Fifth Member of Anti-Government Group Charged in Kansas Women Murders
Oklahoma prosecutors have charged a fifth member of an anti-government group with the murder and kidnapping of two Kansas women. Paul Jeremiah Grice, 31, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder in Texas County.
Grice admitted his involvement in the killing and burial of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jillian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, to an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent, according to court documents. Grice is being held without bond at the Texas County Detention Center.
Court records do not indicate whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf. Four other members of the group, including Tifany Adams, 54, and her boyfriend, Tad Cullum, 43, of Keyes, and Cole, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, of Texhoma, Oklahoma, have also been charged in connection with the deaths and are being held without bail.
The victims, Butler and Kelley, disappeared on March 30 while driving to pick up Butler’s two children for a birthday party. Adams, who is the children’s grandmother, was in a bitter custody dispute with Butler, who was only allowed supervised visits with the children on Saturdays. Kelley was authorized to supervise the visits, according to the affidavits.
A witness who spoke to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents said all five suspects were part of “an anti-government group that had a religious affiliation,” according to the affidavit. Investigators learned the group called themselves “God’s Misfits” and held regular meetings at the home of the Twomblys and another couple.
