New Jersey Men’s Rights Lawyer Investigated for Second Murder in California

Two men’s rights activists on the national scene end up in murderous tragedies within a little over a week. One, Marc Angelucci is murdered, and then, a few days later, across the country, another, Roy Den Hollander is accused of murder in a case with uncanny similarities.

Both cases have remarkable parallels, and now authorities are investigating whether they could be linked. Did Den Hollander kill Angelucci before authorities believe he showed up at the home of a federal judge, Esther Salas, gunning down her husband and son while possibly wearing a FedEx uniform to throw the victims off? Daniel Anderl, 20, a college student, died in the attack. Mark Anderl, the judge’s husband a criminal defense attorney, was wounded. The judge was not injured in the July 19 attack.

“As the FBI continues the investigation into the attack at the home of US District Court Judge Esther Salas, we are now engaged with the San Bernardino CA Sheriff’s Office and have evidence linking the murder of Marc Angelucci to FBI Newark subject Roy Den Hollander,” the FBI Newark revealed.

The FBI office did not detail that evidence. The Daily Beast reported, however, that authorities have evidence Den Hollander traveled to California during the time frame of the homicide.

Marc Angelucci, a prominent men’s rights attorney who was featured in the controversial documentary The Red Pill, was killed in a similar way on July 11 by an unknown male assailant wearing a FedEx delivery driver’s uniform who shot him to death in the doorway to his home in San Bernardino County, California.

The shooting death happened at Glenwood Drive in Cedarpines Park, a small mountain town where Angelucci lived. He died of gunshot wounds, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Furthermore, other links have emerged between Angelucci and Den Hollander.

Den Hollender had the name and photo of New York State’s chief judge, Janet M. DiFiore, in his car, The New York Times reported. One possible motive given to the Times by investigators: That Den Hollender, recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, was taking out his enemies. He is dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being found shot in his car in New York. The targeted judge, Salas, is the first Latina woman to serve on New Jersey’s federal bench, NBC New York reported.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Federal Investigators Are Looking Into Whether Den Hollander Was Involved in Angelucci’s Murder After Angelucci’s Name Was Found in Den Hollander’s Car

Marc Angelucci

The suspect and motive in Angelucci’s slaying are not clear. However, Den Hollander is now under scrutiny in connection with the case. The New York Times is now reporting that federal investigators are probing whether Roy Den Hollander might be involved in Angelucci’s murder. CBS Los Angeles reported the same, saying that a law enforcement source told the station that “the killing of a prominent men’s rights movement attorney in San Bernardino County may be linked to the shooting at the New Jersey home of a federal judge.”

There are obvious similarities: Reports that a killer wearing a delivery uniform knocked on the door only to open fire. Both shootings happened between 4-5 p.m. on a weekend. Both men worked on cases to open up the military draft to women, and the Daily Beast reported that Den Hollander had Angelucci’s name in his car when he was found dead of apparent suicide. Daily Beast is reporting that “One law-enforcement source said papers that mentioned Angelucci were found in or around Den Hollander’s car,” although the nature of them is unclear.

According to Spectator.com, in the Angelucci case, a knock came to the door. A friend answered it, but “the delivery man said he had a package that Angelucci needed to sign for. Marc went to the door. Shots were fired.” The New York Times reported that the person at the door also wore a FedEx uniform.

“Apparently somebody came to the house, posed as a delivery person,” Harry Crouch, the president of the National Coalition for Men, told CBS Los Angeles. “And when he left, Marc was dead.”

Crouch stressed to CBS that Den Hollander wasn’t a member of his group. “I immediately saw a link,” Crouch said to the television station. “But I want to be real clear, he’s not a NCFM member. Why isn’t he? Because I threw him out five or six years ago, because he was a nut job.”

“Marc was extremely well-spoken and a skilled publicist for men’s issues, appearing on the Phil Donahue show, on Dr. Phil, and in countless other television, radio, and newspaper outlets,” the National Coalition for Men wrote in a statement. “Marc published op-ed opinion pieces in the Los Angeles Times and numerous other press outlets, tirelessly speaking out for a fairer, kinder world.”

2. Angelucci Won Cases Involving Male-Only Draft Registration & Den Hollander Also Filed Suit on That Issue in New Jersey

FacebookMarc Angelucci

Both men worked on the same issue in different lawsuits in different states: Challenging the male-only draft. However, one man who knew them believes this could have provided motive for murder.

“…Roy was furious, and beyond words furious, absolutely enraged that NCFM (National Coalition for Men) and Marc Angelucci were getting into the Selective Service case. He viewed that as something proprietary for him,” Oaul Elam said in a Facebook video, according to Daily Beast. “He viewed it as his domain and he saw Mark’s work in that response as a intrusion into his space… he was livid.”

Angelucci was the vice president and board member of the National Coalition for Men.

A congressional candidate named Ronda Kennedy praised the work “he had done legally in winning many groundbreaking cases such as an equal protection case against the Selective Service Administration overturning male-only draft registration. He previously won a case in California, Woods V. Horton, that held it is unconstitutional to exclude male victims of domestic violence from state funding for victim services.”

“My heart is breaking over the tragic and senseless death of my friend and co-counsel on several cases – Marc Angelucci,” she wrote.

The National Coalition for Men outlines similar accomplishments for Angelucci, writing:

Marc compiled a truly legendary set of legal achievements, including recently winning an equal protection case against the Selective Service Administration overturning male-only draft registration. In 2008 Marc won a landmark appellate case against the State of California (Woods v. Horton) which held it is unconstitutional to exclude male victims of domestic violence from state funding for victim services. Marc also helped draft and enact legislation to stop paternity fraud, served on the California DCSS Paternity Committee, served on the Training Committee of the L.A. County Domestic Violence Council, and testified before the California Senate and Assembly Judiciary Committees. In a remarkable tribute to Marc’s skill at building bridges and remedying discrimination, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which some might think would be opposed to much of his work, invited him to be an Honoree on their Wall of Tolerance.

Den Hollander appeared in front of Salas in a separate New Jersey case involving the male-only draft. Den Hollander left behind a memoir he published online, calling Salas “a lazy and incompetent Latina judge appointed by Obama” and saying that he “wanted to ask the Judge out, but thought she might hold me in contempt.”

The suspect “was an attorney who had a case before Judge Salas in 2015,” ABC News reported. The Daily Beast reported that the case was a “challenge to the military’s male-only draft.”

However, Salas didn’t side against Den Hollander’s cause, although the case is still pending. In March 2019, USA Today reported, Judge Salas “allowed a legal challenge to the male-only military draft, increasing the pressure on Congress to decide whether any future conscription should apply equally to men and women – and whether the requirement to register should exist at all.”

The plaintiff was a New Jersey woman, Elizabeth Kyle-Lebell, who tried to register for Selective Service twice. According to USA Today, Salas “dismissed Kyle-Labell’s argument the male-only draft requirement deprived her of due process but allowed another one – that a male-only draft deprives women of ‘equal protection of the law’ – to proceed.” The New York Times reported that Hollander left that case last summer, saying he had terminal cancer.

In his book, Den Hollander discussed the draft case and Salas by name. “Unfortunately, Judge Esther Salas granted DOJ a do-over of its prior motions to dismiss the case for lack of ripeness under Rule 12(b)(1) and failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6). Judge Salas had never made a decision on those motions. She had ‘terminated’ them allegedly because of the political shenanigans in Congress. Was she trying to keep this case in her court until a weatherman showed her which way the legal winds were blowing…” he wrote.

3. Sheriff’s Officials Say an ‘Unknown Male’ Shot & Killed Angelucci & It’s a Scene Similar to the Salas Shooting

Website photoRoy Den Hollander

According to a news release by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, police learned of the Angelucci homicide at 4:03 p.m. on July 11, 2020. The suspect was described as an “unknown male.”

Authorities have released few details in the case. “On Saturday, July 11, 2020 at 4:03 p.m. Twin Peaks deputies responded to a report of a shooting at 22400 Glenwood Drive. Upon arrival deputies found the victim, later identified as Marc Angelucci, unresponsive and suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. Medical aid also responded and Angelucci was pronounced deceased at the scene,” their press release says.

“The investigation is ongoing. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this time. Detectives are asking anyone that witnessed the shooting or has information to contact Detective Simon Demuri, Specialized Investigations Division – Homicide Detail at (909)387-3589. Callers can remain anonymous.”

The killer fled in a car, which is what happened in Angelucci’s death too.

The FBI’s Newark office confirmed Den Hollander, who filled his website with rants against women, is the “primary subject” in the attack on Salas’ home. The FBI tweeted, “Den Hollander is now deceased. Individuals who believe they have relevant information should contact us at 973-792-3000, Press Option 2.”

4. Angelucci Was Described as Having a ‘Magnetic’ Personality by the National Coalition of Men, for Which He Served as Vice President

FacebookMarc Angelucci

Angelucci was the vice president and board member of the National Coalition for Men.

“Marc Etienne Angelucci, Vice-President and Board Member of the National Coalition for Men (NCFM) and longtime President and Founder of the Los Angeles Chapter of NCFM, was tragically murdered early in the morning of July 11, 2020, in front of his home in Crestline, California,” a statement released by the Coalition said.

“Marc Angelucci was truly beloved, with a personality that had a magnetism that many of his friends and colleagues found to be truly magical. Marc was an unbelievably generous man, living on a shoestring despite some personal health challenges so he could donate many millions of dollars of his time to mostly voluntary legal work on behalf of men’s rights and the genuine gender equality that is so badly needed in this country and this world.”

The website statement says that “Marc joined NCFM as a law student in 1997 after seeing his friend physically abused for years by his wife and then denied domestic violence services because he is male. In 2001 he formed the L.A. chapter of NCFM and served as its president until 2008, during which time NCFM-LA became an active chapter that organized rallies, filed lawsuits and received significant media attention.”

The statement concluded: “Marc was a man full of joy and love, a true pleasure to know for all of us fortunate enough to be able to call him our colleague and/or friend. If Marc Etienne Angelucci didn’t exist, we would need to invent him, though honestly the man so far exceeded any dreams any of us could possibly have for an unbelievable combination of shining personal qualities and amazing professional achievements. While wildly successful on the legal front, he was a fabulously down-to-earth, loving man when not demolishing opponents in courtrooms to promote justice. Rest In peace, our dear fallen soldier. No finer man ever walked the planet.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center has been harshly critical of elements of the men’s rights movement.

Angelucci appeared in The Red Pill, a movie about the men’s rights movement. The documentary is controversial. A scathing review in Daily Review wrote, “The director’s central hypothesis is that, in the present day and age, women have it better than men…The Red Pill should not be laughed away or derided as benign flapdoodle. It is a dangerous film, in that it presents men going through hard times a convenient catch-all narrative; a panacea for their woes.”

Cassie Jaye, the filmmaker behind The Red Pill, wrote a tribute to Angelucci on her website. It says in part:

He never initially planned on being a ‘men’s rights attorney’ (as I labeled him in my film), but his big heart wouldn’t let him turn his back on good, innocent people needing legal counsel. The more he worked on these cases, the more he learned how unjust the system was. In his 20 years of practicing law, he became one of the most sought after and effective attorneys to fight on behalf of men (and women) in cases where gender discrimination was apparent, such as cases involving: child custody, divorce, paternity laws, domestic violence services, criminal sentencing, military conscription, public benefits, false accusations and education.

5. Den Hollander Was Also a Prominent Figure in the Men’s Rights Movement

Profile picRoy Den Hollander

Den Hollander had a website that is full of grievances. “The terms Feminists, Fanatical Feminists, Rabid Feminists, or Feminazis, are used interchangeably. Some people use the terms Ideological Feminists, Radical Feminists, or Militant Feminists,” Den Hollander wrote. “It doesn’t matter what you call them; they intend to create and perpetuate a legal, social, and economic substratum occupied by men toiling in a Fritz Lang ‘Metropolis’ underworld.”

Over the years, he filed many prominent lawsuits. He argued that Ladies Nights and women’s studies programs were discriminatory, and he accused prominent members of the news media of RICO violations for, in his mind, publishing misleading information about President Donald Trump.

“Now is the time for all good men to fight for their rights before they have no rights left,” Den Hollander wrote on his website. “Contact Roy to help battle the infringement of Men’s Rights by the Feminists and their fellow sisters the PCers.”

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