Oklahoma Grandmother Gets Life for Double Murder in Custody Dispute

GUYMON, OK – An Oklahoma woman was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole after pleading no contest to the murders of two women who were ambushed during a custody exchange in 2024.

Tifany Adams, the paternal grandmother of the victims’ children, was accused of masterminding the killings of Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39. In addition to the life sentences, Adams received five years each for unlawful removal of dead bodies and seven years each for unlawful desecration of human remains.

Prosecutors said the two women were traveling from Kansas to Texas County, Oklahoma, in April 2024 to retrieve Butler’s children when they were ambushed. Their disappearance triggered a massive search that lasted nearly two weeks before investigators discovered their remains on April 14, 2024.

According to court documents, the victims’ bodies were placed in a freezer at Adams’ property before being buried. The grisly discovery shocked the rural community along the Kansas-Oklahoma border and drew national attention to the case.

Adams did not act alone. Her boyfriend, Tad Cullum, along with Cole Twombly, Cora Twombly, and Paul Grice were also charged in connection with the killings. Cora Twombly and Grice accepted plea deals that eliminated the possibility of the death penalty in exchange for their testimony against the remaining defendants.

Cullum and Cole Twombly have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to stand trial later in 2026. As part of Adams’ plea agreement, prosecutors dropped conspiracy and child neglect charges against her.

The case highlighted the dangers that can arise from contentious custody battles. Authorities said Adams orchestrated the plot specifically to prevent Butler from regaining custody of her children.

Families of both victims were present in the courtroom for the sentencing and declined to comment publicly afterward.