Posted on 07/18/2013 9:14:13 AM PDT by NotYourAverageDhimmi
The body of a key witness in James 'Whitey’ Bulger's racketeering trial was found dead on the side of a road Wednesday by a jogger in Lincoln, Mass., which is just west of Boston.
The body belonged to Stephen "Stippo" Rakes, 59, who was allegedly extorted by Bulger and considered one of the most determined alleged victims who waited a decade to testify, The Boston Globe reported.
The Globe reported that Rakes has been a fixture for six weeks at Bulger's trial and was told recently that he would not get the chance to testify.
The Middlesex County district attorney's confirmed in a press release Thursday morning the identity of the body. There were no obvious signs of trauma, a statement said. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
ABC News first reported the link to the Bulger and reported that Rakes was set to testify that Bulger threatened his daughter with a gun and took over his Boston liquor store. Police told Rakes family the cause of death appears to be a suicide, the report said. However, he was missing his phone and wallet, the report said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Unlucky accident. Any drones flying overhead???
I would guess they wanted him found as a warning to other witness’s.
Yeah, suicides always happen “on the side of a road”.
Natural cause of death, right?
/s
At the top of the hour, Fox News Radio said he had been told that he would not be called to testify and was devastated by that. He had been extorted at gunpoint by Bulger in the 80s.
Who is *they*? The FBI?
Lets not jump to Hastings conclusions here...
The body belonged to......WTF??? Never heard it put like that.
The body belonged to Stephen “Stippo” Rakes, 59...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wonder how many years the writer spent in journalism school.
They would be the friends of Bulger
One Second.
lolol
GMTA.
Yeah, and he threw away his phone and wallet....yeah, Riiiiight.
*Whitey Bulger ping of interest*
Ya gotta love the mob - the know how to take care of business.
You may want to hit the ping list on this one.
Wow. Howie’s last column was about how Howie was all down about being dropped from the defense witness list. Hope he “handles it” better than Rakes.
Back around 1986, I used to wonder who Howie had to start his car in the morning. I’m surprised he survived this long.
Doesn’t “Jimmy” Bulger supporter Mike Barnacle live in Lincoln?
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