EXCLUSIVE: ‘Jimmy isn’t gay but did he turn tricks with rich gay men for money? Jimmy would do that’: Ex-girlfriend of party-boy ‘son’ of celebrity jeweler charged with murder breaks her silence

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A Fort Lauderdale area waitress who says she lived with accused killer Jimmy Beaudoin for four years says the man who's been portrayed in the media as a gay, well-dressed Manhattanite has nothing in common with the man she knew in South Florida.

Samantha Grimm, 26, said she loved Beaudoin and they actually discussed marrying and having children together.

But then in 2013, Grimm tells DailyMail.com, Beaudoin started taking increasingly frequent trips to New York City.

Samantha Grimm, 26 (right), of Davie, Florida says she dated accused murderer James Rackover, 25 (pictured left in court on Thursday)

Rackover and another man, 28-year-old Lawrence Dilione, are accused of murdering Joseph Comunale, 26, after he allegedly turned them down for sex. Grimm says she doesn't believe Rackover is gay (the two pictured above kissing) 

His time in the Big Apple got longer and longer, and his returns to their home in Davie, Florida, became briefer.

Grimm said she didn't know what he did up north, but Grimm said he always returned with wads of cash and became increasingly obsessed with money.

'I thought something was up but I didn't know what,' she said.

Beaudoin eventually moved into the swanky Upper East Side apartment owned by high-profile New York City jeweler Jeffrey Rackover and changed his name to James Rackover.

Comunale (pictured), who goes by the name Joey, was reported missing at 8am last Tuesday by his father and his body was discovered on Wednesday

While Rackover introduced him as his son, neighbors in their building at 418 East 59th Street in Manhattan assumed James was Jeffrey's younger lover.

On Friday, Beaudoin and Lawrence Dilione, 28, were charged with second degree murder in connection with the death of Joseph Comunale, 26, of Stamford, Connecticut. 

The suspects are accused of stabbing Comunale 15 times after he allegedly rejected their sexual advances then tried to set his body on fire.

Beaudoin and Dilione are being held on $3million bond.

Grimm said she met Beaudoin through mutual friends in 2009. She was 19, and he was 18 and had been just released from prison after serving time for burglary.

Grimm says she met Rackover in 2009, after he was released from prison for a burglary conviction. He went by the name Jimmy Beaudoin back then. Pictured above in a 2009 mugshot

'He didn't have much of an education,' Grimm says, 'I don't think he graduated from high school. At first, I was not aware he had problems with the law but he got arrested for violation of probation. I don't have anything bad to say about him, though. He was my boyfriend.'

In time, Grimm says Beaudoin managed to get a job in a nearby boat yard and started working on yachts in need of repairs or refurbishing.

'He moved in with me and my mom,' Grimm said. 'We had a very normal existence.'

At one point in 2011, according to Broward County records, Beaudoin was arrested for driving without a license. Grimm paid for his $250 bond.

He started traveling to New York City and returned with loads of cash, Grimm said. His desire for money turned into an obsession.

They broke up three years ago when he moved to New York permanently.

While Grimm was aware of Rackover's criminal history, she says she never thought he was capable of murder (2007 mugshot left, 2010 mugshot right)

'He cut me and all of his friends in South Florida off from his life. I started seeing photos of him on Facebook in beautiful suits and well-groomed looks,' she said. 'That's not the Jimmy I knew. The guy I knew was chill. He wasn't fancy or a showoff. He wore baggy shorts and T-shirts and was always skateboarding.'

Grimm says she doesn't believe Beaudoin is gay, despite the allegations he killed Comunale because the victim wouldn't have sex with Beaudoin and Dilione.

'I can promise you Jimmy isn't gay,' Grimm said. 'Did he travel to New York to turn tricks with older gay men? For the right amount of money, Jimmy would definitely do something like that.

'And now I believe that's what he was doing during his trips.'

As for Beaudoin's arrest for murder, Grimm says she is still trying to wrap her head around it.

Grimm and Rackover (right) broke up three years ago when he moved to New York City permanently. Not long after, he moved in with jeweler Jeffrey Rackover (left) and changed his name to James Rackover. The two told residents in their building that they were father and son but many assumed they were lovers

'His crimes here were petty small stuff,' she says. 'I'd never, ever thought he could kill someone.'

Over the weekend, Rackover spoke out about his alleged crimes for the first time in a jailhouse interview with the New York Daily News. 

Speaking from the Manhattan Detention Complex, Rackover admitted that Comunale had been to his apartment, but said he had nothing to do with his murder and said the charges were 'bulls***'.  

'I’ve never seen this kid. I don’t even know who he is,' Rackover told the paper. 'I only found out about the real charges through my lawyer on Thursday before the arraignment.'

He said he didn't even know he was being charged with murder until his lawyer told him just before the arraignment last week.  

Lawrence Dilione (pictured), 28, of Jersey City, New Jersey, has also been charged with murder in the case. A judge also set his bond at $3million on Thursday in court

He claims Dilione brought a group of people over to his apartment from a club around 4am and Comunale was among them.

He said there were no arguments and everyone left around 7am and he went to bed shortly after.

When asked about accusations that he murdered Comunale and drove his body to New Jersey to bury it in a shallow grave, he told the Daily News: 'Wheeled him out of the building? There was no body.

'There was no dolly. I was never even seen on camera with this kid. I have no idea who he is.

'I can’t explain what happened at all. I didn’t do anything.'

But Rackover fiercely denies this, claiming: 'I have no reason to hurt this kid. I’ve never hurt anyone. I’ve never killed anyone. I didn’t do any of this.'   

On Wednesday evening the search around the building continued, with one DailyMail.com reporter discovering police officers combing the bushes outside with flashlights