Page 5 - Joe Stack News Today

Today, that manifesto still haunts cheryl stack. what do you say to people that may be listening to you and thinking, how could she not know about this rage, about this manifesto, about this anger? >> i knew that he was angry, but i thought he was angry at us. about the irs, i didnt know that he was violent. how could i possibly know he would do a thing like that? >> cheryl met joe stack through a mutual friend in 2005. both loved music. cheryl played piano, joe played bass guitar. two years lat...

How could i possibly know he would do a thing like that? >> cheryl met joseph andrew stack through a mutual friend in 2005. both loved music. 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...

To this 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 think i was just -- just in complete and utter...

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 after it all happened. >> repo...

♪ 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 about divorce. >> he said we were the cause of all of his troubles. but that was ...

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 struggled. but has found comfort in her music and her faith. >> i have been more sad than mad.

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 exempt home church. his run-ins with the irs continued for decades. joe and cheryl got audited in late 2008, and once again, joe was in another battle with the ...

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 takeoff. >> whats your direction of flight, sir? >> reporter: at 9:44 a.m., joe stack was headed for his final flight. ...

>> reporter: then came their final night together. >> after he had dinner, we sat down in the family room and he was just talking. he just wanted to leave. and he said he was just going to -- we didnt know what he was talking about. i said mom, hes not even taking a toothbrush with him. where is he going? 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 ...

Boarded his single engine plane -- >> georgetown tower, dakota 2889 deltas ready for departure. >> -- and was cleared for takeoff. >> whats your direction of flight, sir? >> 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 me. a few people were crying. >> stack slammed his plane between the first and second floors of the building. ...