Page 4 - Joe Stack News Today

This is kind of scaring me. >> reporter: did you think he might do something that wasnt right? >> i kind of had like a feeling that something was going to happen, like something bad. i told my mom i wanted to leave. 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 f...

Joe and cheryl got audited in late 2008, and once again, joe was in another battle with the irs. a battle he wasnt going to lose. joe stack started to document 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 afte...

>> 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 dont think i did react. i t...

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. >> reporter: and was cleared for takeoff. >> 39 delta, cleared for t...

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. >> reporter: and was cleared for takeoff. >> 39 delta, >> whats your direction of flight, s...

Plane and it was him? >> well, i dont think i did react. i think i was just -- just in complete and utter shock. he wrote in the manifesto that violence is not only the answer, but it 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 th...

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 all his problems, and he became increasingly strict with margo. cheryl talked and divorce. >> he said we we...

Two years later, in a small ceremony in austin, they married. joining me was cheryls 12-year-old daughter, margo. did he ever talk about how she was angry with the government, angry with the irs? >> when we were dating, he did talk about the irs. he just cant 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 exempt home church. his run-ins with the irs continued for decades. jo...

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 impact. one man in the building was killed, vernon hunter,...

When ordinary energy is put in the hands of extraordinary people, amazing things happen. the kind of things that drive us to do more, to go further, to be better. were dedicated to being a company you can count on, because youve always been customers we believe in. your energy plus ours. together, theres no limit to what we can achieve. ♪ 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