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Clockwise from top left: Veronica Butler (Texas County (Okla.) Sheriff’s Department), Jilian Kelley (Texas County (Okla.) Sheriff’s Department), Tifany Machel Adams (Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation).
An Oklahoma grandmother will spend the rest of her life in prison after being found guilty of murdering two Kansas mothers who were abducted during a trip to pick up a child.
Tifany Machel Adams, 56, received a life sentence without the possibility of parole, as reported by local CBS affiliate KFDA on Monday. According to Oklahoma court records, Adams entered a no contest plea in October to two counts of first-degree murder, among other charges, related to the tragic deaths of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, in 2024.
As previously covered by Law&Crime, Butler and Kelley set out on March 30, 2024, from southern Kansas, heading to rural Oklahoma to collect Butler’s children for a birthday celebration. However, they never reached their destination. Authorities later discovered their abandoned vehicle along Highway 95 and Road L in Texas County, Oklahoma, near the Kansas border. The circumstances surrounding their disappearance immediately aroused suspicion, with evidence suggesting foul play.
Investigations revealed the case was linked to a heated custody battle involving Butler and a group known as “God’s Misfits,” an anti-government conspiracy faction. Butler had been granted court-ordered visitation rights with her children every Saturday, and Kelley was appointed by the court to oversee these visits. Law enforcement officials allege that on March 30, Adams and her accomplices ambushed Butler and Kelley on the highway, leading to their kidnapping. It took authorities over two weeks of searching before they discovered the women’s bodies in rural Texas County.
Butler had court-ordered visitation with her children each Saturday and Kelley was one of the people selected by the court to supervise the visit. Cops say Adams and her co-defendants on March 30 intercepted Butler and Kelley on the highway and kidnapped them. Authorities searched for more than two weeks before finding the victims’ bodies in rural Texas County.
Adams pleaded no contest to six charges: two charges of first-degree murder, two charges of unlawful removal of a dead body, and two charges of unlawful desecration of a human corpse. In exchange, three additional charges — conspiracy and two charges of child neglect — were dropped, according to court records. In a “no contest” plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a conviction.
Four other people, in addition to Adams, have been charged in the women’s deaths: Adams’ boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, Cora Twombly, and Cora Twombly’s husband, Cole Earl Twombly, are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. A fifth person, 31-year-old Paul Grice, is facing the same charges.
Family members said Adams, Cullum, and the Twomblys are self-proclaimed members of an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits.” They met weekly at each other’s houses. Adams was also the Republican Party chair in Cimarron County in the far western part of the Sooner State’s panhandle, according to State Sen. Nathan Dahm, who is the chairman of the Oklahoma State GOP.
Cora Twombly and Paul Grice have individual plea agreements in place, KFDA reported. In December 2025, the two gave testimony about the murders. Grice will not receive the death penalty in exchange for his testimony, and Twombly must serve 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole, the station reported.
Cullum’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 16. According to KFDA, his attorneys have filed a motion declaring the death penalty unconstitutional and “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Cole Twombly’s trial is set for February 2027.