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GUYMON, Okla. — Four of the five suspects in the 2024 murders of Hugoton moms Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley were in a Texas County court May 14 to set tentative dates for trial. Tifany Adams, Paul Grice, Cora Twombly, and Cole Twombly were in court, and the fifth suspect – Tad Cullum – was absent.
Cullum has a pending resolution of a previous appeal to recuse judge Jon Parsley due to a conflict of interest. District Judge Justin Eilers was assigned as a temporary judge in Cullum’s case. Parsley continues to preside over the cases of the other four defendants.
Butler, 27, and Kelley, 39, were murdered in March 2024 in rural Texas County, Oklahoma just south of Elkhart, Kansas during a child custody exchange for Butler’s young son and daughter. Kelley was a court-appointed advocate to oversee the exchange. Butler was in a custody battle with Adams – the children’s grandmother.
Adams is considered the mastermind of the murder plot and recruited her then-boyfriend Cullum, Grice, and the Twomblys to carry out the murders. The women were murdered and placed in a freezer which was then in a field near Texhoma, Okla.
According to KFDA television in Amarillo, Texas, Judge Parsley offered dates in August for a jury docket, which the defendants declined, opting for dates in November 2025 and May 2026.
Another hearing is set for July 30 on a motion for consumptive testing of evidence in the case.
Cora Twombly and Paul Grice agreed to testify against the other defendants and will have another hearing on Nov. 5.
Adams and Cole Twombly have been scheduled for formal arraignment on Nov. 5 where the defendants will be officially informed on their charges and will be asked to enter a plea.
The court set a tentative jury trial date for the week of May 18, 2026, with the state saying it will take about six weeks per defendant to try each case.
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