indications that there's been
30:07a lot of blood cleaned up.
30:10The same thing
30:11in the living room.
30:12They spray luminol
30:13by the sofa,
30:14by the floor,
30:15and they find drops
30:17of blood.
30:18They test it
30:19so they see
30:20if they can determine
30:21who that blood belongs to.
30:23So the crime scene team
30:25had collected steak knives
30:27that were inside the dishwasher
30:29that had been run
30:30and cleaned.
30:31Those kitchen knives
30:32were then taken
30:33to the lab
30:35to see if there was
30:36any blood
30:36that would have seeped
30:38in to the handle itself.
30:42When you have
30:43what you found
30:44in the garbage
30:46and then what you have
30:47at the scene,
30:48you know
30:50something bad
30:51has happened to Joey
30:52and we know
30:53that he's probably dead.
30:56You can't be alive
30:57at that point.
30:59With all of the things
31:00that we've found so far,
31:02James not telling us anything
31:03and Max Jimman
31:05has no information
31:06to give us
31:07about where Joey may be
31:08because he's claiming
31:09he was asleep on the couch.
31:10We focus our attention
31:12on Larry DeLeon.
31:14Being that we already
31:15have James in custody,
31:17maybe Larry now
31:18wants to get his opportunity
31:20to maybe speak first
31:22and tell us what happened
31:23not knowing
31:24what James may be saying
31:27and he came in.
31:32So once Larry came in,
31:34we asked him
31:35if he could shed some light
31:36onto why we found
31:38so much blood.
31:40You know,
31:41he's keeping the same story
31:42that he had said earlier,
31:43not knowing where Joey is.
31:47You can accuse someone
31:49all you want
31:49or, you know,
31:51you might be guilty of this
31:52but he's more guilty
31:53and try and get
31:54a statement out of him
31:56that way
31:56but Larry didn't want
31:59to answer those kinds
32:00of questions.
32:01So we tried to appeal
32:02more to his human side
32:03saying Joey Cominale's family
32:05is concerned about him
32:07and they want
32:07to bring him home
32:08and how would you feel
32:09if this was somebody
32:10in your family?
32:13Once Larry heard that,
32:15he decided
32:16to tell us
32:17that he could lead us
32:18to where Joey is.
32:22Well, he wouldn't tell us
32:24how the incident occurred.
32:27He gave us
32:28an address
32:29behind the florist shop
32:30and the town
32:31where he used to live
32:32in Ocean Port, New Jersey
32:33and that's where
32:35we used to look.
32:36We caravaned
32:38with lights and sirens
32:39and we're doing
32:4080, 90 miles an hour
32:42out to this location.
32:47We arrived
32:48at this florist shop
32:51and we headed
32:52to the open area
32:54at the back
32:55where Larry had given
32:57a description
32:57of where we would be able
32:58to locate Joey.
33:00We approach over
33:02and the crime scene detectives
33:05begin to move dirt slowly.
33:13And the first thing
33:14that I see
33:14is a hand,
33:18kind of like
33:19a half fist.
33:21The way you kind of see
33:22in the movies
33:23where it's coming
33:23out of the ground.
33:27And as they continue
33:28to move dirt,
33:30you start to see
33:31Joey's face,
33:33you start to see
33:33his chest
33:34and you can tell
33:36that he was charred.
33:39so he was lit on fire.
33:43At this point,
33:44we haven't really slept
33:46in days.
33:48You know,
33:49we were exhausted.
33:50We were exhausted,
33:51but this is something
33:51that we needed to do.
33:53We needed to tell the parents
33:55before anyone else did.
33:58myself and Detective Chen
34:00get in the car
34:02to go from
34:03Oshampore, New Jersey
34:04to Stanford, Connecticut
34:06to go and speak
34:07to Pat Cominale
34:08and let him know
34:11that we located
34:12Joey.
34:14Joey.
34:17No one said a word
34:19in that car ride.
34:24You feel the emotion,
34:26but you have a job to do.
34:27So you just push it aside
34:31and you keep going.
34:37We were sitting right here.
34:38I heard the car doors.
34:48I heard the car doors
34:51and I knew
34:52why they were coming.
34:57We walk into the house
34:59and Lisa comes down.
35:01They're hanging on
35:02to every word.
35:02They're just looking at you.
35:06The two detectives
35:08told us they
35:11found him.
35:17And it's our worst nightmare.
35:22I've never seen
35:23so much hurt
35:23in someone's eyes,
35:25mother and father.
35:31That type of pain
35:32you never want to
35:32wish upon anybody.
35:35Joe!
35:36Joe!
35:38Did you have fun?
35:39All right!
35:43It was, uh,
35:46I already knew,
35:47but this was the start
35:49of the next chapter,
35:52which was
35:53getting justice for Joey.
36:02And that's all I could
36:03think about now
36:03was
36:04making sure
36:05these three sons
36:06of britches
36:06get everything
36:07that's coming to them.
36:15Medical examiner
36:16in New Jersey
36:16conducted the autopsy
36:17and what he found
36:19was that
36:19Joey Cominale
36:21had 14 stab wounds,
36:22some of them
36:23post-mortem.
36:24He had broken bones,
36:26he had bruising
36:27on his hands,
36:28a large cut
36:29on his shoulder,
36:31which we believe
36:32they might have been
36:33trying to, uh,
36:34dismember him.
36:36And the body
36:38had been burned.
36:40I can't make a rhyme
36:41for some reason
36:41why this would have
36:42happened.
36:43It was inhumane.
36:45It was vile.
36:47It's disgusting
36:48to think that
36:49they would treat
36:52another human being
36:53like garbage.
36:59After testing
37:00those kitchen knives
37:02that were found
37:02in the dishwasher,
37:04they were determined
37:05to have Joey's blood
37:07inside of the handles.
37:11Also,
37:12it was determined
37:13that the blood
37:14in the apartment
37:15was Joey's blood.
37:17Fighting the murder weapon,
37:18coupled with the autopsy report,
37:21matching to the evidence
37:22in the apartment,
37:23gave his answers
37:24to how
37:26he would have been
37:27murdered.
37:28But now,
37:29the key question was,
37:31how did they get him
37:32out of the building?
37:36We pulled so much video
37:38that we had to
37:38sift through
37:39and we still
37:40couldn't see it.
37:44The one video
37:45that we couldn't get
37:46was a video camera
37:48that belonged
37:49to the building
37:50next door
37:50that coincidentally
37:52was corrupted.
37:55Finally,
37:56this video
37:56gets recovered
37:58and it answered
38:00a huge part
38:01of our question.
38:05As we begin
38:06to review
38:07that video surveillance,
38:08you can see
38:09James Rackover
38:10park the black Mercedes
38:12in front
38:13of the Grand Sight.
38:21Rackover
38:22takes the luggage cart,
38:24then he leaves
38:25the camera frame
38:28and when he reappears,
38:30there's a large
38:31beltful bag
38:31on the luggage cart,
38:33which then he places
38:34inside
38:35of the trunk
38:36of the black Mercedes.
38:38And if you look
38:39out the window
38:40of apartment 4C,
38:41you look towards
38:4259th Street
38:43and the front
38:45of the Grand Sight.
38:47When I saw that
38:48and I spoke
38:50with Yeoman,
38:51I went,
38:52holy fuck,
38:55these guys
38:57pushed him
38:58out of the window
38:59so we wouldn't
39:00be suspicious
39:02coming out
39:03of the front lobby,
39:03which was the only
39:04exit out of the building.
39:06When you see
39:07the video,
39:08they're in it together.
39:09They're both
39:11acting together
39:12to take that body
39:13and to hide it.
39:24Did you do it?
39:27What happened
39:28in the apartment?
39:29What happened
39:30that night?
39:31Did you do it?
39:33Did you stab him?
39:34On May 10th,
39:36both Larry
39:36and James
39:38were arrested
39:38for murder
39:39in second degree,
39:40hindering prosecution
39:41and concealment
39:42on the corpse.
39:43James was already
39:44in custody
39:45for driving
39:45on a suspended license
39:46and Jeffrey
39:47didn't put any money
39:48up for him
39:49to get out.
39:50I do think
39:51that at some point
39:52he realized
39:52he'd made a mistake
39:53having this son
39:55that was a murderer.
39:59We didn't have
40:00any cause
40:01to believe
40:01at that time
40:02that Max Jammer
40:02had anything
40:03to do with the homicide.
40:04We actually
40:05had statements
40:06from Larry
40:08saying that Max
40:09had nothing to do
40:09with it.
40:10He was arrested
40:11for hindering
40:13prosecution.
40:16Ultimately,
40:17it was clear
40:18to us
40:18that he had
40:18been involved
40:19nearly trying
40:20to obstruct
40:21essentially
40:22the ability
40:22for the police
40:23to get evidence,
40:25but I don't think
40:26that the senior lawyers
40:28or myself
40:29were convinced
40:29that we could prove
40:30Max beyond a reasonable
40:32doubt was involved
40:32in the homicide.
40:34Once the murder
40:35charges came,
40:36it became
40:37a finger-pointing.
40:38He did it,
40:39he did it,
40:39he did it,
40:40back and forth
40:40at each other.
40:43We still have
40:44to try and determine
40:45who did the stabbing
40:48and we don't know
40:49what the role
40:49of James was
40:50or what the role
40:51of Larry was.
40:53You just need
40:53the doubt
40:54of one person
40:54on a jury
40:56to not have
40:57a conviction.
41:01So while James
41:02is waiting
41:02for the trial,
41:03we got jail calls
41:05from James
41:06speaking to a friend
41:07of his
41:08and in these calls,
41:09he's very confident
41:12he's getting off.
41:13I start trial
41:14in September,
41:15so I'm looking
41:15at being home
41:15around October-ish.
41:17My breath's gonna
41:17be up there, bro.
41:19Like, my way
41:19is gonna hit the street.
41:20They're gonna be like,
41:21yo, this kid just
41:22beat this Rocky
41:24and he's home?
41:25Oh, my God.
41:25He seems fine.
41:28Yeah, I'm gonna get off.
41:29I'm gonna be out soon
41:30and, you know,
41:32everything's gonna be great.
41:35Towards the end
41:36of the investigation
41:38and getting ready
41:39for trial,
41:41we were able
41:42to locate
41:43a witness
41:44and his name
41:45was Louie Ruggiero.
41:47He was a friend
41:48of James Rackover.
41:52Louie Ruggiero
41:53states that
41:54on the day
41:54that we're searching
41:55the building,
41:56he was at the gym
41:57and that James Rackover
41:59came up to him
42:00and told him
42:00that he really
42:01needs to speak to him.
42:02He's gotta tell him
42:02something that happened.
42:04Louie tells us
42:05the story
42:06that James had told him,
42:07which was that
42:08on the day of the murder,
42:10while they're sitting there
42:11in the apartment,
42:13Larry
42:14had a dispute
42:15with this guy.
42:17Turns out to be Joey.
42:19and Larry gets
42:20so upset,
42:21he punches Joey
42:22and knocks him
42:23to the ground,
42:24knocks him out.
42:26James then says,
42:27I'm not going
42:28back to jail
42:30and gets a knife
42:31from the kitchen
42:33and stabs Joey
42:34to death.
42:36So in this statement
42:38that he tells Louie,
42:39he's admitting
42:40he's the one
42:41that actually
42:41kills him.
42:44And another
42:45amazing statement
42:46that he makes
42:46is Joey's still
42:47in the apartment
42:48and after that
42:49he ordered pancakes
42:50and ate them
42:51without any problems
42:52and then they took
42:53the body down
42:53to New Jersey
42:54and they dumped it.
42:56The evidence
42:57showed that
42:58their actions
42:58were intentional.
43:00That attack
43:00resulted in
43:01Joey's death.
43:02Even if they
43:03played different roles,
43:04two people
43:05can be responsible
43:06for the death
43:07of one person
43:08and ultimately
43:10James went to trial
43:11first.
43:23The trial
43:24for James Rack
43:25overstarted
43:26in Manhattan courts.
43:29Pat was there
43:30every day
43:30and he would fill
43:32the whole courtroom
43:34with family
43:35and friends.
43:37It was all of us,
43:38you know,
43:39all the fraternity brothers,
43:40his friends from home,
43:41colleagues, work.
43:42people would come
43:43and support Joey.
43:46The support
43:47we got from
43:49a lot of individuals
43:49was just incredible.
43:52Nobody
43:52on James Rack
43:54oversight
43:56which spoke volumes.
44:01Ultimately,
44:02after a lengthy trial
44:04involving James,
44:05the jury found him
44:05guilty of second-degree murder
44:07or intentional murder.
44:09I remember to this day,
44:11Pat,
44:12I had to hold him down.
44:13Me and my lieutenant
44:14are holding each arm
44:15because he sprung up
44:17because he sprung up
44:18with, like,
44:19this joy
44:22that it's finally over
44:24and they're gonna pay
44:25for what they did
44:27to his son.
44:29and I was
44:30very, very happy
44:31for them.
44:32Very happy for them.
44:34When I saw James,
44:35all I could think about
44:36was,
44:38I hope your nightmare
44:39is just starting
44:41because I gotta take mine
44:44for a lot longer
44:45than that.
44:50James Rackover
44:51was sentenced
44:52to 28 years
44:54which he's still serving.
44:59We were glad
45:00with the outcome
45:01and we just wanted
45:02it, you know,
45:03to be over.
45:05I want to thank
45:06the Manhattan DA's office
45:07for doing
45:08an incredible job.
45:10The NYPD
45:11who worked
45:13around the clock
45:13and I appreciate
45:15everybody
45:15my support,
45:17my family,
45:17Fred.
45:18Fred?
45:23I think Larry
45:24could see
45:25that his odds
45:26of conviction
45:28were gonna be
45:28very, very high.
45:30Larry chose
45:31to plead guilty
45:32as opposed
45:33to going to trial.
45:35He ended up
45:36taking a plea deal
45:37to murder two
45:38for 23 years.
45:41February 2019,
45:43Max Gemma
45:43pleads guilty
45:45to hindering
45:46prosecution
45:47and he receives
45:48a sentence
45:48of six months
45:49in jail.
45:51I think all
45:51the papers
45:52all said
45:53he got a sweetheart
45:54deal.
45:56And I actually
45:57agree with him.
45:58I don't know why.
46:00I don't know why,
46:01but he's gotta
46:04live with himself.
46:06I think Max Gemma
46:08definitely has
46:10more information
46:10about what happened
46:11in that apartment.
46:22Every detective
46:23has a case
46:24in a lifetime.
46:27In the 19 years
46:28that I've been
46:29in the police department,
46:30this case
46:31has been the case
46:32for me.
46:34Just learning
46:35about Joey
46:36and how much
46:37he was loved
46:38by all his friends
46:39and family.
46:40Pat misses Joey
46:41every single day
46:42like if it was
46:44the first day
46:44that it happened.
46:46And he has
46:48this love
46:50for Joey
46:51that I can relate to
46:53because when he
46:54speaks about Joey
46:56and his daughter
46:59and it's like
47:00they're his world.
47:02And that's
47:03who my kids
47:03are to me.
47:05We think about
47:06him every day
47:10and we just
47:11try to, you know,
47:13keep his memory
47:14alive and tell
47:16my grandson
47:18all the time,
47:19this is Uncle Joey.
47:20Joey.
47:22His friend
47:23started getting
47:23a tattoo
47:26with number nine.
47:29And that was
47:30his number.
47:31And the irony is
47:33I always said
47:34to him,
47:35I'll pay for
47:35your college
47:37under two conditions.
47:38You graduate
47:39number one
47:39in four years
47:40and you never
47:41get any ink.
47:43And he didn't
47:44get his tattoo
47:45but I got his tattoo.
47:47I thought it'd
47:48be a great way
47:50to just be
47:51with him
47:51every day.
47:54Which I am.
48:07The phone rang.
48:09Jeff says,
48:10is Irene with you?
48:11He said,
48:11she has been missing
48:12since 12 o'clock.
48:14Suddenly,
48:14everybody was
48:15at a loss
48:16that the lady
48:18of the home
48:19is gone.
48:21Irene Silverman
48:21was an 82-year-old woman
48:23that was as sharp
48:24as a tack.
48:24She was a socialite
48:26and if she liked you,
48:27you were part
48:27of her family.
48:29We had information
48:30that our mother
48:32and son
48:32had Irene Silverman's
48:34identification.
48:35So we do
48:35a background check.
48:36You couldn't believe
48:37the horrific things
48:38that they did.
48:39We don't know
48:40where she is.
48:41We're innocent
48:41and have just given
48:42our rights.
48:43We will prove it.
48:44It certainly didn't appear
48:45to be a mother-son
48:46relationship.
48:47They're holding hands.
48:49Staring into each
48:50other's eyes.
48:51Are you fucking
48:52kidding me?
48:53I interviewed
48:54the son
48:55and before I know it,
48:57he's across my neck.
48:59I could feel
49:00his heart pounding.
49:01He said to me,
49:03this is a hostage
49:04situation.
49:05You may think
49:06you know me,
49:07but you do not.
49:34I think you know
49:43you may think
50:14Transcription by ESO. Translation by —
50:43Transcription by —
50:45Transcription by —
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