An Oklahoma grandmother, Tifany Adams, received a severe sentence on Monday, facing two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the murder of two women from Kansas during a custody handover in 2024.
Last year, Adams entered a no contest plea to multiple charges associated with the tragic deaths of Veronica Butler and Julian Kelley, as reported by KFOR. Alongside the life sentences, she was handed down an additional five years for each of two counts regarding the unlawful removal of a dead body and seven years for each of two counts pertaining to the unlawful desecration of a corpse.
The grim discovery of Butler, aged 27, and Kelley, aged 39, occurred on April 14, two weeks following their disappearance. The women had vanished while en route to collect Butler’s children from Adams’ residence in Texas County, Oklahoma. CrimeOnline detailed that Adams, along with four accomplices—her boyfriend Tad Cullum, Cole Twombly, his wife Cora Twombly, and Paul Grice—were subsequently charged with numerous offenses tied to the killings.
The group reportedly orchestrated an ambush on the women as they journeyed from Kansas to Adams’ Oklahoma home. Following their murders, the women’s bodies were concealed in a freezer before being buried at a site allegedly prepared by Cullum.
In a bid to avoid the death penalty, Cora Twombly and Grice accepted plea deals, agreeing to testify in the case. Meanwhile, Cole Twombly and Cullum have maintained their innocence, with their trials anticipated to commence later this year.
Cole Twombly and Cullum have pleaded not guilty and are expected to go on trial later this year.
Adams, Butler’s children’s paternal grandmother, was accused of masterminding the murders over a custody dispute.
Prosecutors agreed to drop charges of conspiracy and child neglect against Adams and also agreed not to require her to testify against her co-defendants, KFOR said.
