A lawyer for the family of Vernon Hunter, the man killed in last week's plane crash at the IRS building in Austin, has announced a lawsuit that names the pilot's wife. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed along with a temporary restraining order and it's the Temporary Restraining Order that is at the heart of the legal action.
Last Thursday when Joe Stack flew his plane into the Echelon building Vernon Hunter was the only person inside the building to lose his life. Tuesday, the attorney for Hunter's widow filed a wrongful death lawsuit with a temporary restraining order to prevent the public release of Hunter's autopsy.
"The family wanted the autopsy report on Mr. Hunter to remain private," said Daniel Ross, the attorney representing Hunter's family.
Ross said the family was concerned about graphic details about Hunter's death being released.
"Mr. Hunter had 8 grandchildren at various ages and they simply did not want any of them reading the details of the autopsy," Ross said.
Legally, there could have been no temporary restraining order without a lawsuit. That's why the wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the estate of Joe Stack. The suit names Stack's wife, Sheryl, as the administrator or executor of that estate, which is also required by law according to Ross. Ross said he did not alert Mrs. Stack about the suit because he didn't know how to reach her.
"My client of course has stated that her heart goes out to Mrs. Stack and she considers Mrs. Stack as much a victim in this as anyone else," Ross said.
Ross said while money is not the motivating factor behind this civil suit, it is his job to find out if the Stack estate has anything left.
I can't tell you what my client is seeking. I quite frankly don't believe at this point that's really an issue that's near her mind, she hired me to do a job.That job, at the moment, is to stop the release of the autopsy.
Ross said he plans to ask Sheryl Stack if she had gone to the authorities before going to motel the night before the attack, could this entire incident have been avoided?
