TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (KFDA) – A schedule has been set for defendant Tifany Adams in the murder trial of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.
In March of 2024, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley were traveling to pick up children and never made it to their location.
The next year and a half would be a discovery of conspiracies, arrests, court hearings and the murders of two Kansas mothers.
The case would begin in March 2024, with the Texas County Sheriff’s Department requesting the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to investigate the suspicious disappearance of two women in Oklahoma.
The missing persons alert states they never made it to the pick-up location.
In April 2024, the OSBI would find and identify the bodies found in Texas County as Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.
The women were found near the location of an abandoned vehicle; however, the cause of death for the women was not revealed at the time.
After two weeks, the police arrested four suspectswho were charged with the murders and denied bond.
Tad Cullum, Tifany Adams, Cole Twombly and Cora Twombly were arrested and charged with two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
A fifth suspect with arrested shortly after and charged. He was identified as Paul Grice.
In May 2024, a gag order was issued because of the extensive local and national coverage, with attorneys saying they believe this will help with the jury pool and ensure a fair trial.
In June 2024, the five defendants met in court for a discovery status hearing and to listen to arguments on motions filed by the defendants, an overview of evidence, and a discussion on whether the defendants would be tried together or separately.
December 2024 began preliminary hearings, where Cora Twombly and Paul Grice provided testimony after agreeing to a plea deal.
The courtroom heard in detail the plans to murder these women and the group God’s Misfits, a political and religious ideology group, all five defendants were involved in.
At the end of the pre-trial hearings, all defendants had waived their right to a speedy trial.
Nearly a year after the initial murders, Tad Cullum filed a motion to recuse the judge on grounds of impartiality due to the prior representation of co-defendant Tifany Adams.
The judge denied the motion, Cullum and his team appealed the decision, which was denied again by the Court of Criminal Appeals of the State of Oklahoma.
In October 2025, Adams and her team agreed to a scheduling order including motion hearings in February 2026, a victim impact statement, and final witness and exhibit lists for the State and defendant in April.
The documents say jury selection and trial are set to begin for Adams on June 1, 2026.
There is another court appearance scheduled for November 5 for the final arraignment, where the defendants will be officially informed of their charges and asked to enter a plea.
Both Cora Twombly and Paul Grice agreed to testify against the other defendants; they will have further proceedings.