Accused Cyanide-Laced Coffee Killer Claims Confession Coerced

WOBURN, MA -- Laying in a hospital bed, his inner arms sliced open from a suicide attempt, William J. Camuti allegedly confessed to police that he killed his friend and business partner, Stephen Rakes, with cyanide-laced coffee, according to State Police. But defense attorney Brad Bailey claims Camuti was in too much pain and too medicated to give a voluntary confession.

Middlesex Superior Court on Friday, defense attorney Brad Bailey noted that less than 14 hours after the 69-year-old Sudbury man was flown by medical helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on July 21, 2013 , state police were "interrogating'' his client -- who would be charged with first-degree murder in Rakes' death just five days earlier -- from Camuti's hospital bed.

Rakes' body was found on the afternoon of July 17, 2013 by a jogger in a wooded area off Mill Street in Lincoln. There were no obvious signs of trauma, but there was also no ID or cell phone. Rakes, 59, of south Boston, was identified by his thumb print.

An autopsy showed Rakes died of acute cyanide toxicity and the manner of death was homicide.

Four days after Rakes' body was discovered and Camuti became the focus of the murder investigation, Camuti was found bleeding profusely in his Sudbury apartment in an apparent suicide attempt.

Less than 14 hours after Camuti arrived at the hospital, Camuti lay in his hospital bed and allegedly confessed to State Trooper Michael Banks that he laced Rakes' McDonald's iced coffee with several teaspoons of cyanide. When Rakes arrived at the McDonalds in Waltham on the afternoon of July 16, 2013, Camuti handed him an iced coffee, Banks testified.

As Rakes drank his coffee he complained it tasted bitter and tossed it in the trash. Banks testified that Camuti allegedly admitted it took several hours for the poison to take affect, forcing Camuti to drive from the McDonald's in Waltham to Woburn and Burlington before dragging Rakes' body into a wooded area in Lincoln where the 59-year-old South Boston man's body was found the next day.

During earlier testimony, a state police computer specialist testified that a search of Camuti's home computer indicates word searches for "cyanide'' and potassium cyanide.'' Police also found two pieces of evidence:

- A May 7, 2013 story with a headline, "A Cyanide Death in Pittsburgh.''

- A question posted by an unidentified person on Yahoo asking, "Can I mix potassium or sodium cyanide in hot coffee or hot tea?" The online response: "Only if you have a death wish.''

Prosecutor Adrienne Lynch told the jury that the motivation for the murder was money. Camuti couldn't repay $100,000 he owed Rakes', she said.

But Bailey argued that Camuti had lost so much blood and was near death by the time he was put on the medical helicopter. He argued that when Banks interviewed Camuti the first time, his client had yet to undergo surgery and was in "substantial pain.''

"When someone is hurting, they are not necessarily thinking,'' Bailey asked psychiatrist Dr. Alison Fife, who reviewed Camuti's medical records for the prosecution.

Fife, whose analysis was that Camuti was coherent during the alleged confession, said, "Even people in extreme pain can speak the truth.''

Fife, the final witness in the two-week murder trial, testified on Friday that her review of the medical records indicates that Camuti had been given IV fluids before and after he arrived at the hospital. Medical notes indicate Camuti appeared "awake, alert , consenting to medical procedures and on minimal pain medications.''

But Bailey suggested that Camuti was in tremendous pain, before and after surgery. Camuti was transfered to a psychiatric hospital, where doctors diagnosed Camuti has suffering from "brain-injury impaired cognition.'' Fife said she didn't see there had been enough testing to justify that diagnosis.

While Camuti recovered in the hospital, police learned through their investigation that Rakes secretly taped all his phone calls, including the ones to Camuti, his long-time friend and business partner. The jury heard on those recordings, Camuti telling Rakes about a possible business deal involving 11-acres of land in Wilmington and promised his friend a check to repay Rakes.

But Banks testified that Camuti allegedly admitted there was no $100,000 check and Banks could find no such land deal in Wilmington.

Closing arguments are expected Monday followed by jury deliberations. Camuti could face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted.

Photo of William J. Camuti by Lisa Redmond/lisa.redmond@patch.com