Suspect In Fatal Shooting Of Judge's Son In NJ Is Dead: Feds

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The gunman who fired into the foyer of a federal judge's home Sunday evening in North Brunswick, killing her 20-year-old son and critically wounding her husband who answered the door, is dead, according to federal authorities.

The FBI has identified Roy Den Hollander, an anti-feminist lawyer, as the primary subject in the attack that occurred at the home of the U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Salas' husband Mark Anderl and her son, Daniel, 20, were both shot; Daniel died.

A New York State Police spokesman told Patch that the body of a man was found on Ragin Road in the town of Rockland, in Sullivan County. His body was found at a camp site near Roscoe, a tiny town in the Catskills wilderness area of New York state.

Hollander made a career for himself as a crusading anti-feminist lawyer; in his Twitter profile he describes himself as a "men's rights attorney."

He had a case pending before Salas, and NJ.com reported he had filed a lawsuit arguing that requiring only men to register for the draft was sex discrimination.

NBC unearthed numerous web postings Hollander had written, where he railed against Salas specifically, calling her “a lazy and incompetent Latina judge appointed by Obama,” and he also allegedly wrote he “wanted to ask the judge out, but thought she might hold me in contempt.”

In 2009, he sued Columbia University because the school offered courses in women's studies but did not offer courses in men's studies, according to the New York Times. His lawsuit was thrown out.

The man was dressed as a FedEx delivery driver, sources told NJ.com, and at 5 p.m. on Sunday, he arrived at the family's home on Point of the Woods Drive, which is in the Hidden Lakes development in North Brunswick. Salas' husband answered the door and was shot multiple times, sources said; the couple's son ran down the stairs to help him and was shot as well.

Salas was in the basement at the time and uninjured in the attack, according to media reports.

"The last thing I heard is that the father ran for the door, Daniel ran down the stairs to get him — and I would believe that, that he would run down to help his father," neighbor Marion Costanza told Patch. She lives three doors down from the Salas family.

"They are very-close knit. That's the kind of family they were," she said. "He wanted to be a lawyer just like his parents — he was clerking in different law offices."

Anderl served as an assistant prosecutor in Essex County and now works as a criminal defense attorney. Salas is a Newark-based federal judge who presided over the convictions of "Real Housewives" stars Joe and Teresa Giudice, among other cases. She got her start working as a public defender, Costanza said. She was the first Hispanic woman to be appointed as a federal judge in New Jersey.

"Daniel was the love of their life; he was their only child, 20 years old," she said. "Daniel played baseball for St. Joe's (Catholic high school) in Metuchen and he was a very big baseball fan. Just a good, loving, caring family. I've never heard one thing negative about any of them."

"They are of the very highest caliber," said North Brunswick Mayor Francis "Mac" Womack of the family. "They are just the kind of real wonderful kind of people you want to have living in your town. You would meet them in the park walking their dogs."

Womack works as a municipal prosecutor in Sayreville, and he and Anderl were often "on opposite sides of the courtroom," said Womack.

"We probably had had some cases together this week, in fact," he said. "Mark is the most straightforward attorneys you've ever met. A real upstanding guy. If Mark tells you something you can take it to the back. And as long as I've known him, it's been his favorite subject to talk about his son, Daniel. He was so proud to talk about Daniel playing baseball for St. Joe's. It's an unreal tragedy."

Daniel was a student at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. The school released a statement about his death:

Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. Robert Mendendez, who recommended Salas for appointment as a federal judge, both released statements. Menendez and Salas both grew up in the same tight-knit Cuban-American community in Union City, and they are both graduates of Rutgers Law School.

“I know Judge Salas and her husband well, and was proud to recommend her to President Obama for nomination to New Jersey’s federal bench," Menendez said. "My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.”

"Judge Salas and her family are in our thoughts at this time as they cope with this senseless act," Murphy said in a statement. "This tragedy is our latest reminder that gun violence remains a crisis in our country and that our work to make every community safer isn't done."

Costanza said that when she learned of the shooting Sunday night, and that the son had been killed, "I was hysterical — I actually sat down on the ground outside house and cried. My husband cried. We were supposed to go out for dinner with them next Friday as a couple."

Costanza, who is herself a lawyer, said that Salas had mentioned to her several years ago that working as a federal judge made her nervous at times.

"But that was a few years ago; I know she had some heavy cases. But who knows? Maybe they could have been after Mark; maybe it was a disgruntled client," she said. "I know at times a police officer would drive through Point of the Woods, drive past her house, and that relaxed her. I don't think anybody recently gave her reason to be concerned."

Costanza said the case Salas most recently spoke of to her was when she presided over the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” case, when she sentenced Teresa Giudice and her husband, Giuseppe Giudice, to prison after the couple pleaded guilty to fraud.

"She loved that show, and here she was responsible for the lives," said Costanza.

Costanza also said that in addition to working as a high-profile federal judge, Salas was also a caring neighbor and loved to cook.

"During a snowstorm three or fours year ago, she made a bunch of food, and got a bunch of groceries and homemade soup, and here comes Mark and Daniel schlepping it over to us," she recalled. "That's just who she was. She was a fantastic hostess. Every year, she would have a Christmas party and invite her clerks and her former clerks."

Initial Patch report: Federal Judge's Husband Shot, Son Dies At No. Brunswick Home: PD

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