Clockwise from top left: Veronica Butler (Texas County (Okla.) Sheriff’s Department), Jilian Kelley (Texas County (Okla.) Sheriff’s Department), Tifany Machel Adams (Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation).
An Oklahoma grandmother has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of the murders of two Kansas mothers. These women were abducted while on their way to pick up one of the victims’ children.
Tifany Machel Adams, 56, received her life sentence, as reported by local CBS affiliate KFDA on Monday. As per Oklahoma court records, Adams entered a no-contest plea in October to two counts of first-degree murder and several other charges related to the 2024 deaths of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39.
According to previous reports by Law&Crime, Butler and Kelley were traveling from southern Kansas on March 30, 2024, to pick up Butler’s children in rural Oklahoma for a birthday celebration, but they never arrived. Their vehicle was discovered abandoned near Highway 95 and Road L in Texas County, Oklahoma, close to the Kansas border. The disappearance raised suspicions, with evidence suggesting foul play.
The investigation eventually uncovered a violent custody conflict involving Butler, who shared two children with Adams’ son, and members of an anti-government group known as “God’s Misfits.”
Butler had been granted court-ordered visitation rights with her children every Saturday, and Kelley was appointed by the court to supervise these visits. Investigators revealed that Adams and her accomplices intercepted the two women on the highway on March 30, leading to their abduction. After extensive searches lasting over two weeks, the bodies of the victims were discovered in rural Texas County.
Adams faced six charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of unlawful removal of a dead body, and two counts of unlawful desecration of a human corpse. In return for her no-contest plea, three additional charges—one of conspiracy and two of child neglect—were dropped, as per court documents. A no-contest plea indicates that a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges that the prosecution has sufficient evidence for a conviction.
Four other people, in addition to Adams, have been charged in the women’s deaths: Adams’ boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, Cora Twombly, and Cora Twombly’s husband, Cole Earl Twombly, are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. A fifth person, 31-year-old Paul Grice, is facing the same charges.
Family members said Adams, Cullum, and the Twomblys are self-proclaimed members of an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits.” They met weekly at each other’s houses. Adams was also the Republican Party chair in Cimarron County in the far western part of the Sooner State’s panhandle, according to State Sen. Nathan Dahm, who is the chairman of the Oklahoma State GOP.
Cora Twombly and Paul Grice have individual plea agreements in place, KFDA reported. In December 2025, the two gave testimony about the murders. Grice will not receive the death penalty in exchange for his testimony, and Twombly must serve 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole, the station reported.
Cullum’s trial is scheduled for Oct. 16. According to KFDA, his attorneys have filed a motion declaring the death penalty unconstitutional and “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Cole Twombly’s trial is set for February 2027.
