Dr. James Kauffman is the fifth death in eight months at the county jail where he was awaiting trial.
KEARNEY, N. J. — A doctor accused of ordering his wife’s murder has taken his own life in jail, authorities say.
Dr. James Kauffman, 68, of Linwood, N. J., was found dead Friday morning in his cell at Hudson County jail, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Linwood resident was being held at the northern New Jersey facility « as a result of credible threats to his life » when he was originally housed in the Atlantic County Jail, the prosecutor’s office said.
Officials said an investigation is continuing and declined further comment.
► Jan. 10: Claim: Doctor seeking radio-host wife’s death over drug ring was mob target ► Jan. 9: Doctor charged with having wife killed to protect drug ring
Kauffman and Ferdinand Augello, described as a leader of the Cape May County chapter of the Pagans motorcycle gang, were charged earlier this month with the May 2012 murder-for-hire of the doctor’s wife, radio host April Kauffman, 47.
The men also were accused of operating a drug ring supplied with prescription painkillers from Kauffman’s medical office in Egg Harbor Township, N. J. In addition, Augello, 61, was charged with conspiring to murder James Kauffman.
The prosecutor’s office said Augello in recent weeks tried to recruit mobsters and jail inmates as hitmen because he feared that the doctor would turn on him.
The men had distributed prescription painkillers since 2011, the prosecutor’s office alleged. It said the partnership ended in June when investigators arrested James Kauffman on weapons charges after raiding his home and office.
Six other people also face charges in connection with the alleged drug sales.
The prosecutor’s office alleged James Kauffman wanted his wife dead to avoid a costly divorce and to prevent her from exposing his drug activities.
Francis Mullholland, a Lower Township, N. J., man that Augello recruited after a year-long effort, shot her twice in her bedroom, the prosecutor’s office said.
« It is believed that Francis Mullholland received a ride to the Kauffman residence in the early morning hours of May 10,2012, » according to an account from Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner. « The doors were left open and Francis Mullholland was given a gun. He went inside, shot April Kauffman twice, killing her, and then left. »
The prosecutor said Mullholland was believed to have received at least $20,000 for the murder. Mullholland, 46, was found dead of a heroin overdose in his home in October 2013.
Kauffman’s suicide comes at a troubled time for the Hudson County jail, which has come under fire over allegations of poor medical treatment and a rash of inmate deaths.
Kauffman was the fifth inmate death at the Hudson County jail in the past eight months, including two suicides:
• Cynthia Acosta, 34, of Vineland, N. J., died Jan. 18 after hanging herself in her cell days earlier. She had been arrested in North Bergen, N. J., a week earlier for failure to appear on a warrant for outstanding traffic and driving violations.
• Jenifer Towle, 47, of Union City, N. J., who had been held in the jail’s medical ward under suicide watch, died July 14. The state Medical Examiner’s Office released the autopsy report earlier this month showing that Towle killed herself by ingesting a large amount of non-food items, including food wrappers, Styrofoam and a nail clipper.
She had just two days left on a 180-day sentence for a conviction of driving while intoxicated.
Hudson County is investigating the deaths of Towle and another man who died June 10 of “internal bleeding and hemorrhagic shock” after he was rushed to the hospital.
• Rolando Meza Espinoza, 35, of Long Island, N.Y., suffered from chronic diabetes, cirrhosis and anemia. In the weeks before his death, he told his family he had not been receiving proper medication and treatment at the jail. Hudson County Jail officials initially identified him as Luis « Carlos » Mejia-Bonilla, 44.
• Dominick Ramunni, 41, of Bayonne, N. J., collapsed Jan. 14 in a housing unit at the jail, where he was awaiting sentencing on a theft charge. No further information was given about his death.
Contributing: Hannan Adely, The (Bergen County, N. J.) Record. Follow Jim Walsh on Twitter: @jimwalsh_cp
