‘God’s Misfits’ group distances itself from Oklahoma murder suspects

‘I am about scripture and about spreading the love of Jesus. I am not an anti-government murderer,’ God’s Misfits founder said

A religious group called "God's Misfits”, based in South Carolina and led by a man calling himself “Squirrel’, has distanced itself from murder suspects allegedly operating under the same name.

Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44, have been charged this week with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder, in relation to the deaths of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39.

The women were heading to Oklahoma to pick up Ms Butler’s two children from their grandmother, Ms Adams, when they disappeared on 30 March.

Their car was found abandoned at a rural crossroads near a trail of blood, broken hammer, a pistol magazine and one woman’s glasses. The bodies were confirmed to be those of Ms Butler and Ms Kelley, by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI).

According to a police affidavit, obtained by The Independent, officers spoke with the 16-year-old daughter of Ms Twombley. In the affidavit, the daughter is referred to as “CW”.

A man calling himself ‘Squirrel,’ the founder of a group called ‘God’s Misfits’ explaining in a video that his organisation is not connected to a group of murder suspects using the same name (screengrab/Facebook/God’s Misfits)

CW told police that her mother and the other suspects belonged to an “anti-government group that has a religious affiliation” called God’s Misfits. Investigators found that “God’s Misfits” held regular, weekly meetings at both the Twomblys’ and Cooks’ homes.

Social media searches have revealed no online presence of the Oklahoma-based God’s Misfits group.

There is another group called “God’s Misfits” on Facebook but they sought to distance themselves from the Oklahoma murder case this week, and said they had nothing to do with it.

On Wednesday, a man who calls himself “Squirrel” said that he founded God’s Misfits, and that their only focus is “spreading the love of Jesus Christ”.

“Someway, people think they are part of us. Nothing could be more wrong,” Squirrel posted on Facebook. “God’s misfits is about spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, not about hate and murder.”

Squirrel also responded to messages he had received about the murder case and said that he started up his religious group’s website in 2015.

This combination of booking photo provided by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation From top left: Tad Bert Cullum, top left, Cora Twombly, top right, Tifany Machel Adams, bottom left, and Cole Earl Twombly, bottom right. (AP)

He called news of another God’s Misfits group “whacked-out” and said that people had messaged him, calling his group a “cult”.

“I ain’t got nothing to do with all of that,” he said. “I am about scripture and about spreading the love of Jesus. I am not an anti-government murderer.”

Squirrel pointed out that sharing Jesus’s love “does not mean going out and killing anybody.”

“Someway, people think they are part of us. Nothing could be more wrong,” he said.

The God Misfits Facebook group did not respond to The Independent’s request for information on Wednesday.

The murder suspects are two couples: Ms Adams, who served as a GOP chair in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, and her boyfriend Mr Cullum, and Mr and Ms Twombly, who moved to Oklahoma around 2005.

A custody battle appears to have been at the heart of the slayings, according to prosecutors. The filings revealed that a “problematic” custody battle had raged since 2019 between Ms Butler, Ms Adams, and her 26-year-old son, Wrangler Rickman, over two children aged six and eight.

“At times Adams refused to let Rickman have his children, even though Rickman had legal custody of them,” according to Ms Adams’s arrest affidavit. “Law enforcement previously responded to a call for service where Adams refused to give Rickman his children.”

The group were arraigned 17 April at the Texas County Courthouse in Oklahoma.

All four arrived separately in orange jumpsuits, handcuffs and what appeared to be bullet-proof vests.

Emotions reportedly ran high, with some relatives of the victims being held back from trying to get to the suspects.

They were denied bond and will appear in court again in May.