Widow Sues Estate of Austin Crash Pilot

AUSTIN (CN) - The widow of a man who died in the suicidal plane crash into an Austin IRS building has sued the estate of the pilot and the pilot's widow. Valerie Hunter, widow of the late Vernon Hunter, sued the Estate of Andrew Joseph Stack III, Stack's widow, and the Travis County Medical Examiner; she wants to block public release of the autopsy report.

Valerie Hunter's husband died in the Feb. 18 suicide attack on the IRS Austin building. In her complaint in Travis County Court, she says that Sheryl Mann Stack "was threatened enough by Joseph Stack that she took her daughter and stayed at a hotel the night before the plane crash. Defendant Stack owed a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid a foreseeable risk of injury to others including the decedent. Defendant Stack breached that duty resulting in the death of Vernon Hunter. As a result, Plaintiffs are entitled to actual damages, exemplary damages, interest, and court costs."

Hunter claims she will be irreparably damaged if the Medical Examiner releases the results of her husband's autopsy to the public. The brief complaint does not state how she will be damaged, but she wants the release of the autopsy enjoined.

Hunter's attorney told local media that Hunter has no animus against Stack's widow. He said the complaint needed a defendant, and Stack's widow was named as a representative of the estate.

She seeks declaratory judgment, a restraining order and injunction. She is represented by the Ross Law Group.

Joseph Stack wrote a suicide note blaming the IRS for his problems.

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