Medical Examiner: Missing Kansas moms killed with ‘sharp force trauma’ in Oklahoma Panhandle

By Jonathan Greco

Click here for updates on this story

    TEXAS COUNTY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — The medical examiner’s office released an official cause of death for the two Kansas mothers who disappeared and were murdered earlier this year in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley went missing on March 30 after driving to the Oklahoma Panhandle to pick up Butler’s children. The search for Butler and Kelley started, and their bodies were found in mid-April.

A preliminary report said the two were killed with multiple sharp-force trauma, which could be caused by a knife, glass or anything with a cutting edge.

Four suspects – Tad Cullum, Tifany Adams, Cole Twombly and Cora Twombly – were initially charged with murder and kidnapping in the case. On Wednesday, a fifth suspect, Paul Grice, was arrested on the same charges.

All suspects were charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy.

A judge has put a gag order on everyone involved in the case.

Court documents alleged that the five suspects were part of a group called “God’s Misfits,” and they were behind the effort to kill Butler and Kelley.

In a document filed in September, prosecutors argue the suspects should be tried together because they were charged together. The document also says there’s no authority in Oklahoma that requires them to have separate preliminary hearings since they were accused of participating in the same criminal activity.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.