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Killings of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley

ONGOING2024Texas County, Oklahoma3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
File:Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.jpg
File:Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.jpg — Credit: Texas County Sheriff's Department · Copyrighted — editorial use, owner-approved 2026-07-12

On March 30, 2024, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and her 39-year-old friend Jilian Kelley disappeared while traveling from Kansas to Oklahoma. Butler was on her way to pick up her two children, who were in the care of her former mother-in-law, Tifany Adams, amid a long-running custody dispute between Butler and Adams over the children from Butler's previous marriage to Adams's son. Butler had been granted weekly supervised visitation while the custody dispute was before the courts, and Kelley — one of the people assigned to supervise those visits — accompanied Butler on the trip because the usual supervisor was unavailable. Days after the women were reported missing, their vehicle was found abandoned near a highway in Texas County, Oklahoma.

The disappearances were initially investigated as missing-person cases, but the discovery of the abandoned vehicle led investigators to suspect foul play. On April 17, 2024, the bodies of Butler and Kelley were found inside a chest freezer buried in a cattle pasture owned by one of the suspects, more than eight miles from where the vehicle had been left; a stun gun was recovered near the site. Autopsy results released later showed that Butler had sustained 30 sharp force injuries, including 10 wounds consistent with defensive injuries, along with a head laceration likely caused by a stun gun, while Kelley had been stabbed nine times.

On April 13, 2024, after police reclassified the disappearances as murders, investigators arrested four suspects: Tifany Adams; her boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum; and a married couple, Cora Twombly and Cole Twombly. All four were charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. A fifth suspect, Paul Jeremiah Grice, 31, was arrested on April 24, 2024, and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder. Investigations found that the group had made preparations that included purchasing stun guns and cellphones used to communicate before the killings, and the suspects were alleged to belong to an anti-government group. On October 7, 2024, kidnapping charges against three of the suspects, including Adams, were dropped and replaced with charges of unlawfully removing and desecrating a corpse; Adams also faced two counts of child neglect.

Two of the suspects, Grice and Cora Twombly, reached plea agreements with prosecutors in December 2024, agreeing to testify against their co-defendants in exchange for the state not seeking the death penalty against them; under the terms reported, Grice would receive life without parole and Cora Twombly life with the possibility of parole after at least 30 years, though as of 2026 neither sentence had been finalized. Adams pleaded no contest on October 14, 2025, to two counts of first-degree murder, unlawful removal of a dead body, unlawful desecration of a human corpse, child neglect, and conspiracy. Her sentencing, originally set for January 28, 2026, was postponed to February 2, 2026, when she was sentenced to life without parole on both murder counts, plus two five-year terms for unlawfully removing a body and two seven-year terms for unlawfully desecrating a corpse; she is incarcerated at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center. Cullum and Cole Twombly have pleaded not guilty, and the Texas County district attorney announced in October 2025 that prosecutors would seek the death penalty against both; their trials are scheduled for October 19, 2026, and February 22, 2027, respectively. Cullum unsuccessfully petitioned to have the trial judge, Jon Parsley, removed from his case, and by March 2026 one of the two men had moved to have the death penalty excluded as a sentencing option and declared unconstitutional, a motion prosecutors opposed.

In March 2025, Butler's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against all five defendants, and a bill was introduced to rename part of Oklahoma State Highway 95 in honor of the two women; by January 2026, the community had raised enough money to install permanent markers as part of that renaming effort.

Key facts

Victims
Jilian Kelley, Veronica Butler
Date
2024
Location
Texas County, Oklahoma
Case status
ongoing

Case timeline

  1. 2024-03-30

    Veronica Butler, 27, and her friend Jilian Kelley, 39, went missing while traveling from Kansas to Oklahoma so Butler could pick up her children; their vehicle was later found abandoned near a highway in Texas County, Oklahoma.

  2. 2024-04-13

    After police reclassified the disappearances as murders, Tifany Adams, her boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum, and a married couple, Cora Twombly and Cole Twombly, were arrested and each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

  3. 2024-04-17

    The bodies of Butler and Kelley were found inside a chest freezer buried in a cattle pasture owned by one of the suspects; a stun gun was recovered near the site.

  4. 2024-04-24

    A fifth suspect, Paul Jeremiah Grice, 31, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder.

  5. 2024-10-07

    Kidnapping charges against Adams and two other suspects were dropped and replaced with charges of unlawfully removing and desecrating a corpse; Adams also faced two counts of child neglect.

  6. 2024-12

    Suspects Paul Grice and Cora Twombly reached plea agreements to testify against their co-defendants in exchange for the prosecution not seeking the death penalty against them.

  7. 2025-03

    Tad Cullum petitioned to have Judge Jon Parsley removed from his case, citing the judge's earlier legal representation of Adams in an unrelated 2011 marriage-dissolution case.

  8. 2025-03

    Veronica Butler's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against all five defendants.

  9. 2025-03

    A bill was introduced to rename a portion of Oklahoma State Highway 95 in honor of Butler and Kelley.

  10. 2025-04-16

    Judge Jon Parsley denied Cullum's petition to remove himself from the case.

  11. 2025-05-01

    Presiding District Judge Tom Newby rejected Cullum's appeal of Judge Parsley's ruling.

  12. 2025-06-30

    The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied Cullum's further appeal to replace the judge in his case.

  13. 2025-07

    Grice and Cora Twombly gave testimony at a preliminary court hearing regarding the killings.

  14. 2025-10-14

    Adams pleaded no contest to two counts of first-degree murder along with unlawful removal of a dead body, unlawful desecration of a human corpse, child neglect, and conspiracy, becoming the first defendant convicted in the case.

  15. 2025-10-24

    Texas County District Attorney George H. Leach III announced that prosecutors would seek the death penalty against Cullum and Cole Twombly.

  16. 2025-11-06

    Cullum and Cole Twombly pleaded not guilty; their trials were scheduled for June 1, 2026, and October 19, 2026, respectively.

  17. 2026-01-23

    The trial dates for Cullum and Cole Twombly were pushed back to October 19, 2026, and February 22, 2027, respectively.

  18. 2026-01-26

    Adams's sentencing hearing, originally set for January 28, 2026, was postponed to February 2, 2026.

  19. 2026-01

    The community raised sufficient funds to install permanent markers as part of the Highway 95 renaming effort.

  20. 2026-02-02

    Adams was sentenced to life without parole on both first-degree murder counts, plus two five-year terms for unlawfully removing a body and two seven-year terms for unlawfully desecrating a corpse.

  21. 2026-03

    One of the two remaining trial defendants moved to have the death penalty excluded as a sentencing option and declared unconstitutional; prosecutors opposed the motion.

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People

  • Tad Bert Cullum

    CHARGED

    Adams's boyfriend; charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy. Pleaded not guilty; prosecutors are seeking the death penalty; trial scheduled for October 19, 2026.

  • Jilian Kelley

    VICTIM

    39-year-old victim; a friend of Veronica Butler and one of the court-assigned supervisors for Butler's visitation, she accompanied Butler on the trip on which both women were killed.

  • Tifany Machel Adams

    CONVICTED

    Veronica Butler's former mother-in-law, born October 31, 1969; identified as the plot's organizer. Pleaded no contest on October 14, 2025, to two counts of first-degree murder and related charges, and was sentenced on February 2, 2026, to life without parole.

  • Cora Twombly

    CHARGED

    Charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy. Reached a plea agreement in December 2024 to testify against her co-defendants; as of 2026 her sentencing had not been finalized.

  • Paul Jeremiah Grice

    CHARGED

    Fifth suspect, arrested April 24, 2024, and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder. Reached a plea agreement in December 2024 to testify against his co-defendants; as of 2026 his sentencing had not been finalized.

  • Veronica Butler

    VICTIM

    27-year-old victim; disappeared with Jilian Kelley on March 30, 2024, while traveling from Kansas to Oklahoma to pick up her children, and was later found killed.

  • Cole Earl Twombly

    CHARGED

    Charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy. Pleaded not guilty; prosecutors are seeking the death penalty; trial scheduled for February 22, 2027.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Archival records

  • File:Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.jpg

    portrait victim

    File:Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.jpg

    Credit: Texas County Sheriff's Department · Copyrighted — editorial use, owner-approved 2026-07-12 · Source

Places

Texas County, Oklahoma

36.6828, -101.4816

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, disappeared on March 30, 2024, while traveling from Kansas to Oklahoma amid a custody dispute between Butler and her former mother-in-law; their bodies were found weeks later in a buried freezer, and five people were charged in the kidnapping and killings, with one convicted and sentenced to life without parole and two others facing a possible death penalty at trial.
Where did the killings happen?
Texas County, Oklahoma.
Who was convicted?
Tifany Machel Adams (Veronica Butler's former mother-in-law, born October 31, 1969; identified as the plot's organizer. Pleaded no contest on October 14, 2025, to two counts of first-degree murder and related charges, and was sentenced on February 2, 2026, to life without parole.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: ongoing.
More cases in Oklahoma

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICKillings of Veronica Butler and Jilian KelleyWikipedia · 2026-07-12
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — Associated PressAssociated Press · 2026-07-12
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — NBC NewsNBC News · 2026-07-12

Record history

First published
JUL 13, 2026