Two Kansas women who were found dead after disappearing under suspicious circumstances in March were allegedly killed by two separate suspects, while two other suspects allegedly helped cover up the crime, prosecutors say in a recent court brief.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jillian Kelley, 39, were reported missing after their car was found abandoned by the road in rural Oklahoma in March, per the Texas County Sheriff’s Department.
They were found dead on April 14, a day after police arrested Tiffany Machel Adams, 54, her boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, in connection with the investigation, police said. Paul Grice, a fifth suspect, was arrested later that month, online court records show. All are charged with murder among several other offenses.
This week, a brief submitted by prosecutors revealed the details surrounding the alleged attacks on the women and what authorities say was the cover-up that followed. The brief, in support of consolidating a preliminary hearing for the five suspects, was shared by KWCH and reviewed.
In the brief, which was submitted in court on Sep. 9, prosecutors allege Grice stabbed Butler and Cullum stabbed Kelley; in the process Grice allegedly “sliced” his own hand.
The brief alleges that Adams purchased burner phones used by the suspects to coordinate the killings. She also allegedly bought stun guns, one of which was found in the burial site, and bought yellow “straps” that were used to wrap a freezer where the victims’ bodies were found, according to the brief.
The brief further alleges Cullum discussed with the owner of the property where the bodies were recovered, and gained permission to dig a hole the day before the killings. (The landowner has not been linked to the investigation by authorities).
Cole Earl Twombly (left); Tiffany Machel Adams; and Paul Jeremiah Grice.
Texas County Sheriff’s Office
On the morning of the alleged killings, Cole and Cora Twombly acted as “lookouts,” prosecutors allege in the brief.
After the killings, the brief alleges, Cullum and Grice allegedly drove the bodies to the burial site, where they both discarded their clothing and Grice discarded his knife.
Investigators recovered Butler’s DNA from Grice’s buried clothing and Kelley’s DNA from Cullum’s clothes, prosecutors allege in the filing.
Cora Twombly (left); and Tad Bert Cullum.
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
The killings allegedly stemmed from a custody dispute between Butler and the paternal grandmother of her children, Adams, according to an affidavit previously cited by the Des Moines Register, FOX 25 and WRHN.
“Adams hated and despised Butler and wanted her dead,” prosecutors allege in this week’s filing.
Prosecutors allege all five suspects, who were members of an anti-government religious group “God’s Misfits,” had their individual roles in the killings. (The “God’s Misfits” group has denounced the crime).
All five suspects have been charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder, Oklahoma online court records show. Plea information was not available in the online records. PEOPLE wasn’t able to immediately reach the defendants’ attorneys.
