WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — An Oklahoma prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against two men charged in the deaths of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.
Texas County District Attorney George H. Leach III filed paperwork Thursday showing that he will seek the death penalty against Cole Twombly and Tad Cullum. The pair are two of five charged in the deaths of Butler and Kelley.
They were arrested in 2024, along with the grandmother of Butler’s two children, Tifany Adams; Cora Twombly; and Paul Grice.
Last week, Adams pleaded no contest to 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.
Butler and Kelley disappeared on March 30, 2024. Kelley was accompanying Butler for a visitation with her two children, who were in Adams’ custody.
In his filing seeking the death penalty, Leach argues that Cullum and Cole Twombly were aware of the risk of the death of more than one person due to the planned ambush of the women; that the murders of Butler and Kelley were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel because of the manner in which they were attacked and killed; and that Kelley was murdered specifically because she would be a witness to Butler’s death.
He also argues that the fact the homicides were planned out over a period of eight weeks, the measures taken to conceal or destroy evidence, the totality of evidence and heinous nature of the crimes show that both men are a danger to society.
Twombly and Cullum, along with the two remaining defendants, are scheduled for arraignment on Nov. 5.