Fifth person arrested in connection with killing of Kansas moms
- Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley disappeared March 30
- Butler had bitter custody dispute with her children's grandma, Tifany Adams
- Four suspects, including Adams, were denied bond at arraignment
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(NewsNation) — The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) on Wednesday made a fifth arrest in connection to the killings of two Kansas mothers.
Tifany Adams, 54; her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; and her husband Cole Twombly, 50, have each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree in relation to the killing of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39.
OSBI said that “based on the evidence and information gathered from the case,” Paul Grice, 31, was arrested and booked into the Texas County Jail with the same charges as the other four previously arrested.
Butler was reportedly in the middle of a nasty custody battle with Adams, the grandmother of her children, at the time of her death.
According to the affidavit of probable cause for Grice’s arrest warrant, he admitted he was part of the planning, killing and burying of Butler and Kelley.
Grice was allegedly involved in a previous murder plot but was not arrested along with the others. NewsNation learned that Grice was taken into custody and questioned by authorities but was then released.
Grice was mentioned several times in affidavits related to the case. He was allegedly involved in other attempts to kill Butler, the affidavit states. One attempt was in February 2024; another attempt was on March 29, 2024.
Both Butler and Kelley went missing March 30 and were found deceased in rural Texas County on April 14.
NewsNation’s Brian Entin confirmed with a medical examiner the women were not shot as previously reported. A cause of death is still pending.
Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50 and Cora Twombly, 44, Paul Grice, 31, were arrested in connection to the killings of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley. 
Two southwest Kansas women remain missing. Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, are gone, and authorities say there are “suspicious circumstances” regarding their disappearance.
The four suspects earlier arrested were arraigned in an Oklahoma court April 17, when a judge denied each of them bond. The quintet, allegedly part of an antigovernment religious group called “God’s Misfits,” have become central figures in the investigation.
NewsNation obtained land records Grice had filed last year stating his children were his creation and not subject to government control.
Grice’s first appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1.
The OSBI says it is still an ongoing investigation.
Butler will be remembered with a memorial service at the beginning of May. A memorial will be held for Kelley on Sunday, April 28.
NewsNation affiliate KSN contributed to this report.
