In wake of VTA shooting, victim’s wife seeks to reform laws on compensation

AFTER A DISGRUNTLED employee killed her husband more than two months ago, Terra Fritch wanted retribution. With the shooter dead she could only take money from his estate and pension through a lawsuit. But she quickly found her way blocked.

“Every lawyer I talked to said by the time we get a conviction, and then we get into a civil suit, the money will be gone,” Fritch told San José Spotlight. “That very much angered me, that somebody can come along and choose to completely blow up your life and not have to be accountable for it in any way, shape or form.”