The cause of death for two Kansas mothers who went missing in early April has been revealed.

Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly disappeared while driving to pick up Butler’s children for a birthday party. Butler had been involved in a years-long custody battle with the children’s father, and Kelly was acting as a court-appointed supervised visitation agent. When the women missed the party and failed to return home as planned, Kelly’s pastor husband and a friend went looking for them.

Just three miles from the women’s destination in Eva, Oklahoma, the men saw law enforcement surrounding Butler’s abandoned blue Kia on the side of the road.

In a court filing, prosecutors revealed that both Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly were stabbed to death. They allege the women were attacked just outside Butler’s car, and their bodies were transported 8 ½ miles away to a 10-foot-deep hole that had been dug the day before. The defendants reportedly stuffed Butler and Kelly’s bodies into a chest freezer, along with incriminating evidence, then lowered the freezer into the hole and refilled it.

Police stated that the murders were meticulously planned by five suspects, with the ringleader reportedly being the paternal grandmother of Veronica Butler’s children. The suspects are identified as Tifany Adams, 54; Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; Cole Twombly, 50; and Paul Grice, 31.

Prosecutors now allege that Paul Grice stabbed Butler to death, injuring his hand in the process, while Tad Cullum stabbed Kelly. Investigators have not revealed whether the women were killed simultaneously or one after the other, but only one knife was recovered from the burial site. Accessories for the K-bar knife were found at Tad Cullum’s home.

The court filing details the roles of the five defendants. Prosecutors claim Cole and Cora Twombly acted as lookouts and blocked the road, diverting the women to where Tad Cullum and Paul Grice were waiting. Cullum and Grice then stabbed each of the women to death and changed out of their bloody clothes.

The bodies, weapons, and bloody clothes were placed in the chest freezer, which Grice transported to the hole Cullum had dug the day before. Cullum then buried the freezer and the evidence.

The motive is believed to be related to the custody of the children.

Joining Nancy Grace today:

Additional Guest

• Annette Lawless – Kansas Investigative Reporter

“Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” on Fox Nation is also a national radio show heard on SiriusXM channel 111 airing for two hours daily starting at 12 p.m. EST. You can also subscribe and download the daily podcasts at iHeart Podcasts.

[Feature Photo: Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley/Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation]