At a press conference this afternoon, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan told the media that Stephen Rakes, a witness set to testify against Whitey Bulger and an alleged extortion victim, mysteriously died because of ingesting iced coffee laced with cyanide.

WCVB notes that William Camuti, 69, of Sudbury, has been charged in the poisoning with attempted murder, pending full autopsy results.


 

Two teaspoons of cyanide were used to kill rakes, whose death prompted widespread speculation that somehow the notorious frmer South Boston mob boss and Winter Hill gang leader was directly behind the scheme.

Camuti then proceeded to drive around with rakes in the passenger seat for hours on end before dumping his corpse in Lincoln, MA, an affluent Boston suburb.


 

Rakes was set to testify against Bulger, but was dropped from the witness list by prosecutors before Camuti acted on his own accord in the murder with no link to Bulger at all.

Authorities are currently awaiting autopsy results before leveling any charges against Camuti, though he’s currently being charged with with misleading police and unlawful disposition of human remains.

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