WICHITA, Kan. — In a significant legal development, an Oklahoma prosecutor has decided to pursue the death penalty against two individuals implicated in the tragic deaths of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.

On Thursday, Texas County District Attorney George H. Leach III submitted formal documents announcing his intention to seek capital punishment for Cole Twombly and Tad Cullum. These two men are among five suspects charged in connection with the murders of Butler and Kelley.

The arrests of Twombly and Cullum took place in 2024, along with those of Tifany Adams, who is the grandmother of Butler’s two children, as well as Cora Twombly and Paul Grice.