The man who admitted to driving April Kauffman’s killer to the scene, and then waiting to hear she was dead is out of prison after serving 10 months of a four-year sentence.
Joseph Mulholland, 53, was never charged in connection with the murder of the veterans advocate and radio host. Instead, he pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering for his part in a drug ring headed by the victim’s husband, Dr. James Kauffman. He reportedly killed himself in prison, and never went to trial.
Ferdinand Augello was the only person who went to trial in the case, with a jury convicting him of murder and drug-trafficking. He is currently serving a life sentence plus 30 years for those crimes.
He has continued to deny any involvement and is pursuing an appeal.
The court agreed that Augello was not present at the killing, but he was convicted of planning it, and leading the drug ring.
Mulholland testified at Augello’s trial that he drove Francis Mulholland — who is not related to him — to Linwood on May 10, 2012, and watched as he started down the path to the Kauffmans’ home. He then waited nearby for the call saying April Kauffman was dead.
Joseph Mulholland claimed Augello had threatened him into that transport, and he received $1,000 for it.
Francis Mulholland died in 2013, of what at the time was ruled an accidental drug overdose. But that death is now being investigated as a possible homicide.
Augello has claimed Joseph Mulholland killed Francis, who Joe had always referred to as his cousin.
As Augello was led from the courtroom after his sentencing Oct. 2, 2018, he insisted that it was Joseph Mulholland and “his cousin” who killed Kauffman.
Joseph Mulholland was sentenced to four years in prison Feb. 8. He was released from a halfway house in Camden on Dec. 9, records show.
Five others pleaded guilty in the drug case. Only one other was sentenced to prison.
Glenn Seeler began serving a three-year sentence for second-degree racketeering Feb. 19.
He is currently in South Woods State Prison.
Jurors will hear closing arguments in the murder and racketeering trial of Ferdinand “Freddy” Augello on Tuesday. But first, the judge had to finalize the instructions they’ll be given before entering deliberations. Final discussions happened Monday, without the jury present. Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury made changes to the charges that included expanding who could have killed April Kauffman for Augello to still be found guilty of murder... Read more...
The death of the man who shot April Kauffman is now being investigated as a possible crime, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed. That a review was sparked by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office about two weeks ago was first reported by journalist Kevin Shelly, who has been delving into the case as part of his research for a book. Francis Mulholland was found dead inside his Villas home in October 2013 in what was then deemed an overdose, about 17 months after he is said to have fatally shot veterans advocate Kauffman inside her Linwood home.
