OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma judge on Wednesday ordered a public defender to represent four members of a rebel group who appeared in court on kidnapping and kidnapping charges. Two Kansas women killed.
The judge also accepted the not guilty pleas of Tiffany Adams, 54, and her boyfriend, Tad Cullum, 43, of the Keys, Oklahoma, and Cole and Cora Twombly of Texoma, Oklahoma. and denied bail.
OIDS Executive Director Tim Laughlin told The Associated Press that Texas County Associate District Judge Clark Jett appointed the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System to represent all four defendants. Mr. Laughlin declined to comment on the case or the details of the defendant, citing his agency’s policy.
“The reason we don’t comment is to protect our client’s privilege and our client’s interests throughout the court process,” Laughlin said.
All four are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in the deaths of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jillian Kelly, both of Hugoton, Kansas. Both suspects disappeared on March 30 while driving to Oklahoma to retrieve Butler’s car. Attend a birthday party with your kids.
The children’s grandmother, Adams, admitted in an interview with investigators that she was responsible for the deaths of Butler and Kelley, according to a motion by prosecutors asking for the defendants to be held without bail.
“Adams, Callum, Cora and Cole have sufficient resources to organize and carry out a complex murder case,” OSBI Lt. Amy Gates said in an affidavit. “So they also have the resources to escape if the opportunity arises.”
Adam and Callum also owned numerous firearms, and Callum had a rifle, ammunition, body armor and a “carry bag” available at his home, the affidavit said.
Authorities say Adams and Butler were in the middle of a bitter custody battle. Kelly, the pastor’s wife, accompanied Butler as a court-approved observer overseeing the visit. The couple did not appear at the party and a two-week search began, with the couple arrested on Saturday and their bodies discovered on Sunday.
The arrest affidavit described a grisly description of the scene where the woman’s car was found not far from the rural highway intersection where Butler had planned to pick up her son and daughter from Adams. . Investigators found bloodstains on the road and Butler’s glasses near a broken hammer.
Witnesses who spoke to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation officials said all four suspects were members of a “religious-affiliated anti-government group.” They called themselves “God’s Misfits,” and held regular meetings at the home of the Twomblys and another couple who said they were watching their children on the day the Adamses disappeared, according to the affidavit. It is said that he was
Relatives of Tad Karam and Twombly did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment. Elise Adams, Tiffany Adams’ stepmother, said she had no information to share.
