WOBURN, Mass. – A Massachusetts man has pleaded not guilty to murder in the July poisoning death of an alleged extortion victim of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.
Authorities say Stephen Rakes' death was not connected to the Bulger case, but was the result of a business dispute.
The MetroWest Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/OEgJry) 69-year-old William Camuti of Sudbury was arraigned Wednesday in Middlesex Superior Court. He was indicted in November. Camuti appeared on crutches because of recent hip-replacement surgery. He is held without bail.
Rakes had hoped to testify in Bulger's 2013 trial but wasn't called by prosecutors. Bulger was sentenced to two life terms in a broad racketeering case that included involvement in 11 killings.
Prosecutors say Camuti poisoned Rakes' iced coffee when they met over a business deal, then drove him around for hours before dumping his body.
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Information from: MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, Mass.), http://www.metrowestdailynews.com