The bodies of two Kansas mothers, allegedly murdered by members of a rebel group during a bitter custody battle, were buried in a freezer on an Oklahoma farm.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spent two days digging through a cattle pasture rented by one of the suspects and discovered the bodies of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jillian Kelly, 39.
According to search warrant court filings, law enforcement found a buried chest freezer containing a woman’s body and personal items that did not belong to either party. Obtained by KFOR.
The women were found with many personal items that did not belong to them.
The items included several items of clothing with blood stains on them, including two sweatshirts, a T-shirt, cloth gloves, a black K-bar knife in a sheath, and duct tape.
The cause of death for neither woman has been released, but Oklahoma authorities previously said the women were killed in an “extremely brutal crime.”
Butler and Kelly were last seen on March 30, on their way back from a visit to Oklahoma with Butler’s children.
The children lived with their paternal grandmother, Tiffany Adams, one of five suspects arrested and charged with murder.
Butler was in the midst of a bitter custody battle with his father and only had visitation rights on Saturdays, so Kelly supervised the visits.
The gruesome burial site was on land rented by Tad Cullum, about 8.5 miles from where police found Butler’s abandoned car.
On April 13, police arrested Adams, 54, Cullum, 43, Cole Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44.
They were charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
During Karam’s arrest, a man named Paul Grice was inside the suspect’s home, and FBI agents noticed that the second man had a bandage on his right little finger.
Grice told investigators he was injured while working on the truck. According to KATV.
A witness came forward on April 18 and told law enforcement that Grice asked several specific questions, including:
- How long does it take to process DNA evidence?
- How long will DNA survive in dirt if it is “stirred”?
- Do you know how to bring a “man and his family” into Mexico?
The media reported, citing court records, that Grice told a witness that because he was at the Twombly family’s home, his DNA might be in the hole with the body. He said he was worried that it would happen.
Another witness told OSBI investigators that the suspects were part of a “religious-affiliated rebel group.”
They reportedly called themselves “God’s Misfits,” held regular meetings at the Twomblys’ home and another couple’s home, and were watching over their children on the day the women disappeared, Adams said. said.
Grice, 31, was eventually arrested and charged by OSBI agents with participating in the murders and burials of Butler and Kelly.
The court filing also includes data seized from two cellphones that were in Twombly’s truck at the time of his arrest, including the location where the two women were abducted and the location of the grave. It was in both places.
According to KFOR, Adams bought two cell phones and another device at Walmart in Guymon.
