On Wednesday, the father of one of the murdered women had to be controlled as the four suspects in the killings of two women in the Oklahoma panhandle made their initial court appearances. Each of the suspects was wearing a bulletproof vest over their orange and white striped jail outfits.
Tifany Adams, 54; Tad Cullum, 43; Cole Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44, face charges of two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy in the deaths of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, on March 30, as per CrimeOnline.The two women vanished that day while traveling from Kansas to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children from Adams, the children’s paternal grandmother, for a scheduled visit. Kelley was overseeing the visit.
Their bodies were discovered on Sunday, a day after the suspects were apprehended, in rural Texas County about nine miles from where their car was found abandoned, with blood on the roadway. The medical examiner has not yet announced a cause and manner of death.
A fifth person was mentioned in probable cause statements about the murders as having participated, but he has not been arrested, and investigators have not explained how he is connected.
Adams, her boyfriend Cullum, and the Twomblys were brought into the court separately, and a judge refused bond for each of them, KSN reported.
Prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty against the suspects, who appeared Wednesday without attorneys present. Adams, Cullum, and Cole Twombly stated they would hire attorneys, but Cora Twombly said she could not afford one, so a judge ordered that a public defender be appointed for her.
As reported by KOCO, Clinton Butler, Butler’s father, shouted obscenities at the suspects as they were brought into the courtroom and was restrained by a deputy. He later told KSN that the justice system had failed his daughter.
Butler’s aunt, LaDonna Thompson, said the suspects “deserve to rot and burn in the depths of hell for all I care.”
“How can you hate the mother of your grandchildren so much that you want to end her life?” she said.
“Our family lost a beautiful, beautiful young lady that will forever be loved and missed, and I don’t know how, I don’t know how we are supposed to make two children live the rest of their lives without their beautiful mom,” she added.
Texas County Sheriff Matt Boley anticipated strong emotions and planned security measures accordingly, including a security drone flying overhead and metal detectors for anyone entering the building.
“We just took those extra precautions to not allow any electronic in the courtroom or the courthouse. We closed down the courthouse for that little bit of the hearing, and we weren’t allowing bags or cellphones or anything out of the ordinary,” Boley said.
He said he anticipated continuing the precautions “at every court hearing involving the four suspects.”
They will next go to court on May 15.
[Featured image: Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley/Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation]