Skip to main content

tv   Dateline  MSNBC  June 23, 2024 12:00am-1:00am PDT

12:00 am
back to school for journalism. i was like, it takes-- i mean, my major was communication. i can communicate quite well. however, she had one more big hurdle to get over-- another surgery, her 23rd. an operation that took hours, with a recovery period of months. brittani could have opted to not go through such torment, but for her, there was no choice. the surgery was to get her smile back. i had the biggest smile you could dream of. i was like, that's something-- that's what i want back. i'm going to go for it. she and her son were in the basement of their home when the doorbell rang.
12:01 am
danny bounded up the steps to answer the door. shots rang out. danny was hit. mark was shot in the abdomen. >> i saw my son holding his chest. i knew he wasn't going to make it. >> one of the sweetest kids i've ever met. >> her husband was rushed to the emergency room for surgery. i was in total shock. >> you get to call there's been another murder. >> correct. the man knocked on the door and said are you data and said yes and started shooting. >> we weren't expecting to link a murder in california to this attack. >> i thought this is crazy. nobody is safe. >> i had a feeling they wanted me. >> this was revenge. >> that someone would come to my door and take my only child
12:02 am
is unfathomable. hello, and welcome to dateline. esther salas was a proud mother. she and her husband just celebrated their son's birthday. as festivities wrapped up, they shared a beautiful moment with love. then hate to shattered everything. investigators questioned if the attack was part of some bigger plot and raced to unlock the mystery before the killer could strike again. here is the grudge. summer 2020, in the throes of a pandemic. a killer had devised the perfect plan for murder. >> our guard was down because the bell was ringing so often.
12:03 am
>> there was no cause for alarm when on a sunday afternoon, a man rang the doorbell at the home of a prominent family in north brunswick, new jersey. >> i remember my son looking at me and saying who's that? >> they had no idea eva was waiting on the other side. >> a semi son lying perpendicular to the door holding his chest. i remember just screaming. >> in a warm friday evening, esther salas, and her husband and her son were celebrating. daniel's 20th birthday. >> we rented a tent and set up this table and a few of his friends came. it was a glorious weekend. daniel was jumping out of his skin he was so excited. >> daniel and his friends
12:04 am
considered the celebration the next day. by sunday afternoon, everyone had gone home. it was july 19 around 5:00 p.m. mother and son were cleaning the basement and sharing a special albeit fleeting moment. >> i think he was swinging a wiffle bat or something and i remember saying let's keep talking, mom. i love talking to you, mom. at that exact second the doorbell rang. >> curious, daniel shut up the stairs to answer the door. >> the next thing i heard was bang. this loud sound i'd never heard before. and i hear saying no. then i hear bang, bang, bang. i screamed what is happening? i ran up the stairs. >> do you have any idea at all? >> no. the only thing i could think of is it was a bomb. i'm preparing myself as i run up the stairs to see body parts
12:05 am
everywhere, but what i saw was worse is anything i had imagined. >> she saw daniel lying on the floor by the front door. her husband was crawling on the porch trying to catch a glimpse of the license plate as he drove away. >> i remember marc crawling back and we were both screaming, dna, hold on. i heard him moaning softly. i lifted his shirt and saw the bullet hole. >> did you say anything to him knowing this might be the last time you would be with him. >> no. i just kept saying hold on, honey. hold on. i knew he was such a fighter that there was a part of me that if anyone could do it daniel would. >> market been shot multiple times. >> mark was screaming call 911. >> patrol officers arrived within minutes. the deputy chief was at a
12:06 am
family picnic when he got the call. in north brunswick, shootings were rare so this one caught him by surprise. it was at the home of a federal judge. what details are you given about what has happened at this house? >> they told me two individuals were shot and it was the house of judge salas. >> do you know right away who judge salas is? >> yes. i'm familiar with the name. >> judge esther salas was the first latina judge to reside in new jersey appointed by president obama. he quickly learned it was her husband, mark, a defense attorney and their son daniel who had been shot. >> when the first responding officers arrived daniel had a pulse and was breathing. they administered first aid. >> what condition was mark in? >> he was sitting up and tending to daniel. >> emts raced them to the hospital.
12:07 am
officers searched the area. >> they secured the home and secured a perimeter and then set up a campus. >> did they find anything? >> we spoke to the neighbor next door who had good information. he said he saw white male, tall, thin, wearing a mask and had a fedex messenger bag and got in a silver blue nissan sentra and fled the area. >> based on eyewitness accounts, the deputy chief felt confident the shooter had left the area. >> our concern is where was he going next? >> you are thinking he has a hit list? >> yes. >> his gut was telling him the judge was the intended target but he could not be sure. >> mark also was a defense attorney who had probably made possibly some enemies over the years. >> he called in the cavalry. >> fbi, atf, county
12:08 am
prosecutors, u.s. marshals, u.s. attorneys office. our agency. >> this was serious. the largest police operation he had ever been a part of and they were worried about the same thing. would the shooter strike again? the clock was ticking. >> coming up. >> i knew it was bad because i kept asking, how is my son? somebody tell me something. nobody was saying anything. >> for judge salas, pure agony. >> i remember screaming. screaming. >> while investigators turned to her husband for what could be critical clues. >> he couldn't actually speak but he could tap out certain words to talk about what he saw. saw.
12:09 am
icy hot. ice works fast. ♪♪ heat makes it last. feel the power of contrast therapy. ♪♪ so you can rise from pain. icy hot. (marci) so, how long have you lived here? (opponent) so yover forty years.pain. (marci) and how are the restaurants around here? are they good, bad, meh? what's the average household income? is there a mall? i don't know. a hair salon? where do you get your hair done? (opponent) you gonna move, or what? (marci) oh, i'm sorry. it's a lovely neighborhood. (luke) marci, we've gotta go. (marci) i'm coming! (luke) we've got seventeen thousand more parks to visit. (marci) you wanna give me a hand? (luke) we bring you the best neighborhood info.
12:10 am
(vo) ding dong! homes-dot-com. you are bountiful. your hair can grow 590 miles over your lifetime. it's in your nature to grow. grow thicker fuller hair with one capsule a day of advanced hair complex. nature's bounty. it's in your nature. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. nexgard® plus helps you protect your dog from fleas, ticks, heartworm disease, and more... all in one delicious, monthly, soft chew. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. nexgard® plus: the one you want for one-and-done protection. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ )
12:11 am
and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night.
12:12 am
as law enforcement hunted the shooter, a police officer raced judge salas to the eer. her husband and son were fighting for their lives. daniel, her only child have been shot in the chest. what you learn when you get to the hospital? >> i knew it was bad because i kept asking, how is my son? somebody tell me something. nobody was saying anything in the doctors came in and then
12:13 am
broke the news to me that he didn't make it. i remember screaming and shaking one poor doctor. i felt so bad. >> her son was gone and she had no idea what was happening with her husband. she shouted to anyone who would listen. >> can someone tell me what happened to mark? >> she waited for an answer. >> it began too much for me to deal with and i remember literally passing out. >> when she came to, she learned mark was in surgery. a bullet ripped through his liver and intestines and the thought of losing her husband was too much to bear. they had met 28 years earlier in the prosecutors office. she was an intern and he was working homicide. >> i think it was love at first sight. >> really? >> we have been inseparable
12:14 am
since 1992. he is the love of my life. >> now, the life they built together flashed before her eyes. a deeply religious woman, she focused on praying for her husband. whoever did this was out there. that has to be absolutely terrifying. >> it was but it was the last thing i was thinking about at that point. >> back at the crime scene brace special fbi agent had taken the lead on the case, he thought about little else. >> the first thing that ran through my mind is we are going to have to cure up for a pretty serious manhunt. the subject was in the wind and there could be additional threats to public safety. >> the interviewed witnesses and gathering evidence. were you able to find anything as far as physical evidence at the scene? >> we attempted to get prints and dna from the doorframe, doorjamb, doorbell, and doorknobs which we rushed to quantico.
12:15 am
>> as well as the bullet thing casings. they were recovered in the front hallway. he sent agents to the hospital hoping to interview marco had seen the shooter up close. when they arrived, mark was being prepped for second surgery. >> he has to get into surgery and you need your information because this guy is on the loose. >> correct. >> and mark is able to speak with you all? >> he was intubated so he could not speak but he was able to tap out certain words for us to talk about what he saw. >> mark moved his fingers over a laminated alphabet, spelling what he remembered. what was he able to tell you in this intubated state? >> indicated it was a single mail drop. -- dressed up like a delivery person. he did provided aid description. >> there were conflicting reports about his raise. he was described as caucasian, or middle eastern but they agreed on one thing. >> his height was 6'2" or
12:16 am
taller. the demographic was broad but height was unusual. we felt 6'2" or taller was something we could work with. >> mark pulled through the surgery . the judge struggle to process all that had happened. >> it is hard to imagine that on a sunday after such a beautiful weekend, 5:00 p.m., that someone would come to my door and take my only child. it's unfathomable. >> who would do this to their family? as hours tick by, law enforcement officers were trying to answer that question. the agent had his theories. >> at the top of our list was someone who had a personal grievance against judge salas but we had to consider could be someone targeting her husband, mark ? lastly and even though unlikely, could someone have been targeting danny himself?
12:17 am
>> shortly after the shooting, the fbi paid a visit to danny's good friends. >> we sat there and spoke with them 30 minutes to an hour. >> did the escrow danny had enemies? >> yes. i told them there was no one that ever had any resentment towards him. >> they say it was quite the opposite. >> y daniel, one of the sweetest kids i've ever met. nicest, hard-working. >> the brothers could not believe anyone would want to kill their friend. they had just been with him a few days before playing football, something they did regularly. >> he could throw 50 yards off one step. we would play for an hour and he's throwing the ball so far. me and my brother, we would get tired. >> they said daniel was a tough competitor but the most
12:18 am
selfless person they knew. when his high school baseball coach offered to take the team out to buffalo wild wings, if anyone could memorize 75 ways to be a good player. daniel did it. what do you think when you see the video? >> it's very inspiring. i know that's him and what he is saying. that encompasses him is a person. >> another friend of daniel's connor, agreed. danny was always looking out for everyone is. >> he always had my back and i could count on him. he would be the person that would come over and tap me on the back and say i'm with you. whatever you're going through. >> where do you think this comes from? >> his parents. they were such loving people to dan and everyone around them. >> loving parents who felt blessed to have daniel.
12:19 am
after multiple miscarriages, the judge said they weren't sure they would ever have children. >> i lost three children before daniel and i lost one after daniel. daniel was literally our miracle baby. >> she couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm her son and neither could the fbi. after talking to daniel's friends and searching social media, they ruled him out as the target. by nightfall there were no closer to finding the shooter and with pressure mounting, they focused on mark and the judge and anyone who might have a grudge against them. >> investigators suspect mark or esther may have met the killer before in the courtroom. was the shooting a twisted idea of justice? coming up. >> they had a bad reaction to one of the rulings the judge made and they were over 6'2" with a violent criminal history. >> a hard look at judge salas' most contentious cave dashed cases. >> we moved a number of assets
12:20 am
towards them. >> secretly watching this person and his accomplice? nd h?
12:21 am
12:22 am
12:23 am
the high profile murder of a feather judgments the sun made national news. >> this was a brazen crime.
12:24 am
a gunman disguised as a deliveryman. >> the fbi is asking anyone with information to contact them. the special agent and his team are following every lead knowing the stakes were high. >> we need to identify, locate and neutralize before anyone else could be heard. >> you have a killer on the loose. agents worked through the night with the judgment ski son crossed off the list as a possible target, they turned to her husband. was there anyone you could think of that might've wanted to harm mark because of a case he had handled? >> mark is a well-thought-out defense attorney. although he has represented some individuals accused of very serious crimes, we weren't aware of any that had serious grievances against him. >> as law enforcement raced to find her son's killer, judge salas spent those hours at the hospital. the loss of her only child was sinking in.
12:25 am
daniel was your everything. >> he was the center of my universe, our universe. >> was he a mama's boy? >> the biggest. he and i had a connection that is amazing. >> her despair from daniel's death was compounded by a horrifying realization. her job as a federal judge is most likely the reason her son is gone. >> there's a part of me immediately after everything happened that i said to myself, you know, did i make the right decision? but then, think about my son and how proud he was. >> she remembered when she was being considered for the judgeship. curled up in bed with daniel who was 10 at the time, she told him she was unsure if she should take the job. >> he was like, why, mom? i said it will require a lot of mommy's time and i worry about
12:26 am
the impact on you. he said, i get that, mom. i get that. there was this pause then he says, but if it was me, i would take the job. >> did that sealed the deal right there? >> that sealed the deal. >> agents dug through her cases. when a particular caught his attention. it involved a violent crime with the defendant and accomplice. >> they had a bad reaction to one of the rulings the judge made and they were over 6'2" with a violent history. >> just hours after the shooting, it was enough to put them at the top of the suspect list. >> midnight that evening, we moved assets towards them. >> secretly watching this person and his accomplice? >> utilizing cell phone analysis. geo-locating where there cell phone was and stuff of that nature. >> by 3:00 a.m., investigators
12:27 am
ruled them out. based on where they had been at the time of the shooting? >> correct. >> investigators looked into judge salas' most high-profile cases. the sentence except real house with new jersey reality stars teresa and joe for financial fraud charges. >> joe was pretty upset. he was deported to italy from all of this. did you think there was a chance a relative was seeking revenge? >> we looked at the high profile cases, but they really didn't produce any evidence that led us to believe that. >> judge salas doubted anyone from the case would be involved. that case made you a hope -- high-profile judge because there was so much media around it. >> i approached that case like i approach every other case that has come before and after. i treated them, i hope they would say, with respect and i gave them the same treatment i
12:28 am
would give anyone else no matter who comes before me. i treat everybody the same. >> it was another dead end. every theory they chase down left them empty-handed. >> through the entire evening, as we are waiting on the evident to arrive at quantico, we were building out our theories but we had no one at that time. >> things were about to change as the sun came up the next morning, the deputy chief was preparing for a debriefing with the fbi. that's when one of his officers got a call. it was a detective from the san bernardino sheriffs department in california. >> the detective happened to be watching tv and saw the broadcast on a fedex individual with a mask going up to a house and shooting two people. >> the detective said days before they had a similar case. >> he said it probably has
12:29 am
nothing to do with the 3000 miles away and we said that is what happened, dressed as a u.p.s. guy. >> you're thinking it's a long shot but maybe it's connected? >> it was highly unlikely but we had to follow every lead. >> coming up. you've got someone dressed as a deliveryman with a gun. >> and we know shell casings of the same caliber used in new jersey. >> a sudden, savage attack in a doorway. >> this person said are you mark and they said yes and the individual started shooting. >> are you shocked when you heard that? >> it was shocking. we weren't expecting to link a murder in california to this in new jersey. new jersey. as 2 weeks. so this is better. even this. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. tell your doctor right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath,
12:30 am
tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines including steroids, without talking to your doctor. ask your specialist about dupixent. nexgard® plus helps you protect your dog from fleas, ticks, heartworm disease, and more... all in one delicious, monthly, soft chew. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. nexgard® plus: the one you want for one-and-done protection. [♪♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's age renew formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond.
12:31 am
12:32 am
i'm richard lui. a dangerous heat way bringing sweltering temperatures to much of the country including parts of the ohio valley and mid- atlantic.
12:33 am
more than 100 million across the country under heat alert's with temperatures reaching triple digits. the coast guard suspended its search for two teenagers who went missing friday at a beach in queens. witnesses say they were swimming when they saw a huge wave overtake them. overtake them. welcome back to dateline. i am andrea canning. detectives were convinced the deadly shooting at judge esther salas home was connected to her job as a federal judge, but so far search for clues among her court cases had come up empty. then as an army of investigators rushed to find the killer, the mystery deepened with a stunning new development 3000 miles away. back now to the grudge. >> the deputy chief had been briefed about a recent murder
12:34 am
in california and as he learned more details, it sounded eerily familiar. you're dealing with the same memo. someone dressed as a deliveryman with a gun. >> we know the shell casings of the same caliber used in new jersey. >> this is a real possibility these cases are connected. where do you go from there? >> we notified the fbi. >> the agent was told the victim and california, marc angelucci, a 52-year-old lawyer had been shot in his front hallway eight days before the shooting at judge salas' house. where you shocked when you heard that? >> it was shocking. we weren't expecting to link a murder in california to the attack in new jersey. >> in california, marc angelucci's colleague got calls after the shooting. >> i could tell he was crying and he came out and said that mark has been murdered .
12:35 am
>> as a private investigator and former homicide detective, he needed to know more. he made calls and learned it was the father of the roommate who answered the door. >> the person said are you marc angelucci and he said no. >> he offered to sign for the package but the deliveryman said he needed to see market person . >> mark came up in this person said, are you marc angelucci? he said yes. and then, he pulled a gun. mark saw the gun and he turned to run, and then the individual started shooting. i heard he had been hit in the back of the head. >> the shooter flood and mark's roommate called 911. mark was declared dead at the scene. for michael, it was a crushing loss. what did you think of mark? >> mark is a tremendous human being. >> another friend of mark's,
12:36 am
harry, was also devastated by the news. >> i wish i could describe his smile. he enjoyed life. everything to mark was an adventure. he was afraid of nothing. he would climb pyramid in peru and party in las vegas and wherever he was, the world was better off for it. >> harry and mark were leaders of the coalition of men, controversial organization that argues men are often the victims of discrimination in the courts, media, and elsewhere. critics such as the southern poverty law center called the group a, quote, male supremacist organization. harry argues they are not anti- women. what would you say if they call it the women haters club. >> they should do their research. we have a lot of women members. obviously, that cannot be the case. >> mark did pro bono work in to custody battles and other cases
12:37 am
where he thought men were being discriminated against. in one case, he argued for mends equal access to domestic violence shelters. i spoke about it at a conference. >> you can provide at least the same counseling and legal services you give women. >> san bernardino sheriffs detectives asked harry about the cases he had been working on. >> i talked to the homicide investigator. >> they were interested in the most high profile lawsuit. it had taken on the federal government arguing it was unconstitutional to require only meant to register for the draft. mark was the lead attorney when the case came before a federal court. the judge ruled in his favor. >> we secured at that time, a positive ruling on that level of court. >> harry was not convinced there was a connection. >> mark was involved in other high conflict cases. >> what cases jumped to mind as far as possibly being connected
12:38 am
to her smarter? >> a situation and apparently there was an altercation in court that erupted into something physical i think mark duct the attorney. >> are you serious? the rumor made the rounds but that case did not concern michael. he had a different theory. >> i was interviewed and i said, i don't have any proof of anything but here is a theory. >> he had zeroed in on a case of mark's involving public officials and alleged corruption. did you think the could have been a motive some were to want mark that? >> oh, yeah. >> if he was right, what if anything did it have to do with the judge? >> coming up. >> they were working around the clock and they had no clues or motives. >> who else might be in danger? >> it terrified me. i don't know if i am a target.
12:39 am
i get one call from a strange guy that said mark didn't learn his lesson. lesson. if you have wet amd, you never want to lose sight of the things you love. some things should stand the test of time. long lasting eylea hd could significantly improve your vision and can help you go up to 4 months between treatments. if you have an eye infection, eye pain or redness, or allergies to eylea hd, don't use. eye injections like eyla hd may cause eye infection, separation of the retina, or rare but severe swelling of blood vessels in the eye. an increase in eye pressure has been seen. there's an uncommon risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. the most common side effects were blurred vision, cataract, corneal injury, and eye floaters. and there's still so much to see.
12:40 am
if you are on eylea or a similar type of treatment, ask your retina specialist about eylea hd today, for the potential for fewer injections. nexgard® plus helps you protect your dog from fleas, ticks, heartworm disease, and more... all in one delicious, monthly, soft chew. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. nexgard® plus: the one you want for one-and-done protection. (♪♪) (♪♪) try dietary supplements from voltaren, for healthy joints. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours
12:41 am
and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night.
12:42 am
♪ ♪ because breathing should be beautiful, [ grunts ] [ laughs ] the morning after the shooting in new jersey, law enforcement was working to solve a case that got marked complicated by the minute. a shooting on the east coast and another on the west coast.
12:43 am
they had no idea how they were connected. in san bernardino, detectives were on their ninth the investigating the marc angelucci murder. >> they had no clues. no motives. they were on ground zero. >> lawyer rhonda kennedy had been with market court the day before he was killed. detectives called her after the murder. >> paranoia sets in and maybe it was this one. >> she told him about the cases she and mark were working on together. how many cases did you have at that time? >> three. >> it could have been one of those potentially? >> it terrified me. i don't know if i am a target. >> rondo was running for u.s. congress. >> the middle of a congressional campaign and that's when the crazies came out. i got one call from a strange guy that said mark didn't learn his lesson will rhonda learn hers? >> that's creepy.
12:44 am
fearing for her life she got proactive instead of this tweet. >> i'm sure the cowards of murder my friend will be stupid enough to come after a congressional candidate. that's a pretty bold tweet. what were you hoping to accomplish? >> that if they came after me, i am a congressional candidate, don't be stupid. >> she highlighted one case that had made headlines. it was a case michael, the pi had mentioned to police. mark's client, a man cleared of charges was suing county officials said they unfairly seized his land while under investigation. is a one person in particular in that case that's popping into your head? >> yes. >> where they detectives looking at this person? >> they were. >> detectives were looking for someone seeking revenge. but they too had come up with nothing. the days straight down with no break in the california case until that detectives of the
12:45 am
judgment ski story on tv. judge salas was told about the development. this story got crazier when you discover that this attorney in california has been murder. what did you think of that? >> at first i was shocked and then i didn't understand the connection. >> the judge hadn't given it much thought because her attention was elsewhere. >> i was focused on mark. how serious is this and what could i do? >> her husband was clinging to life and for the moment she felt safe. >> you are in a cocoon and surrounded by security but you will have to leave this hospital and continue to live your life with this man out there. does that cross your mind at all? >> you are fearful. >> something else crossed her mind. as she sat by her husband's
12:46 am
bedside realizes someone at easy access to her personal information. federal judge data like home addresses and phone numbers is not protected like everyone else's comments available through google searches and data brokers. >> this information can be used for such nefarious purposes that we have to think about what we allow to be out there. >> a plan began to form and she made a vow to do everything to affect change. to make judges personal information hard to access. >> judges need to feel they are being protected. that we are going to be able to do our jobs without fear of being gunned down literally in our homes. >> in this case -- agent denahan believe found the address and stalked her. >> i believe he conducted research prior to doing the attacks. >> who was he? while the agent waited for reports to come back from quantico, unexpectedly came from police in upstate new york, a dead body.
12:47 am
this individual was found outside of the car with a gunshot wound? >> correct. >> something else. >> a dossier on judge salas and an envelope that looked like a rose envelope. and we found a dossier on marc angelucci. >> law enforcement knew they were connected . how? >> investigators moved quickly to unravel the clues found at the scene in new york and the stunning new evidence will blow the case wide open. coming up. what were you learning about him? >> he was 72 at the time of his death and highly educated. a practicing attorney. >> finally, suspect him mind boggling motive. >> it put his anger on steroids. steroids. copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture.
12:48 am
but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night. your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel. nothing beats it. i recommend pronamel active shield because it actively shields the enamel
12:49 am
to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a game changer for my patients. it really works. [♪♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's age renew formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond.
12:50 am
hi, i'm amanda and i lost 37 pounds with golo. of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. so i'm a hair stylist and i'm on my feet all of the time. with golo i have more energy. i'm able to work and stand on my feet 10 hours a day and to me golo means a happier life a more successful life. a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet. we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile. and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today!
12:51 am
welcome back. two murders one in each coast and less than 10 days apart had investigators mystified. the amount and type of gone were the same. another fatal shooting promised to provide fresh clues about the killer and a hard truth. a monster had been hiding in plain sight and others were in danger. now, the conclusion of the grudge. as sunday turned into
12:52 am
monday, the fbi crisis command center was buzzing. agent denahan got a big break. you have another dead body. >> correct. >> they raised to new york, two hours north of new york city. where was the body found? >> 20 feet from his vehicle in an open field. >> he got an update and they believe the man walked into the field and shot himself. >> self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. >> a search of the car and agents found those dossiers on the judge and marc angelucci and they discover the dead man's name. roy den hollander. what were you learning about him? >> he was 72 at the time of his death. highly educated and a practicing attorney. >> anything else the agent wanted to know was found in a 1500 page manifesto on his computer.
12:53 am
the pages dripped with hatred of women like his ex-wife. a russian bride who dumped him when she got to america. but den hollander saved the brunt of his anger for his mother writing may she burned in hell. >> he was misogynist. all the failures and shortcomings which were his doing , he blamed on women. >> the fbi learned he appeared on tv ranting about antifeminist lawsuits he had filed. several years ago, he was on the colbert report showing off breakdancing moves and called a difference maker pre-suit arguing ladies night at bars were discriminatory. it was looking likely that this was a man responsible for both shootings. the judge and marc angelucci were on what appeared to be a lengthy hitless found in den hollander's car and on the list, there judges and attorneys and something unexpected. >> they were people in the medical field.
12:54 am
>> doctors who had treated him. the fbi learned from reading his website that he was dying of a rare form of melanoma. do you think that played into what he did and going out in a blaze of glory? >> that's a logical theory. it put his anger on steroids. >> the fbi scrambled to connect the dots between den hollander, the judge and marc angelucci. >> throughout the next few hours, we were able to piece together that the subject, roy den hollander, had a professional relationship with marc angelucci. they were part of what's described as the men's right movement which embraces all things masculine. >> california detectives had interviewed harry about his organization. the national coalition for men. the fbi was calling him now. he knew the shooter. roy den hollander was in your group at one point. >> yes. i threw him out. >> why? >> because of his character.
12:55 am
he threatened to come out. >> according to harry, he wanted to join the federal lawsuit. the one arguing against a male only draft. >> i told him that's not going to happen. i'm surprised he didn't shoot me instead of mark. >> was he jealous of mark? >> absolutely. >> marquette a win in that case. the pieces of the puzzle were coming together quickly. the fbi determine the gun den hollander used to kill himself was the same as he used to killed daniel and marc angelucci. >> it's legally purchased in the 1980s. >> agent denahan tracked his movements minute by minute. his two week spree began on a train in new york city. >> he took amtrak to california bringing the weapon. >> surveillance captured him at the train station and in san
12:56 am
bernardino. he spent a few days in the area, most likely tracking mark, waiting for the perfect time to kill him. how does he get back? >> he returns the same way. >> he picked up the rental car in philly and drove to new jersey. >> tracking his cell phone, close proximity to the judge's residents, hours and days before the attack which indicated that he was watching her and developing a pattern. >> why was den hollander targeting the judge? she had nothing to do with marc angelucci's lawsuit. turned out den hollander filed a similar lawsuit involving the draft. his case was in new jersey and presiding over the case was none other than judge esther salas. >> i knew the case but it wasn't one that sort of even registered as a potential threat. >> you were sort of on his side. old for him.
12:57 am
>> that's the ironic part. >> she allowed the case to move forward. you must've asked yourself, why? why my family? >> as someone once told me, he hated you the moment you were born. that is something i could not change. >> because you're a woman. >> i'm a woman and hispanic. >> agent denahan found multiple references to judge salas. he said things like she was hot she was lazy. >> he impugned her extensively. he had problems with her and problems with a lot of women. >> his biggest problem with the judges he thought the case was moving too slowly. he said it was lagging far behind marc angelucci's. >> he began not to focus on the legal side but on her personally. he believes she was specifically slowing down his lawsuit. >> agents were left to wonder
12:58 am
if his vendetta was against the judge, why didn't he shoot her? >> danny and mark put up a strong enough defense of their home that it precluded him from coming forward. whether it was their body posture, the way they angled, the attitude they portrayed, whatever it was, den hollander must've felt that way and that's why he fired immediately and flood. >> i asked the agents, why do you think he didn't come into the house to finished ash i was his target. the agents line which will stay with me forever as he was met by superior forces. my son and his father. >> and now, his mother hopes that her son's sacrifice will save other lives. in december 2022, president biden's son the daniel security and privacy act into law. the bipartisan legislation
12:59 am
increases the ability of the u.s. marshals to protect federal judges with additional funding and manpower. it also takes measures to prohibit data brokers from selling judge's personal information as well as other steps to keep judges safe. >> maybe we can stop every bad thing happening to every federal judge, but we can make it darn hard for them to track us down. >> the judge has begun to pick up the pieces of her life, staying by her husband's side. has this made you two stronger? >> it has. it is just us two and our dogs. we have been inseparable. >> she took a bold step to help her move forward. >> i for gave this man during a mass at our home. i remember holding mark's and and bowing my head and saying god, i forgive him. i said it three times. and from that moment on, i feel later.
1:00 am
>> in march 2021, this trailblazing judge returned to the bench. >> i absolutely love being a united states district judge. it's a dream come true and this man took the most important thing in my life. i cannot let him take anything else from me. >> you don't want daniel to be forgotten. what you want people to leave with? >> i want people to remember daniel for what he was. he was pure joy. he was pure love. he was a boy who thought of everyone before himself. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea canning. thank you for watching. u for w this is dateline. >> her mother was a incredibly beautiful soul.

68 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on