Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley

Amended Charges Filed for 3 of 5 People Charged in Deaths of Kansas Women in Oklahoma

Prosecutors have slapped new charges against three of the five people charged in the deaths of two Kansas women earlier this year in rural Oklahoma.

Tiffany Adams, her boyfriend Tad Cullum, and Cole Twombly now face charges of unlawful removal of a dead body and unlawful desecration of a human corpse, KSN reported. In amended charges filed last week, prosecutors also dropped kidnapping charges against the three.

They remain charged with two counts of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

The other two suspects in the deaths of Jillian Kelley and Veronica Butler, Paul Grice and Twombly’s wife Cora Twombly, are still facing the original charges, including kidnapping. It’s not clear if that will change.

Butler, 27, and Kelley, 39, were on their way to Adams’ home to pick up Butler’s children for a supervised visit — Kelley was the supervisor — when they vanished, as CrimeOnline reported. Their bodies were found weeks later buried on a property in Texas County, Oklahoma.

Tifany Adams, Tad Cullum, Paul Grice, Cole Twombly, and Cora Twombly/Texas County Sheriff’s Department

Adams is the paternal grandmother of the children. Court documents say the two women were killed because Adams didn’t want Butler to have any connection with her grandchildren.

The new charges also include two counts of child neglect against Adams, KSN said. The document says that Adams had the 6- and 8-year-old children carrying around items she was buying for use in the murder at a farm supply store.

Grice, who was the last of the five arrested weeks after the other four, waived his right to a speedy trial last month and is currently scheduled to appear in court again next February. The other four have preliminary hearings set for December 17.

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[Featured image: Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley/Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation]