The wife of the man who piloted his small plane into an Austin, Texas, office building said Friday she is sorry for the plane crash that killed her husband and an office worker and wounded 13 others.
Law enforcement officials say Joseph Stack III, a 53-year-old software engineer, flew his single-engine craft into a building housing the Austin offices of the Internal Revenue Service. He killed himself and at least one worker.
In a statement, his wife Sheryl Stack expressed her "sincerest sympathy" for the victims and their families but offered no other comment. Rayford Walker, who said he is a spokesman for Stack family, delivered the statement standing in front of a house across the street from the Stack home, which was set on fire Thursday before Joseph Stack took to the air.
"Words do not adequately express my sorrow," Sheryl Stack said in the statement. She thanked friends, family and members of her church and asked that the media give her family "the space" to get through a difficult time.
On Friday, investigators picked through the rubble of the Echelon 1 office building and the Stack home in search of clues, including any indication that Stack put anything into his plane to maximize the damage, officials said.
On Joseph Stack's Web site, he posted a self-described "rant" that outlined expressed anger at numerous institutions, including the federal government and the Catholic Church. But the bulk of the diatribe focused on apparent multiple run-ins with the IRS. It concluded ominously: "Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well."
The Web site also made reference to "unthinkable atrocities" committed by big business that led to the recession and the government bailouts that followed. It was signed "Joe Stack (1956-2010)."
Stack flew his Piper Cherokee about 30 miles from Georgetown, Texas, to Austin, where the plane came in low over the city before plowing into the side of the building just before 10 a.m. Flames shot from the building, windows exploded and terrified workers rushed to get out.
The Pentagon scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to patrol the skies over the burning building before it became clear it was the act of a lone pilot, and President Obama was briefed.
Emergency workers initially thought people were missing inside the building but later recovered two bodies. Austin Fire Department Battalion Chief Palmer Buck declined to discuss the identities of those found but said authorities had now "accounted for everybody."
Before moving to Texas, Stack had lived in California. State records show he had a checkered business history there, twice starting software companies that ultimately ran afoul of tax authorities. His first wife had also filed for bankruptcy in 1999, listing a debt to the IRS of nearly $126,000.
From NPR staff and wire service reports
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