Stephen ‘Stippo' Rakes, man who accused Whitey Bulger of stealing his South Boston liquor store, has died; cause of death under investigation

By Shelley Murphy and Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff

Stephen “Stippo” Rakes, a former South Boston man who had waited decades for a chance to testify against James “Whitey” Bulger, was found dead in Lincoln on Wednesday, authorities said today.

The cause of death is being determined by the state medical examiner’s office. There were no obvious signs of trauma to the body, which was found at about 1:30 p.m. in the area of Mill Street in Lincoln, authorities said.

The state medical examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. The case is being investigated by State and Lincoln police, Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan and Lincoln Police Chief Kevin Mooney announced.

Rakes, 59, was one of the most determined of Bulger’s alleged victims, still furious at the notorious South Boston gangster and his allies, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and Kevin Weeks, for allegedly extorting his South Boston liquor store from him at gunpoint in 1984 — while Rakes’s daughters were in the same room.

Rakes has been a constant presence at the US District Court in South Boston where the 83-year-old gangster has been on trial for the past six weeks, a trial that took place only after Bulger was captured in California two years ago after spending 16 years on the run.

Rakes, who was on the witness list of US Attorney Carmen Ortiz, was told Tuesday that prosecutors did not plan to call him to testify, a decision that Steve Davis, brother of another Bulger victim, said today had devastated Rakes.

An Ortiz spokeswoman declined comment on Stephen Rakes’s death.

Davis, whose sister Debra is among the 19 victims whose murders Bulger is charged with, said he knew something was wrong when Rakes did not call him back Wednesday.

Davis said Rakes perceived the decision by Ortiz’s office as robbing him of the opportunity to refute claims by Weeks, Bulger’s ally, that Rakes had sent his sister, Mary O’Malley, as an intermediary to Bulger and Weeks, asking if they were interested in buying the liquor store.

Weeks testified that they agreed on a price of $100,000, but when Bulger, Weeks and Flemmi, tried to consummate the deal Rakes demanded more money.

“He [Rakes] tried to shake us down,” Weeks said on the witness stand during Bulger’s trial.

At that point, Weeks said, the three gangsters grew infuriated and pulled a gun in front of Rakes’s small children at his home in South Boston, threatening Rakes unless he sold the store.

But Rakes told a vastly different story, saying the gangsters approached him in what amounted to a hostile takeover of the store. They told him to take the money or he would be killed.

Rakes went to Florida after the transaction, and rumors were so rife in South Boston that Bulger had killed him that Bulger called him in Florida and demanded that he return. When he did, Bulger and Weeks made a point of standing with Rakes at busy intersections in South Boston so the word would circulate that Rakes was alive.

Davis said he was told by authorities that Rakes was still dressed in the clothes he was wearing Tuesday when he was found in Lincoln.

News of Rakes’s death has hit hard among relatives of Bulger’s victims, including Patricia Donahue, whose husband was allegedly slain by Bulger.

“I feel so bad,’’ she said. “You sit here every day with these victims and they become part of your life. He seemed so spirited. He had a lot of spirit.”

Donahue said she spoke to Rakes early Tuesday about the possibility he would take the stand.

“He was nervous, but he wanted to give his opinion,” she said.

She added, “Our prayers and thoughts go to his family.’’

At Rakes’s Quincy home, near Interstate 95, an unidentified man who gathered mail from Rakes’s mailbox said, “I don’t know anything, can’t remember the last time I saw him ... I don’t get involved with all that stuff.”

A woman who owns a nearby business said she was aware that a central figure in the Bulger trial lived across the street, and she recalled seeing Rakes recently. The woman said she often saw Rakes driving a white van but she hadn’t seen the van in recent days.

The modest two-decker apartment on Newbury Street, with brown wood shingles covering the upper floor and yellow shingles on the street level, has four units and a driveway that extends along the left side of the house to a small paved backyard.

Brian Ballou and John R. Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Shelley Murphy can be reached at shmurphy@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @shelleymurph. Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeCullen.