OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma judge has ordered public defenders to represent four members of an anti-government group who appeared in court Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and killing two Kansas women.
The judge also pleaded not guilty and denied bail to Tifany Adams, 54, and her boyfriend, Tad Cullum, 43, both of Keyes, Oklahoma, as well as Cole and Cora Twombly of Texhoma, Oklahoma .
Texas County Associate District Judge Clark Jett assigned the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System to represent the four defendants, OIDS Executive Director Tim Laughlin told The Associated Press. Laughlin declined to comment on details of the case or the defendants, citing his agency’s policy.
“The reason we are not commenting is to protect the privileges and interests of our clients throughout the trial process,” Laughlin said.
All four are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in the killings of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, who disappeared March 30 while were heading to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s apartment. children and attend a birthday party.
During an interview with investigators, Adams, the children’s grandmother, admitted that she was responsible for the deaths of Butler and Kelley, according to a prosecutor’s motion asking that the defendants be held without bail.
“Adams, Cullum, Cora and Cole have sufficient resources to plan and execute a complex murder,” OSBI Lt. Amie Gates wrote in an affidavit. “Therefore, they also have the resources to flee if given the opportunity. »
Adam and Cullum also own numerous firearms, and Cullum had prepared a rifle, ammunition, body armor and a “go-bag” at his home, the affidavit states.
Authorities say Adams and Butler were in the middle of a bitter custody battle. Kelley, a pastor’s wife, accompanied Butler as a court-approved observer to supervise the visit. They never showed up to the party, sparking a two-week search that ended with the arrest of both couples on Saturday and the discovery of the bodies on Sunday.
Arrest affidavits painted a gruesome picture of the scene where the women’s car was found, not far from the rural highway intersection where Butler had arranged to pick up her son and daughter in Adams. Investigators found blood on the road and Butler’s glasses near a broken hammer.
According to a witness who spoke to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents, the four suspects were part of an “anti-government group with a religious affiliation.” The affidavits said they called themselves “God’s misfits” and held regular meetings at the home of the Twomblys and another couple who Adams said were watching the children on the day the women disappeared.
Relatives of Tad Cullum and the Twomblys did not respond to telephone messages seeking comment. Tifany Adams’ stepmother, Elise Adams, said she had no information to share.
New York Post
