Boston ( CNN ) -- A man who 'd been prepared to testify in the trial of reputed Boston mob boss James `` Whitey '' Bulger was found dead -- a day after , a friend says , he learned he was dropped from the prosecution 's witness list . Massachusetts State Police are investigating the death of Stephen Rakes , 59 , the Middlesex County district attorney 's office said Thursday . A jogger reported finding Rakes ' body Wednesday in Lincoln , west of Boston , said Stephanie Guyotte , a spokeswoman for the district attorney 's office . An autopsy to determine cause and manner of death was conducted Thursday by the chief medical examiner 's office and no signs of trauma were found , according to Guyotte . Results are pending toxicology tests , which generally takes several weeks to complete . Bulger is charged in the deaths of 19 people during some two decades when prosecutors say he terrorized South Boston as the head of the Irish mob . He also faces charges of extortion , racketeering and money laundering . He has pleaded not guilty to all charges . Shot-by-shot testimony in Bulger trial makes jurors squirm . Rakes had alleged that Bulger forced Rakes to sell his South Boston liquor store to him in the 1980s . Steve Davis , a brother of one of Bulger 's alleged murder victims and a friend of Rakes , said that Rakes learned Tuesday that the prosecution had dropped him from its list of potential witnesses . `` I was upset for him ... because he was looking forward to '' testifying , said Davis , who said he 'd become close to Rakes in the months leading to Bulger 's trial , which began in June . Davis said he tried to reach Rakes on Tuesday but his call was not returned . Asked whether Rakes was upset about being dropped , Davis said : `` I think it was real devastating to him . '' Last Monday , former Bulger associate Kevin Weeks testified that `` it was n't your regular extortion , '' adding that Rakes offered to sell his store to Bulger . Weeks explained to the federal jury that Rakes was willing to sell his liquor store Stippo 's for $ 100,000 , but tried to back out of the deal at the last second . Weeks , who on the stand repeated over and over `` I do n't like Rakes , '' said that Bulger had forced the store owner to take the deal . Expletives fly between Bulger and Kevin Weeks . Rakes later told the media that Weeks was a liar and that his liquor store was `` never for sale . '' Weeks turned state 's evidence after he found out Bulger was an FBI informant and led law enforcement to a quarry of shallow graves in Boston tidal marshes . He pleaded guilty to assisting in five murders in 2000 and served five years in prison in exchange for cooperating against Bulger . A representative of the U.S. attorney 's office that is prosecuting Bulger declined to comment Thursday on the death . Rakes `` showed up at court every day for this trial , '' Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen told `` CNN Newsroom . '' He said he last saw Rakes at the trial on Tuesday . `` He 's been waiting decades to tell his story , '' Cullen said . Michael Connolly , a lawyer who once represented Rakes , told CNN on Thursday that he was shocked to learn of Rakes ' death . `` I saw him a month ago , and he looked fit , healthy , and was in good spirits , '' Connolly said . `` He was looking forward to testifying at the 'Whitey ' Bulger trial . '' CNN 's Susan Candiotti and Ross Levitt contributed to this report .
Stephen Rakes , Last Monday , is found dead in a Middlesex County -area town . DA recently was dropped from a list of potential witnesses against Stephen Rakes ` Whitey '' Bulger . He had no obvious signs of trauma ; police are investigating , DA 's office says . Rakes had alleged Rakes , a reputed former Boston mob boss , took his store from him .