Camuti Admits to Detectives He Poisoned Rakes

Former Sudbury resident William Camuti, charged in the death of Whitey Bulger witness Stephen Rakes, was ordered held without bail for 90 days during his dangerousness hearing at Concord District Court on Sept. 10.

The 69-year-old Camuti has been behind bars, and in Bridgewater State Hospital, without bail since pleading not guilty in August to attempted murder by poisoning, among other charges.

According to Trooper Michael Banks of the Massachusetts State Police Middlesex Detectives Unit, evidence gathered against Camuti includes GPS tracking information that put his car in the Lincoln area where Rakes' body was found July 17, and a confession to the poisoning via potassium cyanide.

While attempting to conduct a search of his Sudbury apartment on July 23, Banks said investigators found Camuti in a pool of blood in his bed. His wrists had been slit and a suicide note was found, along with blood stains on the door and walls of the apartment.

Camuti was airlifted to Mass General in Boston. Banks said when Camuti was asked why he poisoned Rakes, Camuti answered, "I don't know."

Through numerous search warrants, investigators found emails on Camuti's computer regarding the cost to purchase the poison, which he kept in a storage unit on Main Street in Waltham, and a suicide note.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has said Camuti poisoned Rakes over a business dispute. According to Banks, Camuti and Banks met at a McDonald's in Waltham to discuss a separate real estate deal. 

While at McDonalds, Camuti bought two iced coffees, lacing one with cyanide. Rakes drank the coffee and was overcome by the poison while sitting in Camuti’s car. The pair drove north toward Woburn, then back south toward the Burlington Mall and Lincoln until Rakes finally died.

Camuti then allegedly dumped Rakes’s body near a footpath in a wooded area of Lincoln.

Defense attorney Stanley Norkunas told Judge Barbara Pearson his client was under pressure from the numerous interviews. 

“They obviously put a great deal of stress on him,” Norkunas said.

Prosecutor Adrian Lynch told the court Camuti had been evicted from his Hudson Road apartment in the Mesquiquid Village.

"There is compelling evidence he is a danger to himself, as well as the community," Pearson said before denying bail. "The investigation today has been very thorough. Pieces to the puzzle are in place in the direction of which the Commonwealth is moving toward."

The case is still under investigation in regards to Rakes' exact cause of death.

The other charges Camuti is facing are misleading police, and unlawful disposition of human remains.

Camuti will be held at the Cambridge Jail until a probable cause hearing on Oct. 3.