The four suspects charged with killing Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley after they vanished in Oklahoma in late March belonged to an anti-government group called the “God’s Misfits,” an affidavit alleges, as more details are emerging surrounding the two women’s deaths.
An Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation special agent, citing a 16-year-old witness, wrote in court documents that the group, which had a “religious affiliation,” held regular weekly meetings at the home of two of the suspects, Cole and Cora Twombly.
OSBI public information manager Hunter McKee declined to comment further about the group Tuesday when asked by Fox News Digital. FBI Oklahoma City also did not immediately respond to an inquiry on the matter.
Butler, 27, and Kelley, 39, were last seen on March 30 heading to pick up children before their car was found abandoned near the Oklahoma-Kansas border, with “foul play” suspected, police previously said.
‘NO’ CHANCE MISSING KANSAS WOMEN ARE ALIVE, OKLAHOMA INVESTIGATORS SAY
The four suspects were arrested following the disappearances of Butler and Kelley. Shown clockwise are Tad Cullum, Cole Twombly, Cora Twombly and Tifany Adams. (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation)
The affidavit released this week following the arrests of the Twombleys, Tad Cullum and Tifany Adams – who are each facing two counts of first-degree murder, among other charges – said “Butler was in a problematic custody battle with Tifany Adams for the custody of Butler’s two children,” who were fathered by Adams’ son.
“An examination of the vehicle and area surrounding the vehicle found evidence of a severe injury,” it added. “Blood was found on the roadway and edge of the roadway. Butler’s glasses were also found in the roadway south of the vehicle, near a broken hammer. A pistol magazine was found inside Kelley’s purse at the scene, but no pistol was found.”
The document said the custody battle involving Butler began in February 2019 “with many hearings and court appearances” and in the weeks leading up to her death, “motions were filed requesting extended visitation for Butler.” Kelley, the wife of a church pastor, was contacted by Butler to supervise the March 30 visitation, it said.
Butler’s attorney then told investigators that she was likely to be granted unsupervised visitation with her children at an upcoming hearing this Wednesday.
But instead of picking up the children that Saturday at an intersection in Texas County, Oklahoma, Butler and Kelley vanished.
MUGSHOTS RELEASED, REVEALING FIRST LOOK AT SUSPECTS IN CASE OF MISSING KANSAS WOMEN
Veronica Butler, left, and Jilian Kelley were last seen March 30 while driving to pick up children, police say. (Oklahoma Highway Patrol)
The affidavit said the grandmother of the children’s father reported that he said in February she “didn’t have to worry about the custody battle much longer because Adams had it under control, that Adams knew the path the judge walked to work, and ‘we will take out Veronica at drop off.’” The father, investigators say, was at a rehab facility in Oklahoma City at the time of Butler and Kelley’s disappearance.
The affidavit also says Adams purchased five stun guns and three burner phones that allegedly were used in the plot to kill the women.
An interview with the 16-year-old daughter of the Twombleys, identified as CW, revealed that on March 30, Cora told her she and Cole “blocked the road to stop Butler and Kelley and divert them” to where Adams and Cullum were.
“CW asked about Kelley and why she had to die and was told by Cora that she wasn’t innocent either, as she had supported Butler. CW asked Cora if their bodies were put in a well, and Cora replied, ‘something like that,” the affidavit said.
Two of the burner phones were eventually found at a pasture Cullum rented for cattle grazing, about 8.5 miles away from where the abandoned vehicle was found, according to investigators. There, a “hole had been dug and filled back in and then covered with hay,” they said.
The area near the Oklahoma-Kansas border where the vehicle the two women were traveling in was found abandoned, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. (Google Maps)
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The OSBI says two bodies that were recently found in rural Texas County were pending investigation by a medical examiner. But McKee noted at a press conference Monday there is “no” chance Butler and Kelley are still alive.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Source Agencies
