Yellowknife (Oct 24/03) - A widow of one of the nine miners killed in the 1992 Giant Mine blast wept on the stand Wednesday as she spoke about life after the death of her husband.

"A bad day is when Sept. 18 happens again in my mind," said Doreen Vodnoski, in reference to the day her husband David and eight others were killed by a bomb planted by disgruntled miner Roger Warren.

Vodnoski, along with relatives of the dead miners, are suing a host of defendants including Warren, the territorial government, Royal Oak Mines and former company president Peggy Witte for more than $15 million.

They say the defendants were negligent because security lapses allowed Warren to have access to materials to build the bomb, then plant it at the 750 level of Giant Mine.

On the stand, Vodnoski said she has been unable to keep a job since 1993 because she constantly thinks about her husband's death.

"I find it really hard to deal with people when I'm having a bad day."

Vodnoski has had a scattered work history since being fired from YK Motors less than a year after her husband's death.

Most of her income has come in the form of widow's benefits from the Workers Compensation Board and the Canada Pension Plan.

When Vodnoski's lawyer, Jeffrey Champion, asked if she could forget about the blast long enough to hold a job, she said no.

"It's not a choice to relive that day."

Much of Wednesday's testimony focused on Vodnoski's financial records and income tax returns filed by her late husband.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs are trying to show their clients lost millions in past and future income by the deaths of their relatives.

Vodnoski was one of several family members who offered tearful testimony this week in a case that is expected to last 10 months or more.

Jim O'Neil was expected to take the stand Thursday.