Whitey Bulger death brings ‘overwhelming joy’ to victim’s family who ‘hopes he suffered’

'I want to get a bottle of champagne and pop that cork,' says wife of victim

James ‘Whitey’ Bulger’s death made headlines across the world after the notorious Boston gangster was allegedly killed by a fellow prisoner with Mafia ties.

However, for one of his victim’s families, the new was immediately met with jubilation.

“I want to get a bottle of champagne and pop that cork,” Patricia Donahue, who was married to Michael Donahue when Bulger shot and killed him as he left a bar in 1982, told WFXT-TV in Boston. “You die the way you live. He was killing people, he was killed.”

Ms Donahue and her son, Tommy, discussed Bulger’s impact on their family Tuesday after the 89-year-old was found unresponsive in a federal prison earlier this week. Investigators are looking into Freddy Geas — a career criminal and Mafia hit man — as a potential suspect.

Shortly after it was discovered Bulger had been serving as an FBI informant, the Donahue family was awarded $6m — a judgement the government later successfully appealed.

The family never received the lump sum, even though it appeared Mr Donahue’s death was the result of bad timing. Bulger was actually targeting his neighbourhood friend Edward Brian Halloran, a former White Hill gang member who was also leaving the bar when the two were attacked and killed.

“I was overwhelmed with joy,” Tommy Donahue told the local news outlet. “Of course I hope he suffered. My family has been suffering for 36 years.”

Bulger was among the FBI’s most wanted fugitives for 16 years until he was finally arrested for a litany of crimes in 2011.

The gangster, who served as the leader of South Boston’s Winter Hill gang, was sentenced to life in 2013 for a range of crimes including his participation in 11 murders. His life and crimes became embedded into American pop culture and served as the subject of several major films.

Additional details surrounding Bulger’s death remained unclear.