Four of the men charged in connection with a death in Shediac and a violent home invasion in Moncton in March made brief court appearances on Thursday.

Security was tight at the Moncton court as the men were led in one at a time to appear before the judge.

The charges all stem from two incidents on March 10. Armed masked men broke into an apartment on Humphrey Street in Moncton and badly beat two men, and an hour and a half later, three masked men broke into a home in Shediac and killed 32-year-old Layne McDonald.

Three people were arrested on March 16 and a few days later the RCMP arrested another two.

Daniel Steven Dion is charged with first-degree murder, assault with a weapon and several other charges. On Thursday, he asked for a psychiatric assessment. The application was granted and he'll be back in court April 27.

Joshua Martin also asked for a psychiatric assessment that was approved, and he'll return to court April 28.

Marc Mathieu Leblanc is still waiting to hear from Legal Aid New Brunswick, and his bail hearing was postponed until May 1.

Cole McFadden's bail hearing was set over until May 13.

Martin, Leblanc and McFadden have been charged with manslaughter along with several other charges relating to the two crimes.

John Marc Gallant, the fifth man arrested in connection with this case, will be in court on Friday.

Gallant is facing charges of assisting and enabling Dion to escape, knowing he had committed murder and three other related charges.