James Kauffman and four other defendants who have been charged in connection to the murder of April Kauffman will make their first court appearances on Thursday.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office says all of the appearances will be conducted via video. The schedule is as follows:

11:30 - Joseph Mulholland

12:30 - James Kauffman

1:30 - Ferdinand Augello, Paul Pagano, Tabitha Chapman

The remaining defendants will be heard during first appearances when they are brought into the state: 47-year-old Beverly Augello of Summerland Keys, FL - 1st degree Racketeering; 37-year-old Glenn Seeler of Sanford, NC - 1st degree Racketeering; 36-year-old Cheryl Pizza of Murrells Inlet, SC - 2nd degree Racketeering.

Five years after South Jersey radio host April Kauffman was found shot to death in her home, investigators say they finally cracked the long-unsolved mystery, charging her husband with paying a hitman more than $20,000 to kill his wife. James Kauffman, a 68-year-old doctor who remained under a cloud of suspicion for years, was one of eight people charged in connection to his wife's homicide, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said Tuesday. According to Tyner, Kauffman spent a year plotting his wife's demise after she threatened to divorce him and expose his illegal drug practice involving the Pagan Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. And while Kauffman and his gangster associates are facing charges, the gunman who pulled the trigger never will. Prosecutors say the hitman died of a drug overdose a year after slaying.

With prior reporting from Sergio Bichao.

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