From Deseret News archives:
Quinn's husband hopes to turn his grief into a force for good
"The one thing is, when you get up in the morning and you leave your loved one, for some reason, she gave me a really passionate kiss that morning," Rich Quinn said. "I don't know why, but I'm glad she did."
Quinn reflected Wednesday on his wife's horrific death Monday evening. He was meeting her to finally buy her a wedding band that night, when the shooting rampage began.
"We got married four years ago. We didn't have money. We never wore wedding rings. I was meeting her there to buy a wedding ring," he said, sobbing. "I called and told her to come. ... "
Salt Lake City police believe Vanessa Quinn, 29, was gunned down by 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic as she walked by the Williams-Sonoma store inside the mall.
"I saw a guy stop. He turned, there was a girl standing in front of our store, and he shot her," Marie Smith, a clerk at Bath and Body Works said Monday night.
When the shooting started, Rich Quinn was hurried out of the mall and couldn't find his wife in the panicked crowds.
He returned to their home, but when time passed with no word, he and his friends went back to Trolley Square.
"I asked the police for information. They didn't give me any," he said.
His brother had seen photographs of a body inside the Trolley Square mall on the Internet. Quinn said he walked over to a news photographer, asked to look through his lens and saw his wife.
"I knew instantly it was her, even though you couldn't see her face," he said. "The clothes, the way her shirt was pulled up. I knew it was her."
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he offered his thanks to Ken Hammond, the off-duty Ogden police officer who got into a shootout with Talovic. Surrounded by family and friends, Quinn also offered condolences to the other victims' families.
"We send our condolences to the other families because we know what they're going through," said Rich Quinn's brother, Ed.
Rich met Vanessa in Ohio in 1999. They shared their first kiss on a New Year's Eve. Family members described her as an adventurous woman and a skilled soccer player. In 2001, Rich Quinn said they moved to Utah, and she got a job at at Overstock.com.
Comments
- Exhibit serves Old Masters revisions 3:21 p.m.
- Cheat Sheet: Shoveling snow 3:18 p.m.
- 50-plus crowd loves Web dating 3:18 p.m.
- Why do we hate? Academics ask 3:18 p.m.
- Palliative medicine draws doctors 3:18 p.m.
- Relationship: Thanksgiving 3:18 p.m.
- Survival strategies for 'Black Friday' 3:18 p.m.
- A garden fit for a Hobbit 3:13 p.m.
- Green Bay beats 49ers 30-24 3:00 p.m.
- Lions beat Browns 38-37 2:58 p.m.
- Glenn Beck to enter politics?
- BYU records with win
- Jazz outlast Pistons in overtime
- Cougars turn focus to dreaded rivals
- Police link alcohol to murder
- Utah Utes whip SDSU
- Former BYU professor remembered
- Cougars put the fun back in football
- Kirilenko heating up for the Jazz
- Y. coach Hill up for Portland State job
- Buttars wants to limit gay rights laws
200 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
174 - Glenn Beck to enter politics?
170 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
123 - BYU records with win
120 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
103 - BYU cuts Women's Research Inst.
100 - Jazz finally win in San Antonio
98 - Utes knock off rival Aggies
93 - Huntsman pleased with Obama
87
A little after midnight Wednesday morning, about 21 hours ago as I write...
There's a lot of reason to leave your plastic home as you shop:
NO MASS EXPENSIVE DEPORTATION IS NEEDED? E-VERIFY IS VASTLY BECOMING THE...
I believe this, and the next few, will be among the best Y hoops years ever....
How about testing the brain power of the owners who have animals which end up...
I'm a stoked to watch RSL tear these clowns to pieces. BOOYAH!
Boozer is doing great and some people are talking about trading him. He is a...
The US may be number one in gun violence but think how much worse it would be...
"Only that Mendenhall tapped into an important component of his team for the...
I have been to a couple Utah-BYU games in Provo. Both times, I was subjected...
Are you a little confused today John? First...divorced men being compared to...
Re: Give it a rest Who do you call if you have an emergency on Sunday?



You can be the first to comment on this story.