UES Party Murder Accomplice Pleads Guilty, DA Says

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An accomplice in the 2016 murder of a Connecticut man after a night of partying on the Upper East Side has pleaded guilty to his role in the crime, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Lawrence Dilione, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter for the 2016 killing of Connecticut's Joseph Comunale and is expected to be sentenced in February, District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., said Tuesday. James Rackover — an 27-year-old ex-con who became a surrogate son to a jeweler who counted the Trumps and Oprah among his clients — was recently sentenced to 28-years-to-life after being convicted on murder charges.

"This is another major step forward on the road toward justice for Joey Comunale," Vance said in a statement. "I thank our prosecutors for ensuring not only that this defendant will serve significant prison time for his role in this unconscionable crime, but also for sparing the Comunale family the agony of reliving their son’s death in yet another murder trial."

Dilione was initially charged with second-degree murder, concealment of a human corpse and hindering prosecutors in relation to Comunale's death. During the investigation into Comunale's death, Dilione told investigators that he and Rackover brought the man's body to Oceanport, New Jersey to bury it in a makeshift grave, prosecutors said.

Dilione met Comunale while out partying the night of Nov. 12, 2016 and brought him and three other women to a 4 a.m. party at Rackover's condo in the glitzy Grand Sutton tower — located on located on East 59th Street near First Avenue, prosecutors said.

Comunale's body was dug up from a shallow grave in a remote, wooded area of Oceanport, New Jersey, on November 16, 2016. The Stamford native, reported missing days before he was found, suffered at least 15 stab wounds, a broken pelvis and evidence indicated that Rackover attempted to burn his body, according to police and the DA's office. A large duffel bag was discovered near the burial site, prosecutors said.

Photo by AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews