Autopsy reports have revealed details of the gruesome deaths of two Kansas mothers who were found dead in “pools of blood” in a chest freezer in April.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, suffered multiple sharp trauma wounds when they were killed, and medical examiners ruled their deaths homicides.
They disappeared on March 30 while driving to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children, ages 6 and 8. Their bodies were found two weeks later in a freezer in a cow pasture.
Shortly after the bodies were found, police arrested the grandmother of Butler’s children, Tifany Adams, 54, and her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43, along with 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 trauma wounds
Jilian Kelley, 39, one of the supervisors who oversaw visits to Butler and her children, was found dead next to Butler in the chest freezer in April
The Oklahoma medical examiner’s office said it will release a full autopsy report on Nov. 15, with the preliminary report this week noting that the women were found with blood in their mouths.
According to court documents, prosecutors said the “God’s Misfits” gang was discovered when Cora’s teenage daughter overheard the group talking about Butler before the mother told her 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. Officers discovered that Adams had purchased three prepaid phones at a Walmart in February.
Authorities said all three phones were discovered near Butler’s car around the time she and Kelley disappeared. A hole with hay was also discovered next to 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 anti-government religious group known as “God’s Misfits.” They were all arrested for the possible kidnapping and murder of both women
Multiple pools of blood were found near the vehicle in the desolate Oklahoma panhandle. A hole with hay was also discovered next to the car
The affidavit stated that the group’s original plan was to throw an anvil, or the head of a large hammer, through Butler’s car to kill her.
They came up with that plan to make it look like an accident, “because anvils fall from work vehicles on a regular basis,” the documents say.
The teen also told officers that Cora and Cole told her they wouldn’t 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 teen that even though the “mission” didn’t go as planned, they didn’t have to worry about Butler anymore, according to court documents.
The gang reportedly often gathered at the Twombley household for their meetings, and the girl allegedly told officers that they had previously tried to kill Butler.
She explained to officers that the group tried to take Butler’s life in February, but the mother would not leave her home. Officers later discovered that Adams had searched the Internet for ways to get someone out of a home.
Butler’s mother-in-law had also searched for Taser pain levels, prepaid phones and gun stores, the affidavit said.
Agents discovered that in addition to purchasing 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, while Butler and her husband, Wrangler Cole Rickman, who was in a rehabilitation facility at the time, were going through a divorce and custody battle.
On March 20, ten days before they went missing, Butler filed a petition with the court allowing her to spend more time with her children, seeking full custody.
Butler had weekly, court-mandated visits with the children every Saturday, while Kelley, one of the four people named, supervised the visits, as the two women did the day they were killed.
It was Butler’s six-year-old daughter’s birthday and they planned to celebrate.
The women’s bodies were discovered when pools of blood were found near the vehicle in Oklahoma’s deserted 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 on 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 all involved. We appreciate everyone who shared the prayer requests. We are receiving messages from across the country from people praying for these two women and their families.”