Report: Gunman Who Attacked Judge Esther Salas’ Home Kills Self, Was Lawyer Involved in 2015 Case

UPDATE: A suspect in the fatal shooting has been identified as attorney and men’s rights activist Roy Den Hollander, according to the New York Post.

The suspect was later found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound near Liberty, New York, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News. A municipal employee discovered the body in a car.

The deceased suspect was an attorney who had a case before Judge Salas in 2015, sources said. A FedEx package addressed to Judge Salas was discovered in the car, sources said.

“As a judge, she had threats from time to time, but everyone is saying that recently there had not been any,” said Mayor Womack, who is personal friends with the judge and her husband.

The deceased suspect connected to the shooting of federal judge Esther Salas’ son and husband was a lawyer who had a case before Salas in 2015, according to ABC News.

Late Sunday evening, the FBI confirmed the deadly shooting had taken place in North Brunswick Township in Middlesex County. In a statement to CNN, Chief Judge Freda Wolfson first revealed that Daniel Anderl — the 20-year-old son of Salas — had been killed, and that her lawyer husband Mark Anderl was badly wounded. Salas was in the basement at the time of the shooting and was not hurt. Investigators believe an individual posing as a FedEx driver arrived at their home at around 5 p.m. local time, ABC News reported.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) said in a Sunday statement: “My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) condemned the deadly shooting as a “senseless act,” adding that “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.”

Salas’ highest-profile case in recent years was the financial fraud case involving husband-and-wife “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 their 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.

More recently, Salas has presided over an ongoing lawsuit brought by Deutsche Bank investors who claim the company made false and misleading statements about its anti-money laundering policies and failed to monitor “high-risk” customers including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.