Would-be witness in Whitey Bulger mob trial found dead

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In this courtroom sketch, prosecutor Fred Wyshak, standing, speaks during closing arguments in the trial of James “Whitey” Bulger, right, at U.S. District Court, in Boston on Aug. 5, 2013. A federal prosecutor summed up the government’s case by calling Bulger “one of the most vicious, violent and calculating criminals ever to walk the streets of Boston,” and urged the jury to convict him of charges that include 19 killings committed during the 1970s and ‘80s. (Jane Flavell Collins / Associated Press)

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A courtroom sketch depicts James “Whitey” Bulger, center, during a pretrial conference June 3 before U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston. Bulger is flanked by his attorneys Henry Brennan, left, and J.W. Carney Jr. (Jane Flavell Collins / Associated Press)

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Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert Dougdale talks to reporters outside the Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles, where reputed Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger was brought before a judge Thursday. Bulger, one of the FBI‘s 10 most wanted fugitives, was taken into custody Wednesday in Santa Monica. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Law enforcement officials enter the Princess Eugenia Apartments in Santa Monica, where mob boss Whitey Bulger lived (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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The mailbox for Apartment 303, where James “Whitey” Bulger and his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, lived under the names of Charles and Carol Gasko. (Gabriel Bouys / AFP/Getty Images)

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FBI agents investigate the mailbox area of the apartment building in Santa Monica where legendary Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger was arrested Wednesday night. The arrest ended a worldwide pursuit that began when Bulger fled Boston in 1994. The reflections of people standing outside appear on the window at right.
Full coverage (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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FBI agents on Thursday carry evidence from the apartment building in Santa Monica where legendary Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger was arrested Wednesday night.
Full coverage (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A bag of evidence, held by and FBI agent, contains boxes of ammunition found at the Santa Monica apartment of James “Whitey” Bulger. Police seized about $800,000 in cash and a “fairly big arsenal” of weapons.
Full coverage (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

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Bob Bernard photographs Bulger’s apartment, where the FBI reportedly found several guns and a stash of cash. A Boston native, Bernard was shocked to find out he was living just a block away from the notorious crime boss.
Full coverage (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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FBI officials Steven Martinez, center, and Douglas Price, left, join LAPD Deputy Chief David Doan at a news conference Thursday to announce Bulger’s arrest.
Full coverage (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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FBI investigators in the garage of the apartment building where fugitive James ‘Whitey’ Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Elizabeth Greig, were arrested.
Full coverage (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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The lobby of the apartment building in Santa Monica.
Full coverage (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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Catherine Elizabeth Greig and James “Whitey” Bulger are shown in an image from an FBI video that asked for the public’s assistance in capturing the pair.
Full coverage (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

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FBI Special Agent Richard DesLauriers appears at a news conference next to a poster featuring fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger at the FBI field office in Boston on June 20, 2011. The fugitive was captured Wednesday by FBI agents in Santa Monica.
Full coverage (Michael Dwyer / Associated Press)

By Matt Pearce

July 18, 2013 10:04 AM PT

A man who at one time was expected to testify against reputed mobster James “Whitey” Bulger -- and who was one of Bulger’s more vocal critics -- was found dead outside Boston, officials said Thursday.

The body of Stephen “Stippo” Rakes, 59, of Quincy, Mass., had no obvious signs of trauma, according to the Middlesex district attorney’s office, and his death is under investigation. The body was discovered Wednesday afternoon.

Rakes was a vocal critic of Bulger leading up to the trial, so much so that he said when he saw Bulger appear in court in April, he began hyperventilating. Rakes also said Bulger wouldn’t look his way.

“The day I see him in a box, not breathing, will be better,” Rakes told the Associated Press that day.

Rakes, who was to testify on behalf of the prosecution, claimed that a liquor mart he owned became Bulger’s after Bulger and his men threatened to kill him.

“I’m pretty angry still about what happened close to 30 years ago, and I want to make sure Bulger gets justice,” Rakes told CBS Boston in April 2012. “I’ll be satisfied when he’s in jail and never coming out.”

According to Rakes’ account, Bulger, along with two of his lieutenants, Kevin Weeks and Steve Flemmi, showed up at Rakes’ house while he was preparing dinner for his daughters. Rakes said the men threatened to kill him if he didn’t given them the store, for which they gave him $67,000.

That account, however, was contradicted by Weeks last week, who testified against his old boss, Bulger, for the prosecution. “We didn’t go to him to buy the store, he came to us,” Weeks said of Rakes, according to the Boston Herald. “So, it wasn’t like regular extortion.”

Rakes, allowed to watch Weeks’ testimony, “reddened as he listened with his arms folded,” according to the Herald.

But Rakes, who was a “constant presence” at the trial for the last six weeks, learned he wouldn’t have his chance to rebut in court, according to the Boston Globe. Steve Davis, the brother of alleged Bulger victim Debra Davis, told the Globe that Rakes was told Tuesday that prosecutors did not plan to call him to testify, and that devastated him.

Rakes was eager to get on the witness stand, Tommy Donahue, son of alleged Bulger victim Michael Donahue, said Thursday.

“He said he wanted to get up there and tell his side of the story,” Donahue told the Associated Press.

The Massachusetts office of the chief medical examiner is conducting an autopsy, officials said.

Prosecutors in the trial expected to wrap up their case next week.

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