FRONTLINEPRIVACY
Family targeting

The 2020 attack on Judge Esther Salas's family — the case that led to Daniel's Law

2020-07-19·North Brunswick, New Jersey

Daniel Anderl, the 20-year-old son of US District Judge Esther Salas, was shot and killed at the family's North Brunswick home by an attorney who had researched the judge's home address through publicly available channels. The case directly produced Daniel's Law in New Jersey and the federal Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act.

What happened

On July 19, 2020, attorney Roy Den Hollander arrived at the home of US District Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick, NJ, posing as a FedEx delivery driver. He shot and killed Daniel Anderl, the judge's 20-year-old son, who answered the door. He critically wounded the judge's husband, Mark Anderl. Judge Salas was in the basement and was uninjured. Den Hollander, a self-described anti-feminist lawyer who had appeared before Judge Salas in a 2015 case, fled the scene and took his own life the following day in upstate New York. Investigators determined he had compiled an extensive dossier on the judge — including her home address, daily routines, and family details — assembled in part from data obtained through commercial information channels. The FBI later linked him to the murder of a competing men's rights attorney in California earlier that month.

What happened

On the evening of July 19, 2020, a man dressed as a FedEx delivery driver arrived at the home of US District Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The judge's son Daniel, 20, opened the door. The attacker shot Daniel, killing him. Mark Anderl, Salas's husband, was also shot and critically wounded. Judge Salas was in the basement and was uninjured.

The attacker, attorney Roy Den Hollander, fled and was found dead the following day in upstate New York from an apparent suicide. Investigators recovered evidence that he had compiled a detailed file on Judge Salas, including her home address, family member names, and routines.

How it started

Den Hollander had appeared before Judge Salas in 2015 representing a client in a case challenging the Selective Service System. Reporting after the attack established that he had spent significant time researching Salas through publicly accessible information sources — including data sold by people-search and commercial data brokers. The dossier reportedly contained Salas's home address, the names of her husband and son, and information about her family's routines.

The FBI also linked Den Hollander to the murder of a competing men's rights attorney in California earlier in July 2020 — a case where the victim's home address was likewise found through public channels.

What this means for you

If you're a sworn officer, a judge, a prosecutor, or anyone whose work makes enemies: the data that someone like Den Hollander used to find his target is the same data that's on a broker page about you right now. Daniel's Law was passed in NJ in direct response to this attack — it lets covered persons sue brokers themselves for failing to remove their info. The federal Lieu Act extended a similar mechanism to federal judges in 2022.

The legal mechanisms work after the fact. Continuous broker cleanup is the part that works before the next attempt.

Editorial rules: Only public, already-reported incidents. Never name a non-public victim. Always end with the prevention takeaway tied to our service. Cite at minimum one public source per claim.

What would have prevented this

Den Hollander built his target file from publicly available sources and commercially purchased data — the same channels that put any sworn officer's, judge's, prosecutor's, or first responder's home address on a broker page today. Daniel's Law (NJSA §47:1B-1) was passed directly in response to this case, giving covered persons the right to sue brokers themselves for failing to remove their info. Daniel's Law gave covered persons a way to force removal. Doing the removal — and redoing it when the listing comes back — is what turns the law from a remedy into a deterrent.

Run a free scan. No signup.

Public sources