A doctor, whose wife’s murder remains unsolved, displayed a handgun as police surrounded his South Jersey medical offices Tuesday morning, prosecutors said.
Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office investigators joined the FBI and Egg Harbor Township Police as they converged on Dr. James Kauffman’s medical office on Ocean Heights Avenue Tuesday morning. Prosecutors said they went to the offices and later his home on Woodstock Drive in Linwood to investigate "suspected criminal activity."
"Dr. Kauffman was here when the investigators showed up to investigate the search warrant," Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner.
As officers executed the search warrant at the medical office, Kauffman brandished a 9mm, prosecutors said. A hostage investigator successfully convinced the endocrinologist to surrender peacefully as police continued to surround the office. He later could be seen, in medical scrubs, being led to an ambulance.[[428161853, C]]
Investigators took Kauffman in for a psychological examination with the plan of charging him with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of hollow point bullets and obstruction of the administration of law, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said their investigation into Kauffman continues as they made no mention if the doctor is being considered as a suspect in his former wife’s murder more than five years ago.
April Kauffman was killed in her Linwood home in May 2012. She was a local businesswoman who hosted weekly talk shows and advocated for military veterans. She had received a governor's award for outstanding community service a few days before her death.
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James Kauffman has denied any involvement in her death. The prosecutor's office would not provide a letter to her life insurer saying he wasn't considered a suspect.
Tyner said that the investigation into Dr. Kauffman may or may not be related to April Kauffman's death.
"In connection with the search warrant I can say that it was not related to the death of April Kauffman it was an unrelated matter that led us (to his office)," Tyner said.
A judge is set to rule Tuesday on a prosecutors' request to order a DNA sample from him. State Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury said he will make his decision Tuesday but that it will be sealed and not available to the public.
"Every day that goes by we are getting closer to solving the homicide of April Kauffman," Tyner said. "We are just hopeful that one day we will be able to give her family the closure that they deserve."
CORRECTION: This story originally misstated the name of the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.
