Car Of Dead Alleged Bulger Extortion Victim Found In Waltham
BOSTON (CBS) - The car belonging to Stephen Rakes, an alleged extortion victim of Whitey Bulger, was found in Waltham, sources told WBZ-TV Friday.
Rakes, the former South Boston liquor store owner who claimed Bulger muscled him out of business years ago, was found dead Wednesday along a walking trail in the area of Mill Street in Lincoln.
Sources told WBZ they don't know how Rakes died but investigators are treating the death as suspicious.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports
Rakes Car Found In Waltham
His minivan was found in a McDonald's parking lot on Main Street in Waltham Thursday afternoon, a local tow truck operator told WBZ. It's about seven miles from where the body was discovered.
Authorities said there were no obvious signs of trauma, but autopsy results are not expected for several days.
Sources says Rakes was found with no identification on him.
Rakes, 59, of Quincy, had been attending Bulger's trial at U.S. District Court in South Boston and was at one point expected to be a prosecution witness.
He was in court almost every day for the trial, but on Tuesday afternoon, he learned he wasn't going to testify and did not come to court Wednesday.
According to WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Lana Jones, Rakes was furious when Bulger associate Kevin Weeks denied the extortion on the witness stand earlier this month.
Other victims' families say he was upset about the prosecutor's decision to deny him the chance to testify and that he wanted to tell his side of the story on the witness stand.
