In a case that has drawn international attention, Oklahoma grandmother Tifany Machel Adams has been convicted in the murders of two women: Veronica Butler, the mother of Adams’ grandchildren, and Jilian Kelley, Butler’s friend and the wife of a pastor.
Adams, a former county GOP chair and a member of the anti-government group God’s Misfits, masterminded the women’s murders last spring. This week, the 55-year-old pleaded no contest to six charges: two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of unlawful removal of a dead body, and two counts of unlawful desecration of a human corpse.
In exchange for Adams’ plea, the state of Oklahoma dropped three other charges against her and declined to seek the death penalty. Adams is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 28.
Oklahoma Grandmother Masterminded Double Murder
As ChurchLeaders reported, Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley went missing in March 2024. Butler was driving to pick up her two children from Tifany Adams—their paternal grandmother—and Kelley went along to supervise the visitation.
After an abandoned, bloodied car was found in the Oklahoma panhandle, a manhunt ensued. Two weeks later, the bodies of Butler and Kelley were found buried in a freezer. According to investigators, they suffered violent deaths.
Authorities said Adams wanted to keep her grandchildren away from her son, who was in drug rehab, and from Butler. “Tifany’s thing was, she hated Veronica,” said Ladonna Thompson, Butler’s aunt. “She wanted her gone so that she could raise her grandchildren, and the only way to do that was to eliminate her.”
Although Adams didn’t commit the murders, police said she bought the supplies and made the plan. She also conducted online searches about gun shops, prepaid cell phones, and luring people out of the house. Adams had previously been elected as GOP chair of Cimarron County, Oklahoma.
Other defendants include Tad Cullum, Cora Twombly, Cole Twombly, and Paul Grice. According to investigators, those four and Adams were members of God’s Misfits, an anti-government prayer group that regularly met at the Twombly home. Key to the investigation was the Twombly’s 16-year-old daughter, who told police about conversations she overheard.
