Self-described ‘anti-feminist’ lawyer eyed in shooting of New Jersey judge’s family
A self-described “anti-feminist” lawyer found dead in the Catskills of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound is considered the prime suspect in the shooting of a federal judge’s family in New Jersey, the FBI said Monday.
Roy Den Hollander, who received media attention from appearances on Fox News and Comedy Central for lawsuits challenging perceived infringements of “men’s rights,” was found dead Monday in Sullivan County, N.Y., two officials with knowledge of the investigation told the Associated Press.
The FBI said Den Hollander was the “primary subject in the attack” and confirmed he had been pronounced dead but provided no other details. Found among his personal effects was information about another judge, New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, a state court spokesperson said.
A day earlier, a gunman posing as a FedEx delivery person went to the North Brunswick, N.J., home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas and started shooting, wounding her husband, defense lawyer Mark Anderl, and killing her son, Daniel Anderl.
Salas was at home but in another part of the house and was unharmed, said the officials, who could not discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Den Hollander had a gender-equity lawsuit, filed in 2015, that was being heard by Salas involving a young woman who wanted to register for the military draft. He also mentioned the judge in writings posted online, deriding her as a ladder climber who traded on her Hispanic heritage to get ahead.
A package addressed to Salas was found with Den Hollander’s body, the officials said.
In a screed Den Hollander posted online, he also wrote of posing as a FedEx delivery person to speak with a young girl, the same tactic the gunman apparently used at the door of the judge’s family home.
Den Hollander was best known for unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of “ladies’ night” promotions at bars and nightclubs. His litigation, and willingness to appear on television, earned him spots on “The Colbert Report” and MSNBC.
Daniel Anderl was set to be heading back shortly to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he was named to the dean’s list this spring.
“I was shocked last night to hear news of Daniel Anderl’s tragic death Sunday evening in New Jersey. Daniel was a rising junior, enrolled for classes beginning in the next few weeks,” university President John Garvey wrote on Twitter. “He turned 20 last week.”
Homeland Security plans to deploy 150 agents to Chicago amid growing controversy nationally about federal force being used in U.S. cities.
Salas, seated in Newark, was nominated by President Obama and confirmed in 2011. Before that, she served as a U.S. magistrate judge in New Jersey, after working as an assistant public defender for several years.
In more than 2,000 pages of often misogynistic, racist writings, Den Hollander criticized Salas’ life story of being abandoned by her father and raised by her poor mother as “the usual effort to blame a man and turn someone into super girl.”
In another section — part of a collection posted online that resembled an early draft of a memoir — he wrote: “When a lunatic shows up with a gun, what do you want for a defense — PC ideology or a six-shooter?”
Den Hollander’s writings also point to a possible connection to the area where he was found dead. He described going to a family cabin in the Catskills community of Beaverkill.
Den Hollander hardly got wealthy from his chauvinistic crusades and filed for bankruptcy in 2011, citing more than $120,000 in credit card debt, as well as rent and other expenses that tallied up well above his means. In the filing, Den Hollander estimated he made about $300 a month from his work, with the bulk of his income coming from a $724 monthly Social Security payment.
Salas, born in California to a Cuban immigrant mother and Mexican father, spent most of her childhood in Union City, N.J. After helping her family escape a devastating house fire, she acted as her mother’s translator and advocate, foreshadowing her career in law as she argued her family’s case to welfare officials, according to a 2018 magazine profile.
In the profile, Salas spoke of her son possibly following his parents into the legal profession.
“He’s been arguing with us since he could talk — practicing his advocacy skills,” Salas told New Jersey Monthly. “I don’t want to dissuade him, but I was pulling for a doctor.”
Several college friends had spent the weekend visiting Daniel for his birthday, leaving just hours before the shooting, neighbor Marion Costanza said.
“These are people that will never see their friend again. Then to think of Esther losing her only child. It’s just devastating,” said Costanza, a lawyer who watched Daniel grow up, and had dinner plans this week with his parents.
“I want the world to know what a beautiful kid this was,” she said. “It’s just devastating.”
She said that Salas a few years ago “was a little nervous because she was getting high-profile cases,” but had not mentioned any recent concerns. She last saw Mark Anderl walking the family’s two large dogs on Saturday.
Last week, Salas was appointed to hear an ongoing lawsuit brought by Deutsche Bank investors who allege the company made false and misleading statements about its antimoney laundering policies and failed to monitor “high-risk” customers including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prosecutors say surveillance video shows Fahim Saleh’s assistant buying the electric saw and cleaning supplies found at the scene of Saleh’s murder.
Her highest-profile case in recent years was the financial fraud case involving “Real Housewives of New Jersey” reality TV stars Teresa and Joe Giudice, whom Salas sentenced to prison for crimes including bankruptcy fraud and tax evasion. Salas staggered the spouses’ sentences so that one of them could be available to take care of their four children.
In 2017, she barred federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against an alleged gang leader charged in several Newark slayings, ruling the man’s intellectual disability made him ineligible for capital punishment. Salas later sentenced the man to 45 years in prison.
Atty. Gen. William Barr said in a statement Monday that the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service will continue investigating the shooting, adding: “This kind of lawless, evil action carried out against a member of the federal judiciary will not be tolerated.”
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
