Sotheby’s Realtor Beaten to Death by Stepson: Prosecutor

A prominent New Jersey realtor was bludgeoned to death Wednesday in the family’s luxury townhome, allegedly by her 30-year-0ld stepson.

Police were called to the scene by John Daniels Sr., who told them his son, John Daniels Jr., had killed his wife, Sotheby’s International realtor Irma Daniels, the Daily Voice reported.

Daniels Jr had fled the scene but was later taken into custody and charged with murder, hindering apprehension, and unlawful weapons possession, jail records show. He’s being held without bond.

Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Irma Daniels was beaten to death with a baseball bat.

Daniels emigrated to the United States from southern Russia in 2011 and married John Daniels Sr., a managing partner at Daniels and Daniels, a nearly 100-year-old family law firm.

Before launching her real estate career in New Jersey, Irma Daniels was a marketing director for a wine importing firm in Moscow.

John Daniels Jr. was reportedly unemployed, having last worked for his father’s law firm from 2018 to 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile, which also said he received an MBA from Boston College last year.

Musella said detectives from the his office’s Major Crimes Unit and Cresskill police are handling the investigation, with assistance from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office.

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[Featured image: John Daniels Jr./Bergen County Jail and Irma Daniels/Facebook]

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