Accused ‘God’s Misfits’ killers previously planned to murder victim with anvil

Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, vanished on 30 March and their bodies were found on 13 April

Weeks before two Kansas mothers were abducted and found dead in Oklahoma, their accused killers, who regularly held anti-government religious meetings for the group “God’s Misfits” at their homes, had allegedly planned to carry out the murders with an anvil.

New details laid out in a probable cause affidavit obtained by The Independent revealed that in February, Tifany Adams, 54, her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43, travelled with a married couple Cole, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, to the Hugoton, Kansas home of 27-year-old Veronica Butler with the intention of killing her, a witness told investigators.

The witness, identified in the affidavit as Cora Twombly’s 16-year-old daughter and referred to as “CW,” said the plan was to throw an anvil through Butler’s windshield while she was driving, making it look like an accident because anvils regularly fall off of work vehicles. But Butler did not leave her home.

Meanwhile, Ms Adams, who served as a GOP chair in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, did an online search on her phone for how to get someone out of their house. Other searches included taser pain levels, gun shops and prepaid cell phones.

A “problematic” custody battle between Ms Adams, her 26-year-old son, Wrangler Rickman, and Veronica Butler, over their two children since 2019, is believed to be at the centre of the slayings of Butler and Jilian Kelley, 39, whose bodies were found on 13 April.

Tad Bert Cullum, top left, Cora Twombly, top right, Tifany Machel Adams, bottom left, and Cole Earl Twombly, bottom right, were arrested on 13 April in the murder and kidnapping Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley (AP)

Ms Adams’s son, who is the father and legal guardian of the children he shares with Butler, was in a rehabilitation facility in Oklahoma City at the time of the killings, officials said.

The custody battle escalated in March when Butler pushed for more access to her kids than the court-ordered supervised Saturday visits she was allowed. Days later, Ms Adams bought three prepaid burner phones at a local Walmart and five stun guns at a local gun shop.

Butler arranged to pick up her children and take them to a family birthday party on Easter weekend.

Kelley, the wife of Hugoton First Christian Church pastor Heath Kelley, The Christian Post reported, was a stand-in for the usual supervisor, Cheryl Brune, whom Ms Adams preferred and said was unavailable that day.

But when they never arrived at the party, Butler’s relatives grew concerned and launched a search for them. Butler’s car was found abandoned about five miles north of the planned meeting spot to collect the children.

Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley told reporters at a press conference that they immediately knew something was wrong.

“They found some things that just weren’t adding up,” he said. “We felt this wasn’t a random deal.”

Officers found blood on the road, and Butler’s glasses near a broken hammer. There was also a magazine for a pistol that was found in Kelley’s purse, but no gun.

Investigators say Butler and Kelley were murdered that Monday. Their bodies were found in Texas County on 13 April.

The four individuals were arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder after they allegedly conspired to kidnap and kill Butler and Kelley.

Veronica Butler, left, and Jilian Kelley, right, were murdered and their bodies were found on 13 April (AP)

Details from the affidavit revealed that before the murders were carried out, CW was told that her mother and stepfather would be out when she woke up that Saturday because they were going to be on a “mission.”

She said her mother and stepfather, as well as Ms Adams and her boyfriend Cullum, were part of an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits,” according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI), which met weekly at the Twombly house or the home of another couple, Barrett and Lacy Cook.

Three other individuals named in the affidavit: Paul Grice, Barrett and Lacy Cook, were described as having a connection with the four suspects, and were also involved with the group, “God’s Misfits.”

She said her mother named five people — the four arrested suspects, including herself, and then also Mr Grice — as being involved in the deaths of Butler and Kelley.

Ms Adams had provided “burner” phones for the suspects to use so they could communicate without using their personal devices and CW saw two “burner” phones charging on her mother’s bedroom nightstand.

The day before Ms Butler and Ms Kelley disappeared, CW claimed her parents said they were going on a “mission” the following day.

CW told investigators that her parents returned around noon the next day and told her to clean the interior of their Chevrolet pickup.

When she asked them what happened, they told her things did not go as planned, but that they would not have to worry about her [Butler] again.

A ‘problematic’ custody battle between Ms Adams (pictured) and Veronica Butler, over her two children, is believed to be at the centre of the slayings (AP)

CW was told that her mother and stepfather blocked the road to stop Butler and Kelley and divert them to where Ms Adams, Mr Cullum and Mr Grice were positioned.

The teen asked why Kelley had to die and her mom said she wasn’t innocent either, as she had supported Butler. When CW asked her mom if their bodies were put in a well, she replied, “Something like that.”

Despite the other names listed in the affidavit, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Hunter McKee told The Independent “There are no other suspects at this time.”

The four suspects were arraigned on 17 April at the Texas County Courthouse in Oklahoma.

They were denied bond and remain behind bars. Their next court date is set for May.