A fifth person was arrested Wednesday in connection with the murder of two mothers in Oklahomaofficials said.
Paul Grice, 31, was arrested and booked into the Texas County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, said the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation in a statement. Press release.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, disappeared March 30 while en route from Kansas to pick up Butler’s children from a birthday party in neighboring Oklahoma. Their remains were found April 14 after they were last seen together in a vehicle that was later found abandoned on the side of the highway in a rural part of Texas County.
Four people had already been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the women’s killings. Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, were all arrested April 14, the office said.
According to an unsealed affidavit, Adams is the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children and the two were involved in a custody battle. Callum and Adams were in a relationship, according to the affidavit.
Authorities say the five suspects belong to an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits” that met regularly at the Twombly home and other locations. The group had previously tried to kill Butler, according to a teenage witness who spoke to investigators, who also said they were responsible for the killings, according to the affidavit.
A judge last week pleaded not guilty for the four suspects in addition to denying them bail.
Family members of the deceased were at the courthouse to confront the alleged killers of Butler and Kelley. Bryson Butler, Veronica Butler’s younger brother, told CBS affiliate KFDA that he hopes “justice is served.”
“How can you hate someone so much that you want to kill them? How can you hate the mother of your grandchildren so much that you want to end her life?” » Butler’s aunt told KFDA.
—Jordan Freiman contributed reporting.
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