Affidavits for the suspects accused of killing two moms in Kansas last month have revealed the strange circumstances surrounding the tragedy. For example, it is said that the four women were part of an anti-government group that had planned to kill them before.
Butler, a 27-year-old woman in a nasty custody battle with her ex-boyfriend and his mom, and Jillian Kelley, a 38-year-old preacher’s wife who had offered to watch Butler and her kids during a visit on March 30, were both killed.
While Butler and Kelley meant to go to that visit, they never did. Then they disappeared after crossing into rural Oklahoma from Kansas. No one ever saw them alive again. The car that belonged to Butler was found on a dirt road a long way from the highway.
The police said they thought there might have been foul play involved in their disappearance. Last week, an investigation showed that the women were killed and their bodies were dumped. Police told NewsNation that the women may have been killed, and there were pools of blood near their car.
With two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, Tifany Adams was charged with the crime on Saturday. Adams is Butler’s grandchildren and their caretaker. The charges against her boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum and two of her friends, Cora and Cole Earl Twombly, were the same.
As seen by The Daily Beast, prosecutors say in Adams’ probable cause statement that all four suspects were part of an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits” that met once a week.
Even though they used religious language, the document made it seem like the group was violent, especially toward Butler, who they reportedly planned to kill outside of her Kansas home in February but never did because she never came outside.
According to the affidavit, police talked to Cora and Cole Twombly’s 16-year-old daughter, who said that her parents told her they were going to kill the Kansas moms.
The girl, who only gave her name as “CW,” said her parents told her on March 29 that they would not be there the next morning because they were going on a “mission.” When she woke up the next morning, they were gone. But she told the cops that they came back later on March 30 and said something had gone wrong.
The girl told the police that her parents, Adams, and Cullum worked together to stop Butler and Kelley’s car from going to Adams’ house.
The statement said, “CW asked Cora what had happened and was told that things did not go as planned but that they would not have to worry about her (Butler) again.”
CW “asked about Kelley and why she had to die,” according to the statement. Her parents told her, “she wasn’t innocent either” because she had helped Butler.
CW is said to have told police that her parents were going to throw an anvil into Butler’s window because they often fall off of work vehicles and wanted to make it look like she died in a car accident. Nobody said if that idea was actually tried or not.
Cora Twombly told CW that when she asked her mother if the bodies were put in a well, she said, “Something like that.”
The group seemed to be mad at Butler because she was trying to get control of her kids back. Just 10 days before the women went missing, Butler asked the court to take them away from Adams if the judge agreed with her.
Rickman, who was Butler’s ex-husband and the father of their two children, had formal custody of them, but he supposedly didn’t spend much time with them. According to the statement, Adams and Cullum had kept him away from them.
A police report said that Rickman’s grandma told them that her grandson had told her earlier this year that there was a plan to kill Butler. This woman said her grandson told her they didn’t need to worry about the custody fight anymore because “Adams had it under control” and they were going to “take out Veronica at drop off,” according to the affidavit.
The investigation also found that Adams had searched the web for information on gun shops, prepaid cell phones, the pain level of a taser, and how to get someone out of their house. The last of these questions was reportedly answered when Adams’ phone was ping-ed near Butler’s home in Hugoton, Kansas.
The affidavit also said that the suspects had bought tasers and burner phones before the killings. These items were found near the crime scene and may have been used to restrain Butler and Kelley.
At a news conference on Monday, the police said they still didn’t know for sure if the bodies found over the weekend belonged to Butler and Kelley, but they also said there was “no” chance the two were still living. The police did not say where the bodies were found.
They are going to court for the first time on Wednesday.
GoFundMe campaigns for Butler and Kelley haven’t raised much money yet; together, they’ve only raised about $5,000.
