Camuti Guilty in Case of Cyanide-Laced Coffee Murder

WOBURN, MA -- A Middlesex District Court jury on Wednesday found William J. Camuti, 72, of Sudbury, guilty of first-degree murder with deliberate premeditation in the July 2013 murder by cyanide-laced coffee of his friend of 30 years and business partner, Stephen Rakes.

Judge Bruce Henry scheduled sentencing and victim-impact statements for Thursday. Camuti faces an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. He was also convicted of improper disposal of human remains and two counts of misleading police officers.

The motive for the murder was money.

Prosecutor Adrienne Lynch told the jury during the 10-day trial that Camuti was in dire financial straits made worse by Rakes' demand that his friend pay him the $100,000 he was owed.

Instead of admitting he couldn't pay the debt, Camuti "took the easy way out'' and killed his friend on July 16, 2013 by spiking Rakes' McDonald's iced coffee with several teaspoons of cyanide.

During his closing argument on Monday, defense attorney Brad Bailey argued that it didn't make sense for Camuti to kill his long-time business partner since Rakes was Camuti's "meal ticket.''

Bailey told the jury that Rakes was Camuti's "only way to get back on his feet (financially).''

Lynch argued that shortly before his murder, Rakes knew that Camuti had lied to him about a business deal and had demanded the $100,000 Camuti owed him.

"It became clear to him (Camuti) that Rakes was no longer his personal money store,'' Lynch said.

Lynch said investigators compiled strong circumstantial evidence including: GPS records; Rakes' secret phone records with Camuti; computer records that showed Camuti searched for death by cyanide poisoning; another computer record inquiring about buying cyanide; and Camuti's own confession.

Rakes' body was found on the afternoon of July 17, 2013 by a jogger in a wooded area off Mill Street in Lincoln. An autopsy ruled Rakes' death a homicide.

Four days after Rakes' body was discovered -- when Camuti became the focus of the murder investigation--- Camuti was found in his Sudbury apartment bleeding profusely from self-inflicted cuts to his arms. He was flown by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital.

As Camuti lay in his hospital bed, he allegedly confessed to State Trooper Michael Banks that he laced Rakes' McDonald's iced coffee with several teaspoons of cyanide. Camuti allegedly confessed that on the afternoon of July 16, 2013, he lured his friend to the McDonald's in Waltham with the promise of a $100,000 check to pay off a debt he owed and to look at 11-acres of land in Wilmington for a business deal.

Before meeting Rakes, Camuti went to a grocery store to buy rubber gloves to handle the cyanide, Lynch said. Then he drove to the McDonald's, purchased the ice-coffee, drove around to a corner of the parking lot where he wouldn't be scene, put on the gloves and put some cyanide in Rakes' coffee, Lynch said.

"Then he waited for his friend to arrive,'' Lynch said. "At anytime he could have changed his mind, but he chose to take the easy way out,'' she added.

When Rakes arrived, Camuti handed him an iced coffee that he had allegedly spiked with several teaspoons of cyanide. As Rakes drank his coffee, he complained it tasted bitter and tossed it in the trash.

Banks testified that Camuti 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.

But in his closing argument, Bailey asked the jury to disregard the alleged confession claiming Camuti was in too much pain and too medicated to give a voluntary confession. He accused the police of "inhumane police work'' for "unfairly extracting (a confession) and exploiting my client's weakened physical and mental condition.''

Lynch countered that the "overwhelming evidence'' points to premeditated murder, "pure and simple.'' She told the jury that police meticulously investigated Rakes' murder checking cell phone records, listening to hundreds of hours of Rakes' secretly recording phone conversations, checking Camuti's finances and some of the "most damning evidence'' were the documents on his computer.

A state police computer specialist testified during the trial 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.''

Lynch told the jury that Camuti tried to "pawn off'' the information found on his computer as research into a jewelry business Rakes' wanted to open. But Rakes' daughter testified her father had no interest in doing that.

Through a search of Camuti's finances, Lynch said Camuti's problems weren't limited to what he owed Rakes. Camuti owed thousands of dollars in rent on a Holyoke property. He was being evicted from his Sudbury apartment, as well as the storage unit he rented in Waltham, Lynch said.

Lynch told the jury that Rakes' life story included being the victim of extortion by Boston mobster James "Whitey'' Bulger. Just before his death, Rakes was trying to sell the rights of his story for a book or movie deal.

Lynch said the "final chapter'' of Rakes' life wasn't written by a movie star Chuck Norris' screenwriter, it was written by Camuti by murdering him - pure and simple.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement that due to the diligent work of the State and Lincoln police and the prosecutors assigned to the case,"today the jury found the defendant guilty of his crimes.''

While applauding the officers who worked on the case, Lincoln Police Chief Andrew Kennedy said, "Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Stephen Rakes and we hope that today's verdict will bring them closure.''

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