Probable cause of death released in Texas County murder case
TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (KFOR) - The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has released the probable cause of death for two women murdered in Texas County.
According to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Texas County Sheriff’s Department requested the bureau’s help on March 30 to investigate the suspicious disappearance of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley from Kansas.
Officials say the two were traveling together to pick up children, but never made it to their destination. Their car was later found abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L, south of Elkhart, Kansas in rural Texas County.
On April 14, the OSBI announced the bodies of two people were found. Two days later, the bodies were identified as Butler and Kelley.
According to the M.E. Summary Report, the manner of death is homicide and the cause is multiple sharp force trauma.
Four people were arrested in connection to the case. Tifany Adams, 54, and Tad Cullum, 43, Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44 were all taken into custody. A fifth person, 31-year-old Paul Grice, was also arrested and booked into the Texas County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
According to an affidavit, they would meet regularly with several others in a group they call “God’s Misfits”.
Investigators gathered evidence that the killings were planned, with Adams buying pre-paid “burner” cellphones to communicate and five stun guns at a nearby store. Her internet searches included asking about pain levels using the weapons, the affidavits said.
Officials say Butler and Adams were in a “problematic custody battle.” Adams’ son was in a rehabilitation facility hours away in Oklahoma City, and Butler was allowed only supervised visits each Saturday. Kelley, the wife of a pastor in Hugoton, was Butler’s court-authorized choice to supervise visitations.
According to court records, at least two of the five people accused of killing two Kansas women in Texas County over the custody dispute are expected to have their next court date in February.
Cora Twombly and Paul Grice, two of the five suspects arrested in connection to the deaths of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley, waived their rights to a preliminary hearing and speedy trial, setting their next court day for February 19, 2025.
Twombly submitted her waiver on Tuesday, while Grice submitted his waiver back on September 18.
Prior to waiving her hearing, Cora Twombly along with her husband Cole Twombly, Tifany Adams, and Tad Cullum were originally scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. However, the four of them submitted a joint order to strike the hearing, pushing the court date back to November 20.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there are no court records indicating if Adams, Cullum and Cole Twombly will also forego their preliminary hearings.