Prosecutors wrote in a motion to hold Tifany Adams without bail that the 54-year-old grandmother, accused of killing Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley, allegedly admitted her involvement in the murders.
Near the end of the motion, almost as an afterthought, Texas County District Attorney George H. Leach wrote that the “State would point out that after arrest this defendant, Tifany Adams, did provided a recorded statement to law enforcement indicating her responsibility for the death of the deceased.”
724732666-T-Adams-CF-24-72-Mtn-to-Hold by kc wildmoon on Scribd
He did not provided any further information about what specifically Adams said.
Butler, 27, and Kelley, 39, disappeared on March 30 while on their way from Kansas to pick up Butler’s children from Adams for a scheduled, supervised visit, as CrimeOnline reported. Adams, her boyfriend Tad Cullum, and married couple Cole and Cora Twombly were arrested on April 13 and charged with murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy.
The bodies of Butler and Kelley were found the next day on land that Cullum had been leasing for pasture.
Leach included in his motion to hold Adams without bail the probable cause affidavit filed with her arrest — which includes details about a previously attempt to kill Butler in February — but he more clearly laid out the motive for the murders in the motion itself.
“The evidence shows that the defendant and co-conspirators engaged in a plot to kidnap and murder the deceased, Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley, in order to prevent the lawful granting of custody and/or unsupervised visitation by the Court,” the motion reads.
Leach said that Adams presented a “continuing threat to society” because of the aggravated circumstances of the murders as well as theor “sheer callousness.”
“No condition would assure the safety of the community, which includes the witnesses and Court personnel involved in this case,” he wrote.
Adams and her codefendants were ordered held without bail. Adams, Cullum, and Cole Twombly said they would hire attorneys to represent them; Cora Twombly said she couldn’t afford an attorney, and the judge ordered a public defender be appointed for her.
The defendants are due in court again on May 15.
