The families of some of James “Whitey” Bulger’s victims spoke out Wednesday amid word of the notorious Boston gangster's ambush murder at a West Virginia prison earlier this week.
Patricia Donahue, whose husband Michael Donahue was killed in a 1982 Bulger-linked shooting, told the Boston Globe on Wednesday she spent a long time waiting for the day to come.
“All I really wanted to do was get that Champagne bottle and pop that cork,” she said. Her husband was killed after driving around FBI informant Edward Halloran, who implicated Bulger in a murder. Bulger gunned down Donahue in a hail of bullets that were meant for Halloran, the Globe reported.
“It’s been a long time waiting,” Patricia Donahue said. “Now, my family can relax a little bit now that we don’t have to worry about hearing his name all the time.”
Michael Donahue’s son, Tommy, expressed his happiness about Bulger’s death in a separate interview with WFXT-TV.
“I was overwhelmed with joy...Of course, I hope he suffered. My family has been suffering for 36 years,” he said.
Steven Davis, the brother of Debra Davis, who Bulger was said to have strangled to death, told the Boston Globe he was happy to learn about Bulger’s murder.
“He died the way I hoped he always was going to die,” he said.
Bulger, 89, was found dead at USP Hazelton on Tuesday.
Bulger had been attacked by three men in the general population sector of the prison, according to TMZ. One of the men used a lock tucked into a sock as a weapon and the group attempted to gouge the gangster’s eyes out and cut out his tongue, the gossip site reported, citing a source. His death was being treated as a suspected homicide.
While no suspects have been officially named, the Boston Globe reported Fotios “Freddy” Geas was being looked at as the man behind Bulger’s death.
Bulger, who was a fugitive for 16 years, was sentenced in 2013 to life in prison after being convicted of several crimes including racketeering and money-laundering. The jury believed he took part in 11 of 19 killings.
He was one of America’s most wanted criminals until he was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.
The medical examiner pronounced Bulger dead on Tuesday after “life-saving measures were initiated” and ultimately proved unsuccessful, the news release from the Bureau of Prisons said.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified and an investigation has been initiated. No staff or other inmates were injured, and at no time was the public in danger,” the news release said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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