Cyanide-Poisoning Posts Found on Camuti's Computer

WOBURN, MA -- "C-Y-A-N-I-D-E"

Computer forensic specialist Trooper Edward Keefe testified during William J. Camuti's murder trial in Middlesex Superior Court on Wednesday that a computer search of Camuti's home computer indicated a search under the words "cyanide" and "possession cyanide."

Prosecutor Adrienne Lynch said the results were two key 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.''

Police allege that on the afternoon July 16, 2013, Camuti, 69, of Sudbury, arranged to meet his friend and business partner, Steven Rakes, 50, of South Boston, at a Waltham McDonalds.

The jury heard tapes of Rakes' secretly record phone calls in which Camuti allegedly lures his friend to the McDonalds under the guise of looking at 11 acres in Wilmington for a business venture. There is also the promise of check for the repayment of $100,000 Camuti borrowed from Rakes.

Rakes could be heard on the recording telling Camuit, "I'll be there with bells on.''

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 was identified by his thumb print, suggesting a suspicious death.

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

While Camuti was recovering at Massachusetts General Hospital after an alleged suicide attempt, Camuti allegedly confessed to Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Banks that he laced Stephen Rakes' McDonald's iced coffee with several teaspoons of cyanide.

Prosecutor Adrienne Lynch alleges the motivation was money. Camuti couldn't repay $100,000 he owed Rakes', she said.

When Rakes arrived at the McDonalds in Waltham, Camuti handed him an iced coffee. As Rakes drank his coffee he complained it tasted bitter and tossed it in the trash, Banks testified.

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.

Camuti allegedly admitted cyanide was delivered to his storage area on Main Street in Waltham where he collects projectors sell to supplement his meager Social Security check.

Camuti allegedly admitted that he tossed the unused cyanide in the trash bin behind the building.

But defense attorney Brad Bailey has argued that prior Camuti hospitalization, when he was medicated and in pain, his client denied murdering his friend.

The defense has suggested that Camuti's search for cyanide was connected to a jewelry business he wanted to open. Small amounts of cyanide can be used for gilding and buffing jewelry.

Bailey has suggested that Camuti was not only Rakes' friend, but someone who would have financially benefited by helping Rakes "shop around'' the Bulger settlement and sell Rakes' life story for a movie deal.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Camuti faces life in prison without parole. The trial is expected to continue into next week.

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