Atty: Pilot’s widow dropped from suit

AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) - The attorney representing the widow of the IRS worker killed in a suicide plane attack said the pilot’s widow will be removed from the wrongful death lawsuit filed in Travis County district court.

Daniel Ross, attorney for Valerie Hunter, the wife of Vernon Hunter, told KXAN that Sheryl Stack will be removed from the lawsuit.

The lawsuit will continue to seek unspecified damages and names the estate of Joseph Stack as a potential defendant. Stack's widow, as potential executor of the estate, was originally named in the lawsuit.

The suit is also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the Travis County Medical Examiner's office from releasing the details of Vernon Hunter's autopsy report.

Ross said Valerie Hunter is seeking to protect her children and grandchildren by keeping those details private.

Authorities said 53-year-old Andrew Joseph Stack III deliberately crashed his single-engine plane into the building on Feb. 18 in a suicide attack. Vernon Hunter, a 68-year-old manager in the IRS office, was killed in the crash.

Stack left behind a long Internet post blaming the IRS for personal problems spanning decades.