The father of one of the murdered women had to be restrained Wednesday as the four suspects in the murders of two women in the Oklahoma panhandle made their first court appearances, each wearing a bulletproof vest over their orange and white striped jail uniforms.
Tifany Adams, 54; Tad Cullum, 43; Cole Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44, are charged with two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy in the deaths of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, on March 30, as CrimeOnline reported. The two women disappeared that day on their way from Kansas to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children from Adams, the children’s paternal grandmother, for a scheduled visitation. Kelley was the appointed supervisor for the visit.
Their bodies were found Sunday, a day after the suspects were arrested, in rural Texas County about nine miles from where their car was found abandoned, with blood on the roadway. The medical examiner has not yet announced a cause and manner of death.
A fifth person was named in probable cause statements about the murders as having participated, but he has not been arrested, and investigators have not explained how he is connected.
Adams, her boyfriend Cullum, and the Twomblys were led into the court individually, where a judge denied bond for each of them, KSN reported.
Prosecutors say they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty against the suspects, who appeared Wednesday without attorneys present. Adams, Cullum, and Cole Twombly told the court they would hire attorneys, but Cora Twombly said she could not afford one, so a judge ordered that a public defender be appointed for her.
According to KOCO, Clinton Butler, Butler’s father, yelled obscenities at the suspects as they were brought into the courtroom and was held back by a deputy. He later told KSN that the justice system had failed his daughter.
Butler’s aunt, LaDonna Thompson, told KSN that the suspects “deserve to rot and burn in the depths of hell for all I care.”
“How can you hate the mother of your grandchildren so much that you want to end her life?” she said.
“Our family lost a beautiful, beautiful young lady that will forever be loved and missed, and I don’t know how, I don’t know how we are supposed to make two children live the rest of their lives without their beautiful mom,” she added.
Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley said he expected emotions to run high and planned security accordingly, including a security drone flying overhead and metal detectors for anyone entering the building.
“We just took those extra precautions to not allow any electronic in the courtroom or the courthouse. We closed down the courthouse for that little bit of the hearing, and we weren’t allowing bags or cellphones or anything out of the ordinary,” Boley said.
He said he expected to continue the precautions “at every court hearing involving the four suspects.”
Their next court appearance is set for May 15.
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[Featured image: Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley/Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation]
