An autopsy reveals the final bloody moments of two women whose bodies were discovered buried in an underground freezer in Oklahoma following a bizarre child custody dispute.
In April, nearly two weeks after leaving southern Kansas and traveling to Texas County, Oklahoma, to pick up Butler’s children for a birthday party, authorities discovered the bodies of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39.
The slayings have led to the charging of five individuals. The charges against Tifany Adams, 54, her boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Cora Twombly, 44, and her husband, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, include first-degree murder, kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. A fifth person, 31-year-old Paul Grice, faces the same charges.
Adams is Butler’s paternal grandmother, and the two were at odds over custody. Butler’s family reported her and Kelley missing on March 30 after they failed to return from a meeting with Adams to pick up their children.
Butler sustained 30 sharp-force injuries to the head and neck, according to an autopsy from Oklahoma’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
According to the report, she also sustained a single blunt force injury to the top of the back of her head, as well as possible stun gun marks on her lower neck and upper back.
“After having been fatally attacked, Veronica Butler was then deliberately concealed inside a sealed freezer along with the body of Jilian Kelley,” according to the investigation.
The freezer was buried 4½ to 8 feet below ground and covered by a large concrete slab, according to the report. Authorities discovered clothing, a stun gun, a roll of tape, and a knife underneath the freezer, according to the report.
“Given the extent of Ms. Butler’s injuries, including defects to both of her internal jugular veins with resultant exsanguination, it is my opinion that her death was very quick and likely occurred before she was placed inside the freezer and buried,” according to the investigation.
“This opinion is additionally supported by the fact that her body appeared to have remained exactly how it was placed inside the freezer.”
Warrants show that Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) agents searched a property in rural Texas County, Oklahoma, on April 13. According to the warrant, agents tracked burner phones used by the suspects from the site of the alleged murders to a cattle farm rented by Cullum.
There, agents discovered a possible burial site. The next day, investigators dug up the chest freezer and discovered the bodies of the two mothers. Detectives reportedly recovered items belonging to the suspects.
Cops interviewed the property owner, who reported seeing Cullum dig on the farm with a skid steer on March 29 and early March 30.
The property owner informed agents that on March 28 or 29, Cullum and Adams asked if they could cut down a tree, remove the stump, and do some “dirt work” near a concrete pile. The owner agreed to let them do the work, and the skid steer left by noon on March 30, according to the warrant.
According to the warrant, Cullum visited the property owner’s home on March 31 and claimed that people were “looking at him for the disappearance of Butler and Kelley.” Cullum reportedly informed the property owner that the absence of a skid steer, despite having all the skid steer tracks, “looked bad.” According to the warrant, Cullum told the property owner that if anyone asked, he would tell them that he had done the tree and dirt work for him.
Butler had court-ordered visitation with her children on Saturdays, and Kelley was one of the people the court approved to supervise the visits. According to investigators, Kelley stepped in when the regular supervisor was unavailable. The two left around 9 a.m. to pick up the kids, but they never arrived at their destination.
Butler’s family members searched for her vehicle and discovered it abandoned shortly after noon on March 30 on Highway 95 and Road L in Texas County, near the Kansas border.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers discovered “evidence of severe injury,” including blood around the vehicle. Officers also found Butler’s sunglasses and a broken hammer on the road, as well as a pistol magazine in Kelley’s purse that did not contain a pistol.
According to the affidavit, investigators from the OSBI quickly focused on Adams after learning of the custody dispute. Adams’ son, the children’s father, had full custody of them, but she frequently cared for them.
In an April interview with detectives, a teenage family member of the Twomblys described how the suspects allegedly claimed to be members of a religious and anti-government group known as “God’s Misfits” and revealed other alleged details about the bizarre plot.
