Former New Jersey Mayor's Son Charged in Comunale Homicide: Update

STAMFORD, CT—The third man charged in connection with Stamford native Joseph Comunale's homicide is the son of a former Ocean City, N.J. mayor.

Max Gemma, 29, was charged Tuesday with hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence. Gemma joins two other men, 25-year-old James Rackover and 28-year-old Lawrence Dilione, as suspects in the high-profile murder that occurred in Rackover's condo in the glitzy Grand Sutton tower — located on located on East 59th Street near First Avenue.

Gemma, 29, is the son of former mayor Gordon Gemma. His residence was listed as a home on Seneca Place owned by his father, according to app.com. Ocean City is a coastal town with many beaches and a boardwalk.

Gemma was charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence, according to a statement from the New York Police Department. The two others arrested were charged with the same, plus concealing a human corpse.

Comunale, 26 was remembered as a fun-loving person who loved life. Hundreds of friends and family members attended his funeral in November.

Related:

• Hundreds Attend Joseph Comunale Funeral Service
• Rackover Indicted by Grand Jury in Comunale Homicide Case
• 'We Took Joey's Body to Oceanport, N.J.': Man Accused of Murdering Connecticut Man

It is expected that Dilione and/or Rackover will eventually be charged with murder. Assistant District Attorney Antoinette Carter indicated that either one or both of them were responsible during an arraignment.

Dilione met Comunale while out partying the night of Saturday, Nov. 12 and brought him and three other women to a 4 a.m. party at Rackover's apartment.

Comunale's body was dug from a shallow grave in a remote, wooded area of Oceanport, N.J. His body had at least 15 stab wounds, a broken pelvis and burn marks, according to police and the DA's office.
The wounds suggested that Comunale was killed with a knife and that his body had been dropped from a high distance. A large duffel bag was discovered near the burial site, according to the DA's office.

According to the DA's office one of the suspects, Dilione, admitted to police that he and another man took Comunale's body to New Jersey. Dilione's LinkedIn profilelists him as the owner of Shore Point Roofing, a business located in the next town over from Oceanport.

"We took Joey's body to Oceanport, N.J. and we buried it in a vacant lot," Dilione told investigators.

By Brendan Kriesel (Patch National Staff) and Rich Scinto