Federal judge’s son is shot dead and her husband wounded after attack by man dressed as FedEx driver

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The son of a federal judge has been shot dead and her husband critically wounded after they were attacked at their home by a gunman dressed as a FedEx driver.

The attack happened at the home of Esther Salas, 51, an Obama-appointed District Court judge, in North Brunswick, New Jersey, on Sunday evening.

The judge’s 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl was killed, and her defense attorney husband Mark Anderl, 63, was critically injured. 

Daniel is believed to have opened the door to the gunman at around 5pm. He was shot ‘in the heart’ immediately, according to friends of the family.

His father Mark was then shot several times when he went to the front door to see what had happened. The gunman fled. 

Judge Salas had recently been assigned to a civil financial fraud case tied to Jeffrey Epstein.  

It was brought by Deutsche Bank investors who claim the bank made false and misleading statements about its anti-money laundering policies and failed to monitor ‘high-risk’ customers including convicted sex offender billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. 

Earlier this month the bank agreed to pay a $150million fine for continuing to work with Epstein after he was convicted of soliciting underage prostitutes in 2008.

Judge Salas also sent TV stars Teresa and Joe Giudice from the Real Housewives of New Jersey to jail for tax evasion and fraud. 

It’s unclear whether her husband is actively involved in any cases.  

Anderl was a prosecutor for 10 years before switching to private practice.

During his time in the prosecutor’s office, he tried more than 100 cases including 33 murder trials.  

Francis ‘Mac’ Womack, the mayor of North Brunswick, New Jersey, said that Daniel was ‘shot through the heart’.

Mark is reportedly in critical but stable condition at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick.

Judge Salas is believed to have been in the basement of the home during the shooting and was unharmed in the attack, according to NBC New York.    

Neighbors told MyCentralJersey that police were knocking on doors asking for any security video footage of the area.

‘They are still here, not just the police but the FBI, there are agents all over the place,’ one woman told the news outlet. ‘It’s unbelievable what is going on.’

Another said: You don’t expect anything like this around here. We all know our neighbors, we all greet each other and it’s a quiet area.’

Crime scene tape could be seen stretching around the perimeter of the family home located in the Hiddlen Lake section of North Brunswick. The street had been closed off to traffic.  

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, the leader of the Newark Bloods street gang to 45 years in prison. 

She has also dealt with cases involving members of the Grape Street Crips according to NJ.com. The case was connection with a long-running drug-trafficking network that was taken down by the FBI in 2015. 

Judge Salas had received death threats in the past but as of Sunday night, authorities have not suggested the shootings are linked to any of her previous cases.

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

‘No words can express the sadness and loss we share tonight as a community after senseless shootings of the husband and son of USDC Judge Esther Salas,’ she said. 

The mayor said investigators are now ‘trying to get a hard make on the vehicle’ to try and track the suspect. 

‘We commit to do all we can to support the family in this time, as well as all law enforcement agencies involved,’ Womack said. 

The mayor noted how close the family appeared to be  

‘He’s a very very exuberant, vibrant, one hundred percent pleasant person,’ Womack said to CNN. ‘He loves to talk about his wife, and he loves to brag about his son, and how his son would excel in baseball, and how he was doing down in college in Washington … I’m just very sorry to see him going through this.’ 

The U.S. Marshals have also been called to provide the judge with a security detail, according to a law enforcement official. 

Salas had sat a judge on the U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark, for nine years and was the first Hispanic woman to serve on the federal bench in the state. 

Before that she spent five years as a magistrate judge, and nine years prior to that as a federal public defender before President Barack Obama nominated her to serve as a District Court Judge in 2010. 

The daughter of a Cuban mother and a Mexican father, Salas spent part of her childhood on welfare after a fire destroyed her Union City apartment, according to The Globe.  

Her husband, Mark Anderl also works in legal circles and served as an assistant prosecutor in Essex County, New Jersey for ten years before becoming a criminal defense attorney. 

Salas met her husband when he was working as a prosecutor and she was working as a law school intern. He spotted her ‘getting fingerprinted’ and came over to talk to her, she told New Jersey Monthly in February 2018. ‘We’ve been inseparable since 1992,’ she said.

New Jersey’s politicians were quick to react. 

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement: ‘Judge Salas and her family are in our thoughts at this time as they cope with this senseless act. 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.’ 

‘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. My prayers are with Judge Salas and her family, and that those responsible for this horrendous act are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice,’ said Democratic New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez in a statement. 

The FBI, U.S. Marshals, New Jersey State Police along with the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General have been on the scene of the shooting throughout Sunday evening.  

‘The FBI is investigating a shooting that took place at the home of Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick Township, NJ early this evening July 19. We are working closely with our state and local partners and will provide additional updates when available,’ the bureau said in a statement. 

So far, police have not announced any arrests or named any suspects, however the FBI tweeted it was looking for ‘one subject’ in the shooting. 

Anyone who thinks they may have relevant information should call the FBI in Newark at 973-792-3001.