The Grudge

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1:29Danny bounded up the steps to answer the door, and then the 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. Why Daniel, out of all people, one of the sweetest kids I've ever met. Her husband was rushed to the emergency room for surgery. I was just in total shock. You get a call that there's been another murder. Correct. A man knocked on the door, said, are you Mark Angelucci? And he said yes, and then just started shooting. We weren't expecting to link up a murder in California to the attack here in New Jersey. I just thought this is crazy.

2:14Nobody's safe. A mother's devastating pain and staggering realization. I had a feeling that the person probably wanted me. It's personal. This was revenge. Most assuredly, yes. That someone would come to my door and take my only child. It's unfathomable. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline.

2:43Here's Andrea Canning with The Grudge.

2:52Summer 2020, in the throes of a pandemic, a killer had devised the perfect plan for murder. Our guard was down because that bell was ringing so often. Home deliveries had become a way of life. Some of these packages were being delivered by people out of their own cars. So there was no cause for alarm when on a lazy Sunday afternoon, a man rang the doorbell at the home of a prominent family in North Brunswick, New Jersey. And I remember my son looking at me and going, who's that? They had no idea. Evil was waiting on the other side. I saw my son lying perpendicular to the door, holding his chest.

3:36And then I remember just screaming.

3:45On a warm summer Friday evening, Esther Salas, her husband Mark Andrell, and their son Daniel were celebrating, in a socially distant way, Daniel's 20th birthday. We rented a tent in the backyard and set up this real long table, and a few of his friends from Catholic University came. It was a glorious weekend. Daniel was just, he was jumping out of his skin. He was so excited. Daniel and his friends continued the celebration the next day with a trip to the beach. By Sunday afternoon, everyone had gone home. It was July 19th, around 5 p.m. Mother and son were cleaning up the basement and sharing a special, albeit fleeting, moment.

4:22I think he was swinging a wiffle bat or something, and I remember him saying, Let's keep talking, Mom. I love talking to you, Mom.

4:33And at that exact second, the doorbell rang. Curious, Daniel shot up the stairs to answer the door. The next thing I heard were this bang, this loud sound that I had never heard before. And I hear Mark say, no. And then I hear, bang, bang, bang. And I just screamed, what is happening? And I ran up the stairs. What do you think is happening? Do you have any idea at all? No, the only thing I could think of is that it was a bomb. And I was preparing myself as I'm running up the stairs to see, like, body parts everywhere. But what I saw was just as worse as anything that I had imagined. She saw Daniel lying on the floor by the front door.

5:19Her husband, Mark, was crawling on the porch, trying to catch a glimpse of the attacker's license plate as he drove away. I remember Mark crawling back, and we were both just screaming, Danny, hold on, hold on. I heard him moaning softly. And I actually lifted his shirt and saw the bullet hole. Did you say anything to him knowing that this might be the last time that you would be with him? No, no, I just kept saying, hold on, honey, hold on. And I knew he was such a fighter that there was a part of me that, you know, if anyone could do it, Daniel will. Mark had been shot, too, multiple times. I know Mark was screaming, call 911.

6:05Patrol officers with the North Brunswick Police Department arrived within minutes. Deputy Chief Joseph Battaglia was at a family picnic when he got the call. In North Brunswick, shootings are rare, so this one especially 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 that there was two individuals were shot, and it was the house of Judge Silas. Do you know right away who Judge Salas is? Yes, I'm familiar with the name, yes. Judge Esther Salas was the first Latina federal judge to preside in New Jersey, appointed by President Obama in 2011.

6:44Bataglia quickly learned it was Salas' husband Mark, a defense attorney, and their son Daniel, who'd been shot. When the first responding officers arrived, Daniel had a pulse and he was breathing. They administered basic first aid. What condition was Mark in? Surprisingly, Mark was talking and he was sitting up and he was tending to Daniel. EMTs raced Mark and Daniel to the hospital. Officers searched the area. They secured the home, they secured the perimeter, and then they set up a canvas of the area. Did they find anything that's of significance? We spoke to the neighbor next door who had actually very good information.

7:21said he saw an individual, white male, tall, thin, wearing a mask, had a FedEx messenger bag, got into a silver or blue Nissan Sentra, and fled the area. Based on eyewitness accounts, the deputy chief felt confident the shooter had left the area. Our concern was where was he going next, being that this was a federal court judge. Were those his targets? More federal judges? Yes. So you're thinking maybe this guy has a hit list of some kind? Yes. But Taglia's gut was telling him the judge was the intended target, but he couldn't be sure. Because Mark also was a defense attorney who had probably made some, you know, possibly some enemies over the years.

8:02He called in the cavalry. FBI, ATF, state police, county prosecutors, U.S. Marshals, U.S. Attorney's Office, our agency. This was serious. It was a large operation, yes. The largest police operation he'd ever been a part of. And they were all worried about the same thing. Would the shooter strike again? The clock was ticking.

8:29When we come back. I kept asking, how's my son? How's my son? For Judge Salas, pure agony. I remember just screaming, screaming. While investigators turned to her husband for what could be critical clues. He couldn't actually speak, but he was able to tap out certain words to talk about what he saw.

9:06As law enforcement hunted the shooter, a police officer raced federal judge Esther Salas to the ER. Her husband and son were fighting for their lives. Daniel, her only child, had been shot in the chest. What do you learn when you get to the hospital? You know, I knew it was bad because I kept asking, how's my son, how's my son? Somebody tell me something, and nobody was saying anything. And the doctors came in and broke the news to me that he didn't make it. And I remember just screaming, 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.

9:50She shouted to anyone who would listen. Can someone tell me about Mark? I need to know if I'm planning one funeral or two. As she waited for an answer. It just became way 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 had ripped through his liver and intestines. The thought of also losing her husband was too much to bear. They had met 28 years earlier in the prosecutor's office. She was an intern. He was working homicide. I think it was love at first sight for us. And we've been inseparable since 1992. And he's just the love of my life.

10:36And now the life they had built together flashed before her eyes. A deeply religious woman, she focused on praying for her husband. Whoever did this was out there. Oh, yeah. And that has to be absolutely terrifying. It was, but you know, it was the last thing I was thinking about at that point. But back at the crime scene where FBI Special Agent Joe Dennehan had now taken the lead on the case, he thought about little else. The first thing that ran through my mind was, we are going to be having to gear up for a pretty serious manhunt. The subject was in the wind. We knew there could be additional threats to public safety.

11:12His team fanned out, interviewing 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 door frame, the door jam, the doorbell, and the doorknobs, which we rushed to Quantico. Along with the bullets and casings from a.380 handgun, they were recovered in the judge's front hallway. He also sent agents to the hospital hoping to interview Mark, who'd seen the shooter up close. But when they arrived, Mark was being prepped for his second surgery. So he's got to get into surgery and you need your information because this guy's on the loose.

11:50Correct. And Mark is now able to speak with you all? So Mark was intubated, so he couldn't actually speak, but he was actually able to spell out and tap out certain words for us to try to talk about what he saw. Mark moved his fingers over a laminated alphabet, spelling out what he remembered. What was he able to tell you in this intubated state? So he indicated that it was a single male who had dressed up like a delivery person. He provided a little bit of a physical description, which matched generally what we had from witness statements. There were conflicting reports about the man's race. He'd been described as Caucasian, Hispanic, or Middle Eastern.

12:30But they all agreed on one thing. His height was either 6 '2 or taller. You know, the demographic was broad, but his height was unusual. We felt that 6 '2 or taller was something that we could work with. Mark pulled through that surgery, which gave the judge some relief. But she still struggled to process all that had happened. It's just hard to imagine that on a Sunday, after such a beautiful weekend, 5 o 'clock in the afternoon, that someone would come to my door and take my only child. It's unfathomable. Who would do this to their family? As the hours ticked by, an army of law enforcement officers was trying to answer that question.

13:15Agent Dennehan had his theories. At the top of our list was someone that had a personal grievance against Judge Salas herself. We also, though, had to consider could it be someone that was targeting our husband, Mark? And lastly, and even though it was unlikely, could someone have been targeting Danny himself? Shortly after the shooting, the FBI paid a visit to Danny's good friends, brothers Casely and Colson Goodwill. We basically sat there and spoke with them for about 30 minutes to an hour. Did they ask you if Danny had any enemies? Yes. Someone who might have wanted to hurt him? Yeah, but I told them, I mean, there was no one, even when I think now, there's no one that ever had any resentment towards him.

13:57In fact, they say it was quite the opposite. Why Daniel, out of all people, one of the sweetest kids I've ever met in my entire life, the nicest, hardworking, you know, just to this day. The brothers couldn't believe that anyone would want to kill their friend. They'd just been with Daniel a few days before playing football, something they did regularly. He could throw like 50 yards off one step. So we'd be playing for about an hour and he's just throwing the ball. So far, me and my brother are running. We get tired. We're like, all right, Daniel, we're tired. They said Daniel was a tough competitor, but also the most selfless person they knew.

14:33When his high school baseball coach offered to take the entire team out to Buffalo Wild Wings if anyone could memorize 75 ways to be a good player. Respect for your opponents. Thank your parents. Relax aggression. Daniel did it. Win every series. I go to... What do you think when you see that video? It's very inspiring, I'd say. I know that's him and everything he's saying, that's what he encompasses as a person and as a sportsman. He wants to see the best out of himself and everybody else around him. Another friend of Daniel's, Connor Quigley, agreed. Danny was always looking out for everyone else.

15:11He just always had my back. I always can count on him. He'd be that person to come over and just be able to tap me on the back and say, hey, I'm with you, whatever you're going through. Where do you think this comes from? I think definitely his parents. His parents were just such loving people to Dan and to everyone around him. And I think that really shows where Dan gets it from. Loving parents who felt incredibly blessed to have Daniel. After multiple miscarriages, the judge says they weren't sure they would ever have children. I lost three children before Daniel, and I lost one after Daniel.

15:42Oh my gosh. So Daniel was literally our miracle baby. She couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm her son. Neither could the FBI. After talking to Daniel's friends and searching his social media, they had all but ruled him out as the target. By nightfall, they were no closer to finding the shooter. With the pressure mounting, they focused on Mark and the judge and anyone who might have a grudge against them. Coming up, a hard look at Judge Salas' most contentious cases. One involving two men and a brutal crime. crime. They had a bad reaction to one of the rulings the judge had made, and they were over six foot two with a violent criminal history.

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18:09The high-profile murder of a federal judge's son quickly made national news. This was a brazen crime. A gunman apparently disguised as a delivery man. The FBI was asking anyone with information to contact them. Special Agent Dennehan and his team were following every lead. knowing the stakes were high. We needed to identify, locate, and neutralize that subject before anyone else could be heard. You have a killer on the loose. Correct. Agents worked through the night. With the judge's son crossed off their list as a possible target, they turned to her husband, Mark. Was there anyone that you could think of that might have wanted to harm Mark because of a case that he had handled?

18:54Mark is a very well thought of defense attorney. So although he's 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 early morning hours at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. The loss of her only child was sinking in. Daniel was your everything. He was the center of my universe, our universe. He was everything. Was he a mama's boy? Oh, the biggest mama's boy. He and I had a connection that, you know, quite frankly, is amazing. Her despair from Daniel's death was compounded by a horrifying realization.

19:38Her job as a federal judge was most likely the reason her son was gone. There's a part of me immediately after everything happened that I sort of said to myself, you know, did I make the right decision?

19:56But then I 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. And he's like, why, Mom? And I said, well, honey, it's going to require a lot of Mommy's time, and, you know, I just worry about the impact on you. And he says, oh, I get that, Mom, I get that. And there was this pause. And then all of a sudden he goes, but if it was me, I'd take the job. Did that seal the deal right there? That sealed the deal. That was his way of saying, go for it.

20:36Agents dug through the judge's cases. One in particular caught Denahan's attention. It involved a violent crime with the defendant and an accomplice. They had a bad reaction to one of the rulings the judge had made. And they were over six foot two with a violent criminal history. Just hours after the shooting, it was enough to put them at the top of the suspect list. Around midnight that evening, we had moved a significant number of assets towards them. So secretly watching this person and his accomplice? Correct. Utilizing cell phone analysis, geolocating where their cell phone was, where they were, and stuff of that nature.

21:15But by 3 a.m., investigators had ruled them out. So based on like maybe where they had been? Correct. At the time of the shooting? Correct. Investigators also looked into Judge Salas' most high-profile case in recent years. The sentencing of Real Housewives of New Jersey reality TV stars Teresa and Joe Giudice for financial fraud charges. Joe was pretty upset. He got deported to Italy from all of this. Did you think that there was any chance that a relative was seeking revenge? We took a look at all the high-profile cases, but they really did not produce any evidence that led us to believe that.

21:54Judge Salas also doubted anyone from that case would be involved. That case definitely made you a more high-profile judge because there was so much media around it. I really approached that case like I approached 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 would give anyone else, no matter who comes before me. I treat everybody the same. It was another dead end. Every theory Agent Dennehan and his team chased down left them empty-handed. Throughout the entire evening, as we were waiting on the evidence to arrive at Quantico, we were really building out our theories, but we had no one at that time.

22:42But things were about to change as the sun came up the next morning. Deputy Chief Battaglia 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 Sheriff's Department in California. The detective happened to be watching TV. He saw the broadcast on a FedEx individual with a mask going up to our house and shooting two people. The detective said just days before, they had had a similar case. He said, I know it probably has nothing to do with it 3 ,000 miles away. And we said that's exactly what happened dressed up as a UPS guy.

23:21Are you thinking it's a long shot, but yeah, maybe this is connected? That's what we were thinking. It was highly unlikely, but we had to follow every lead. Coming up, another sudden savage attack in a doorway. This person said, are you Mark Angelucci? And he said yes, and then the individual just started shooting. Were you just shocked when you heard that? It was shocking. We weren't expecting to link up a murder in California to the attack here in New Jersey.

24:05Deputy Chief Bataglia had just been briefed about a recent murder in California. And as he learned more details, it sounded eerily familiar. You are dealing with the same MO. You've got someone dressed as a delivery man with a gun. And we also know that the shell casings are the same caliber used in New Jersey. So this is a real possibility that these cases are connected. Yes. Where do you go from there? I immediately notified the FBI. Agent Dennehan was told the victim in California, Mark Angelucci, a 52-year-old lawyer, had been shot in his front hallway eight days before the shooting at Judge Salas' house.

24:44Were you just shocked when you heard that? It was shocking. We weren't expecting to link up a murder in California to the attack here in New Jersey. In California, Mark Angelucci's colleague, Michael Konzaki, got a call from a mutual friend just hours after the shooting. I could tell that he was crying, and he kind of came out and said, Mark's been murdered. As a private investigator and former homicide detective, he needed to know more. He started making calls and quickly learned it was Mark's roommate's father who answered the door. This person said, are you Mark Angelucci? He said no. He offered to sign for the package, but the delivery man said he needed to see Mark in person to get a signature.