Autopsy reports have revealed details of the gruesome deaths of two Kansas mothers who were found dead in ‘pools of blood’ inside a chest freezer in April.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, suffered multiple sharp-force trauma wounds when they were killed, and medical examiners ruled their deaths were homicides.
They disappeared on March 30 while driving to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children, aged six and eight, and their bodies were found two weeks later inside a freezer in a cow pasture.
Soon after the bodies were found, police arrested Butler’s children’s paternal grandmother, Tifany Adams, 54, and her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43, alongside Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, and charged them with the murders.
According to court documents, the four suspects are believed to be members of a religious gang called ‘God’s Misfits’, and Adams was involved in a bitter custody dispute over Butler’s children.
Veronica Butler, 27, suffered multiple sharp-force trauma wounds
Jilian Kelley, 39, one of the supervisors that watched over visitations with Butler and her kids, was found dead next to Butler in April in the chest freezer
The Oklahoma medical examiner’s office said it will release a full autopsy report on November 15, with the preliminary report this week noting that the women were found with blood in their mouths.
According to court filings, prosecutors said the ‘God’s Misfits’ gang were discovered when Cora’s teenage daughter overheard the group speaking about Butler, before the mother told her that they were involved in the women’s deaths.
The unnamed teen told authorities that the group also used burner phones to communicate with each other. Agents found that Adams purchased three pre-paid phones from a Walmart in February.
Authorities said that all three phones were discovered near Butler’s car around the time she and Kelley disappeared. A hole filled with hay was also discovered near the car.
Tifany Adams (bottom left), the children’s grandmother, her boyfriend, Tad Cullum (top right), Cole Twombly (bottom right), and Cora Twombly (top right) were involved in an antigovernmental religious group known as ‘God’s Misfits.’ They were all arrested over the possible kidnapping and murders of both women
Multiple puddles of blood were found near the vehicle in the desolate Oklahoma panhandle. A hole filled with hay was also discovered near the car
The affidavit said that the group’s original plan was to throw an anvil, or head of a large hammer, through Butler’s car to kill her.
They created that plan to make it look like an accident, ‘because anvils regularly fall off of work vehicles,’ records said.
The teen also informed agents that Cora and Cole told her that they would not be home the morning of March 29, a day before Butler and Kelley were last seen, because they were going on a ‘mission.’
The couple then told the teenager that even though the ‘mission’ did not go as planned, they didn’t have to worry about Butler anymore, court documents said.
The gang reportedly often met at the Twombley’s household for their meetings, and the girl allegedly told agents that they had previously attempted to murder Butler.
She explained to officers that in February, the group tried to take Butler’s life, but the mother wouldn’t leave her home. Agents later found that Adams had searched for ways to get someone out of a house on the internet.
Butler’s mother-in-law had also searched for taser pain levels, pre-paid phones and gun shops, the affidavit said.
Agents found that in addition to buying burner phones, Adams also purchased five stun guns on March 23, according to the affidavit.
Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley (pictured), who serves at two churches in Kansas and Nebraska
An affidavit revealed that Butler was going through a nasty divorce and custody battle with her husband Wrangler Cole Rickman (pictured). His mother is one of the suspects, Tifany Adams
Butler’s children were reportedly staying with their grandmother, Adams, as Butler and her husband, Wrangler Cole Rickman, who was in a rehabilitation center at the time, were going through a divorce and custody battle.
On March 20, ten days before they went missing, Butler filed a petition in court that would grant her more time with her children, with her goal being full custody.
Butler had weekly, court-mandated visits every Saturday with the kids, while Kelley, one of four people listed, supervised the visits, as the two women were doing on the day they were killed.
It was Butler’s six-year-old daughter’s birthday and they were planning to celebrate.
The women’s bodies were discovered when puddles of blood were found near the vehicle in the desolate Oklahoma panhandle, near a school Butler attended and graduated from in 2015.
Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley, who serves at two churches in Kansas and Nebraska.
On April 3, Kelley’s Willow Christian Church in Nebraska posted to Facebook: ‘We ask that you continue to pray for Jilian and Veronica and their families as the search and investigation continue.’
‘Pray for strength, wisdom and faith for everyone involved. We appreciate everyone who has shared the prayer requests. We are getting messages from all over the country of people praying for these two women and their families.’
