Families react to murders of Jilian Kelley, Veronica Butler as judge denies bond for suspects
Family members and friends of late mothers Veronica Butler, 27, and pastor's wife Jilian Kelley, 39, reacted with raw emotion in court Wednesday as a judge denied bail to the four suspects charged with their murders, including the paternal grandmother of Butler's children.
Investigators announced last Saturday they arrested and charged the paternal grandmother of Butler's children, 54-year-old Tifany Machel Adams, with whom she was locked in a bitter custody dispute. The other suspects are Adam's boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Cole Earl Twombly, 50; and Cora Twombly, 44.
All the suspects are each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder. They also all pleaded not guilty, according to the Associated Press, despite Adams "indicating her responsibility" in the killings in a statement to investigators.
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"Adams, Cullum, Cora and Cole have resources sufficient to organize and execute a complex murder," an affidavit submitted to the court noted. "Therefore, they also have the resources to flee if given the opportunity."
The court hearing was "extremely emotional," according to NewsNation, which reports that victims' family members had to be restrained and yelled profanities as suspects were brought into the courtroom.
Butler's aunt Ladonna Thompson told the publication that Butler and Kelley, the wife of Pastor Heath Kelley of Hugoton First Christian Church in Kansas, didn't deserve to be killed, nor did the family deserve such grief and loss.
"There's just too many emotions, so much anger," Thompson said. "I don't understand how somebody can hate somebody so much that you want to kill them. My niece did not deserve that and neither did the young lady with her. She was just there to help her."
Investigators confirmed that the charges against the suspects are all connected to a five-year custody battle between Butler and Adams, who has been fighting to keep her grandchildren away from both Butler and her son, Wrangler Cole Rickman, a drug-addicted convict who was said to be in rehab. It is alleged that while her grandchildren were in Butler's care, the children were sexually abused by Butler's brother.
In the affidavit against Adams, investigators note that Adams refused at times to let Rickman have his children even though Rickman had legal custody.
"Law enforcement previously responded to a call for service where Adams refused to give Rickman his children. Reportedly, the officer told Rickman he believed the children were better off in Adams' care," the affidavit said.
Adams did not want Butler to have unsupervised access to the children anymore because of the sexual abuse claims, but Butler's attorney told investigators that she was on the verge of winning unsupervised visits with her children and Adams did not want that to happen.
Kelley was only accompanying Butler to supervise her court-mandated visit with her children on March 30, when they were allegedly kidnapped and murdered. Her husband had recently agreed to serve as the new pastor of Willow Christian Church in Nebraska starting in June.
Before the women went missing, the four suspects allegedly tried to kill Butler. But Butler would not leave her home to allow them to attack her.
Vincent Forbes, a local municipal court judge who was forced to resign for publicly discussing the case, told NewsNation that he's a friend of suspect Tad Cullum and had been in regular contact with him before his arrest. He also noted that he was even at Cullum's home during the police raid.
"I'm blown away that this even happened," Forbes said. "Tad was a very good friend of mine."
He described Cullum as "one of the nicest, funniest" people he knew but said Adams seemed "a little bit out of left field."
Asked about the religious anti-government group known as God's Misfits, with which the suspects are all affiliated, Forbes said he didn't know much about it but suggested they believe God supports them.
"The way I understand it is they got God behind them, and they make their own laws. But now, again, that's hearsay. I never knew about them," he said.
On Thursday, Pamela Hamlin and Beth Beard, co-owners of Main Revelation, sold T-shirts featuring Kelley's favorite Bible verse on the back to help the two families at a fundraising event in Kansas.
"The overall goal is to keep their memory alive and keep their names out there. Honor the lives they lived because they were wonderful," Hamlin told KOCO News 5. "We wanted to be respectful of the families, so we checked with them, and then they helped come up with the design and few directions to go."
Beard noted that she knew Kelley pretty well because their daughters played sports together and remembered her as more than just a pastor's wife.
"Jillian was not a normal pastor's wife, I don't think. I caught her several times on a motorcycle, which the first time caught me off guard a little bit," she recalled.
Butler's pastor, Tim Singer, spoke about how the tragedy was affecting the two families and their communities on Sunday. He urged people to pray.
"Let us continue praying for Veronica and Jillian's families, their friends, our churches and this community as we grieve the loss of two amazing ladies. Two very caring, giving and encouraging ladies," Singer, who leads the Hugoton Assembly of God, said. "I'd like to suggest you give the family space. It's difficult to answer the same question over and over again."
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