Donahue, his two brothers, and mother scrutinized every gesture of the 81-year-old crime boss who slumped into a chair at his hearing on the fifth floor of the federal courthouse in South Boston. It was a moment they never thought would happen, figuring the FBI would rather not find him or that he would die before they did.
When the seemingly hale man with the white beard ambled into the courtroom in New Balance sneakers, a white hoodie, and with a jovial smile, they were enraged.
“What I thought when I saw him was that he was an arrogant jerk,’’ Michael Donahue, one of Tommy’s older brothers, said after the proceedings. “It was like he was enjoying the attention.’’
Their brother Shawn said he hoped a trial would reveal the identity of the other triggerman. Their father was shot as he drove home Brian Halloran, the intended target of Bulger’s wrath. Halloran was also killed.
“Whatever he’s feeling, this is a great day for my family,’’ Shawn Donahue said. “I look forward to seeing him rot in prison a really long time.’’
Other relatives of victims killed during the mobster’s reign of terror said yesterday that they had no interest in traveling to the courthouse, which was deluged with reporters and others who came to see the man who had eluded authorities for 16 years.
Mary Callahan, 71, whose husband John was slain in 1982, allegedly at Bulger’s direction, said she had better things to do than see his court appearance.
“This man is sick,’’ she said of Bulger in a phone interview.
The body of her husband — a former president of World Jai Alai, a gambling company — was found in the trunk of a rental car in the parking lot of Miami International Airport. His body had to be identified by fingerprints.
Callahan said she hopes a “nonpartial’’ person will be in charge of the investigation to ensure that the truth emerges.
“We need different insights,’’ Callahan said. “You can’t just have the FBI looking into this.’’
