Rich Quinn doesn’t want to be known as "that guy whose wife was murdered at Trolley Square." For his own peace of mind, he had to move beyond that.
But he struggled desperately for three years with the reality that the love of his life and his wife of four years, 29-year-old Vanessa Quinn, had been gunned down at random along with four others on Feb. 12, 2007. Rich was supposed to meet Vanessa at Trolley Square, where the pair had planned to buy wedding bands.
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"We got married on the spur of the moment a few years before, but never got around to buying wedding rings," he recalled. "One day she called and said, ‘Let’s do it tonight.’ "
Five years later, he remembers Vanessa as a vibrant person who was "caring, kind of shy, and always putting other people first."
Now 39, Rich has yet to find a new partner. "It’s a conscious decision. I don’t want to replace her," he said. "It wouldn’t be fair to me or the person who was in my life."
Although he’s opened a new chapter in his life, the tragedy has lasting repercussions. "We had planned on starting a family. I don’t think I’ll ever have children now."
Rich was in the Trolley Square parking lot when the shooting began. He remembers a young man coming out of the mall bleeding. He guided paramedics to him as police poured into the mall. When law enforcement cordoned off the area, Rich, who had been unable to contact Vanessa on her cell phone, went home. When she didn’t show up, he rushed back to Trolley and, with the help of friends, found a photographer who had posted photos on the Internet.
"I looked in his camera," Rich said, recalling an image of a woman lying on the ground. "I knew it was her. I don’t remember anything after that."
During the months after her death, Rich said he drank too much and was reckless. "I was completely out of control with every facet of my life."
His friends tried to help. "We’d do a lot of cycling. That helped get my mind off it," he said. "But I wasn’t even close to healing after a year."
It wasn’t until about three years after Vanessa’s death that Rich decided to take back his life.
"I got tired of being the guy whose wife was killed," he said. "I went from being a great rep [for Hilti Power Tools] to being a guy that was almost pitied. My life was stuck in a holding pattern. I needed to make some big changes."
Rich quit the job he had held for 10 years and started his own company. Although it’s been fairly successful, he’s ready to change gears again. He’s thinking of starting another business and, in the meantime, he may climb Mount Rainier in July.
"I’m a very different person now. In some ways a better person, more compassionate, more ready to share," he said. "But sometimes I’m sad. People don’t understand. But how could they?"
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