Man Charged With Stephen Rakes' Attempted Murder Has Criminal Past in Wellesley

According to a case on FindLaw.com, in a jury trial beginning in September 1993, Camuti was tried on 13 counts of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors by obtaining their funds through false representations. 

Camuti ran a business called The Loan Depot in the late '80s, and at the time of these crimes, he was living on Audubon Road in Wellesley. These details written in a February 1994 press release stored on The Free Library.com.

On Oct. 18, 1993, the jury acquitted then 49-year-old Camuti on two counts and convicted him on the remaining 11 counts. Camuti was sentenced on Feb. 28, 1994 to 116 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $2,528,000 in restitution. 

Middlesex County DA Marian Ryan on Friday said Camuti, now 69, was charged with attempted murder, misleading the police and unlawful disposition of human remains. 

Camuti was arrested on Friday and arraigned at Concord District Court Friday afternoon. He pled not guilty to the crimes, according to WHDH.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Stephen Rakes’ body was discovered at 1:30 p.m. in a wooded area of Lincoln on July 17. He was found without ID, keys or cell phone. Lincoln Police and Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office immediately launched an investigation.

According to prosecutors, Camuti allegedly met Rakes around 1:45 p.m. at the McDonald’s in Waltham on July 16. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says the two had known each other for years, and Camuti had racked up debt to Rakes. 

Camuti bought two iced coffees from the fast food chain, one of which he allegedly mixed with cyanide and gave the to Rakes, who drank it. Prosecutors believe the two drove around for hours, around Waltham, Woburn, Burlington and Lincoln--where Rakes was ultimately found.

Rakes was a witness in the Whitey Bulger trial. The Boston Globe reports that the two cases are not connected. 

A murder charge has not been filed because the medical examiner is still waiting on test results.

Ryan said during a press conference Camuti poisoned Rakes over a bad business deal.

"Mr. Rakes and the defendant had known each other for many years," Ryan said. "They had been involved in a number of business transactions. We developed evidence that Mr. Camuti owed Mr. Rakes a significant amount of money."

Camuti lives at 55 Hudson Road, Apt. 3D, at Mesquiquid Village, Sudbury. The announcement of the charges shocked neighbors.