‘God’s Misfits’ connected to bloody disappearance
of Veronica Butler, Jilian Kelley
The four suspects in the case of missing pastor's wife, Jilian Kelley, and Veronica Butler. | Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
Details from probable cause affidavits against the four suspects charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Veronica Butler and a pastor’s wife, Jilian Kelley, suggest that the two women might have suffered a violent death as investigators work to identify two bodies they recovered on Sunday.
Investigators who found evidence suggesting foul play in the women's disappearance announced on Saturday that they had arrested four people in connection with the disappearance of Kelley and Butler, including the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children, 54-year-old Tifany Machel Adams. Others arrested are Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44.
All four individuals were arrested in Texas and Cimarron Counties and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
While the deaths of Kelley and Butler, whose vehicle was found abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L, in rural Texas County, Oklahoma, are still unconfirmed, details shared in the probable cause affidavits about the suspects suggest the two women are dead and their end was especially bloody.
“An examination of the vehicle and area surrounding the vehicle found evidence of a severe injury. 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,” explains the affidavit.
Investigators confirmed that the charges against the suspect are all connected to a five-year custody battle between Butler and Adams who has been fighting to keep her grandchildren away from both Butler and her son, Wrangler Cole Rickman, a drug addicted convict who is currently in rehab. It is alleged that while her grandchildren were in Butler’s care, the children were sexually abused by Butler’s brother.
In the affidavit against Adams, investigators note that: “At times Adams refused to let Rickman have his children, even though Rickman had legal custody of them. Law enforcement previously responded to a call for service where Adams refused to give Rickman his children. Reportedly, the officer told Rickman he believed the children were better off in Adams’ care.”
Adams also did not want Butler to have unsupervised access to the children anymore because of the sexual abuse claims, but Butler’s attorney told investigators that she was on the verge of winning unsupervised visits with her children and Adams did not want that to happen. A hearing was scheduled for the case on April 17.
It is alleged that prior to the women going missing on March 30, the four suspects had tried to kill Butler, but Butler would not leave her home to give them an opportunity to attack her.
Investigators learned from the 16-year-old daughter of Cora Twombly and Coby White that her mother and her stepfather, Cole Twombly, as well as the other murder suspects, were part of God’s Misfits, described as an “anti-government group that has a religious affiliation.” The group met weekly with the Twomblys and the home of Barrett and Lacy Cook.
“CW stated that she had overheard group conversations related to Butler not protecting her children from her brother, all in reference to a sexual abuse allegation. CW advised that she was told by Cora that Adams, Cullum, Cora, and Paul Grice were involved in the deaths of Butler and Kelley,” notes the affidavit. “She stated that Adams had provided ‘burner’ phones to use so they could communicate without using their personal devices. CW saw two ‘burner’ phones charging on Cora’s nightstand in her bedroom.”
CW said she was told on March 29, the day before Kelley and Butler went missing, that Cora and Cole would not be home in the morning when she woke and were going to be on a “mission.”
She explained that when she woke up at 10 a.m. on March 30, her mother and stepfather were not at home. They came home at about 12 p.m. with their blue and grey Chevrolet pickup and a blue flatbed pickup, owned by Clint Twombly.
“CW was told to clean the interior of the Chevrolet pickup. CW asked Cora what had happened and was told that things did not go as planned, but that they would not have to worry about (Butler) again,” the affidavit says.
The teenager says she was told that her mother and stepfather blocked Butler and Kelley’s path as they were heading to Four Corners (the Intersection of Highway 95 and US 64 in Texas County, Oklahoma) where they were expected to meet Adams for the supervised visit with her children at 10 a.m.
The roadblock diverted the women to where Adams, Cullum and Grice were waiting.
When the teenager allegedly asked why the pastor’s wife had to die, her mother reportedly told her that Kelley “wasn’t innocent either as she had supported Butler.”
Kelley is the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley who leads Hugoton First Christian Church in Kansas. Heath Kelley recently agreed to serve as the new pastor of Willow Christian Church in Nebraska starting in June. Both churches have been praying for the safe return of the pastor's wife and Butler.
It was suggested that Kelley's and Butler’s bodies were dumped inside a well.
“CW also disclosed that other attempts to kill Butler occurred during February of 2024, near Hugoton, [Kansas], in which Adams, Cullum, Cole, Cora and Grice went to Hugoton, but Butler did not leave her residence, this is consistent with the web search discovered on Adams’ phone about how to get someone out of their house,” the affidavit says. “According to Cora, the plan was to throw an anvil through Butler’s windshield while driving, making it look like an accident because anvils regularly fall of work vehicles.”
Investigators say Kelley got involved with Butler’s visitation because Adams claimed that her usual paid supervisor, Cheryl Brune, was unable to attend the March 30 visit. When investigators spoke with Brune, however, she said it was Adams who told her to take two weeks off.
“Butler was required to arrange the supervision with one of her three approved individuals. Butler contacted Kelley and planned to have her supervise the visit,” the affidavit explains.
Butler had planned to bring her daughter to a birthday party on March 30, but when they didn’t show up, family members began looking for her. Melissa and Joey Padilla found her abandoned vehicle and contacted police at 12:09 p.m.
Adams told investigators that Butler’s children had spent the previous night with Barrett and Lacy Cook and she planned to pick them up on March 30 before the visitation. She claimed she called Butler at 9 a.m. to confirm the visitation but said Butler told her something had come up and she would no longer make it.
Though Butler’s phone records confirm the call with Adams, at the time of the call, she was picking up Kelley to meet Adams. Adams claims she was at home when the women went missing, and she picked up her grandchildren from the Cooks before noon.
The affidavit against Adams shows that through the child custody case “recordings were obtained where Rickman discussed death threats by Adams and Adams’ boyfriend, Tad Cullum.”
Investigators also showed that Adams searched for gun shops on her cellular phone and would later buy five stun guns at the Big R stores in Guymon, Oklahoma, on March 23.
Adams also purchased three pre-paid cell phones from Walmart in Guymon on Feb. 13. It was shown that all three phones were in the area where Butler’s car was located as well as the last known location of Butler and Kelley at the time of their disappearance.
All three phones were powered on and accessed the cellular network for the first time at or near Cullum’s residence at different times prior to March 30.
“After Butler and Kelley’s disappearance, on March 30, between 1016 and 1035 hours, it was determined that their phones were at a property owned by Jamie Beasly, below a dam, in the pasture, where fresh dirt work was located,” the affidavit against Adams explains. “Concrete was moved from a location near Beasley’s residence, approximately 150-200 yards below the dam, where it was discovered that a hole had been dug and filled back in and then covered with hay.”
Butler’s car was located about 8.5 miles from that area. The pre-paid phones stopped transmitting on the morning of March 30 near Twombly’s residence and Beasley’s property.
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