Alleged Bulger Shakedown Victim Found Dead

One of James "Whitey" Bulger's most vocal alleged victims, Stephen "Stippo" Rakes, was found dead in Lincoln on Wednesday, according to the Middlesex District Attorney's office and the Boston Globe.

In a statement, the district attorney's office said, "There were no obvious signs of trauma. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death."

It also said, "The incident remains under investigation by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and the Lincoln Police."

Rakes, 59, was the former owner of a South Boston liquor store that Bulger and his associates, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi and Kevin Weeks, took over in 1984.

Rakes had long maintained that Bulger and his crew muscled the liquor store away from him at gunpoint, threatening him at his home in the presence of his daughters.

But on July 8, Weeks gave a different account during his testimony in the federal case against Bulger. Weeks said it was Rakes who had wanted to sell the liquor store to Bulger for $100,000, but at the last minute he asked for more money.

At the time, Rakes denied Weeks' version of the story and said he was looking forward to testifying in the trial about the matter.

On Tuesday, according to the Boston Globe, prosecutors told Rakes he wouldn't testify in the case, though he was on the witness list.

Steve Davis, the brother of an alleged Bulger murder victim who had become friendly with Rakes during the trial, told the Boston Globe Rakes was devastated by that decision.

Rakes' body was found at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Mill Street area of Lincoln.