Kansas women killed amid custody battle found buried in cow pasture freezer: Court docs
Two Kansas women were found dead in a chest freezer buried in a cow pasture two weeks after they went missing from the Oklahoma panhandle, new court filings reveal.
Veronica Butler, 27, was reported missing March 30 after she was supposed to pick up her children for a weekly supervised visit and go to a family birthday party, but never showed up. She was with a court-approved supervisor, Jilian Kelley, 39, who was also reported missing.
Investigators believe their disappearance and death were part of a contrived plan between five people, including Tifany Adams, 54, the kids' grandmother who Butler was in a bitter custody battle with.
Adams and three others were charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder before the bodies were found on April 14. A fifth person confessed to his involvement later on.
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Gloves, duct tape, knife uncovered at burial site with freezer
Officials took two days to excavate the burial site of Butler and Kelley, which was located in a pasture used to graze cattle less then ten miles away from the spot they went missing.
According to a search warrant record filed in Texas County District Court last week, the women were found in a chest freezer buried along with "personal items" that did not belong to the deceased women.
Wrangler blue jeans, sweatshirts, T-shirts, a black jacket, cloth gloves, ball caps, duct tape and a sheathed black KA-BAR knife, described as "with possible blood," were all part of those items, records show.
Officials also seized a saw handle, ratchet straps and "black taser/flashlight" and "electrical cord and small black tape."
While the new documents did not reveal how the women were killed, Oklahoma's chief medical examiner has said they were not shot.
Five charged in murder plot part of anti-government group God's Misfits
Adams, her boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, 43, and a married couple, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, were charged in the deaths of the women on April 12. Paul Jeremiah Grice, 31, later confessed to his involvement and was subsequently charged.
Cullum's land was where the women's bodies were found.
All five defendants have been claimed to belong to God's Misfits, an anti-government religious group. Local investigators reported the group had regular meetings at the Twombly's home and another couple's home.
As The Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network reported, a South Carolina preacher who goes by Preacher Squirrel, runs "God's Misfits" channels online and has denied any involvement in the incident.
"We never had anything to do with what happened in Oklahoma, and we absolutely do not condone such behavior; It goes directly against God's Word," he posted on Facebook.
Defense attorneys and prosecutors are prohibited by judicial order from speaking about the cases outside of court.
Police suspected foul play after Butler's car found abandoned with 'evidence of severe injury'
In the weeks leading up to the women's March 30 disappearance, investigators say Adams purchased three pre-paid cellular phones and five stun guns. Butler had requested extended visitation in their disputed child custody case, and the hearing was scheduled for April 17.
According to court documents, Butler and Kelley left around 9 a.m. on March 30 from Hugoton, Kansas to pick up Butler's children for her weekly supervised visit. Butler planned to bring her daughter to a family birthday party. Kelley was one of Butler's court-approved visit supervisors.
Butler and Kelley arrived about five miles north of the expected meeting place, and their phones stopped transmitting signals shortly after. The three pre-paid cell phones were also at the location at that time.
When Butler didn't arrive at the birthday party, her family became worried and went to look for her. Butler's family members contacted police after finding her car abandoned on the side of the highway.
The Texas County Sheriff's Office "found evidence of a severe injury" after examining the vehicle and the area surrounding it. They found blood on the roadway, Butler's glasses in the road near a broken hammer, and a pistol magazine was found inside Kelley's purse but no pistol was found.
On April 3, the 16-year-old daughter of two of the defendants told detectives that the group had been involved in the killings. By April 12, the group was charged, and the bodies were recovered two days later.
Contributing: Cheyenne Derksen, The Oklahoman