It’s been a year and just a couple of days since Judge Esther Salas suffered through an unthinkable tragedy, the brutal shooting murder of her son Daniel in the doorway of their home. Her husband Mark Anderl was also hit three times and lucky to survive. But Salas, a Los Angeles native who sits on the federal bench in New Jersey, was patient while being pelted by the press with questions on this sad anniversary from hell. Understandably, she was eager to talk about a new piece of legislation called “Daniel’s Law,” which is already on the books in the Garden State and has bipartisan support in Congress. The law makes it a crime to publicize personal information on federal or state judges, including addresses, phone numbers and other data pertaining to their families. There is hope that it will become nationally recognized by the end of the year.
The memories that Salas has of that fateful evening are still vivid and raw.
“It started out as one of the best nights ever,” she recalls.
She and Daniel were down in the basement cleaning up after her son’s 20th birthday party. It was a special bonding moment. After Salas had endured three miscarriages, Daniel was considered a “miracle baby” and an only child. The pair were involved in a meaningful conversation when the doorbell rang. Daniel bolted up the stairs in a celebratory mood and answered the door, his dad Mark right behind him. Waiting on the porch was an older man posing as a delivery driver. He pulled out a gun and shot Daniel square in the chest. Then he fired several rounds at Mark before running toward his vehicle.
“It was gruesome,” recalls Salas, who at first thought a bomb had exploded. “There was my son holding his chest, and my husband was bleeding out in the floor.”
Daniel wouldn’t make it and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Mark’s condition was critical and he is slowly on the mend. As the events unfolded, the assailant turned out to be Ray Den Hollander, 72, a racist anti-feminist attorney who had appeared before Salas in a previous court appearance. According to police, Hollander turned up dead later on from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, and a short hit list of female judges was found hidden in his car by the FBI.
“I was targeted because I’m a woman and a Latina,” Salas believes. “My son took a bullet that was intended for me.”
Salas has been outspoken about increased security for federal judges, even though it is illegal for judges to petition for new legislation on a state or national level. But she has several powerful friends in her corner, including New Jersey Governor Phillip Murphy and several influential senators on The Hill. According to the U.S. Marshal Service, a total of 4,500 credible threats have been made against judges across the country in last year alone, so this is a mushrooming problem among revenge-minded criminals, and even lawyers like Hollander.
“I’ve leaned on my faith and have forgiven this man,” says Salas regarding the murder. “But I don’t want my son’s death to be in vain.”
