Page 3 - Joe Stack News Today

Making time with us tonight. another couple who have been so generous with their time if youve seen any of our coverage at all during the day. a couple from the state of connecticut, joe and valerie yankis. theyre with us by phone after a long night last night, a long night today. joe, let me start with you. you were at the concert last night. did i hear you say earlier today you are a career firefighter and so have experience as a first responder? >> yeah, im a retired firefighter right now. an...

Joe stack knew exactly where he was going, the echelon building in austin, which housed the irs. >> it was like a fireball. people let out a scream all around you. people were crying. >> reporter: stack slammed his plane between the first and second floors of the building. it exploded on impact. one man in the building was killed, vernon hunter, an irs employee. immediately, there were fears that this was an act of terrorism. but it wasnt. it was simply one mans grudge against the irs. and then ...

>> reporter: it took some time for cheryl stack to get to this point. for two years, she has struggled. but has found comfort in her music and her faith. >> i have been more sad than mad. suicide is so painful on so many different levels. then you add the public factor, the public suicide. >> reporter: it was february 18, 2010. an angry and violent joe stack set his familys house on fire, then drove here to the georgetown municipal airport, boarded his single engine plane. >> ready for departure...

Rewrote violence is not only the answer, but is the only answer. >> i dont know who that is. i dont know that man. i learned a lot being up in the air with joe. one of the things i learned up there is that the sun is always shining on the other side of the clouds. it might be a really dark day. it might be a terrible, terrible day, but on the other side of those clouds, the sun is shining. >> reporter: coming up -- >> he never gave any idea that he was involved in murdering people or eating them...

Cheryl played piano, joe played bass guitar. two years later, in a small ceremony in austin, they married. joining them was cheryls 12-year-old daughter, margo. did he ever talk about how he was angry with the government, angry with the irs? >> when we were dating, he did talk about the irs. he didnt seem so angry. he just didnt like them. >> reporter: but actually, joes emotions ran much deeper. in the 80s while living in california, he was part of an anti-tax movement, even forming his own tax...

What would soon become his suicide mission. he wrote "desperate times call for desperate measures," and violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. ♪ this is whats left of the home that joe stack burned down. is it hard to come back here? >> thats hard to answer. its not as hard as it was initially. it was really hard right after it all happened. >> reporter: cheryl says in the months before he became more angry with the irs and audit. he started to blame her and daughter margo for...

She said okay. so we left. >> reporter: cheryl took her daughter to this nearby ramada inn. she never heard from joe again. the next morning this is what cheryl drove up to. the morning of the fire, they took refuge at a neighbors home. it would be there that she would discover the fate of her husband on the local news. >> they interrupted the house fire to show that a plane had crashed into a building. >> reporter: how did you react when you realized it was his plane and it was him? >> well, i ...

>> ready for departure. >> reporter: and was cleared for takeoff. >> 39 delta, cleared for takeoff. >> whats your direction of flight, sir? >> reporter: at 9:44 a.m., joe stack was headed for his final flight. joe stack knew exactly where he was going, the echelon building in austin, which housed the irs. >> it was like a fireball. people let out a scream all around you. people were crying. >> reporter: stack slammed his plane between the first and second floors of the building. it exploded on i...

>> i dont know who that is. i dont know that man. i learned a lot being up in the air with joe. one of the things i learned up there is that the sun is always shining on the other side of the clouds. it might be a really dark day. it might be a terrible, terrible day, but on the other side of those clouds, the sun is shining. >> reporter: coming up -- >> he never gave any idea that he was involved in murdering people or eating them or whatever. >> reporter: randi kaye on a sadistic serial killer...

I still love joe. i dont think that joe was a bad person. >> reporter: it took some time for cheryl stack to get to this point. for two years, she has struggled. but has found comfort in her music and her faith. >> i have been more sad than mad. suicide is so painful on so many different levels. then you add the public factor, the public suicide. >> reporter: it was february 18, 2010. an angry and violent joe stack set his familys house on fire, then drove here to the georgetown municipal airpor...