Preliminary hearings began Tuesday in Oklahoma for two of the five suspects charged in the murders of two southwest Kansas women last spring.
One suspect, 55-year-old Tifany Adams, waived her right to a preliminary hearing and she is scheduled to be back in court in April. Preliminary hearings began for Adams’ boyfriend, 44-year-old Tad Cullum, and 50-year-old Cole Twombly, in Texas County district court in Guymon, Oklahoma.
Twombly’s wife, 45-year-old Cora Twombly, reached a plea deal with prosecutors and has been testifying as a witness, along with 32-year-old Paul Grice. They have waived their preliminary hearings.
The five are charged with murder in the killings of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, both of Hugoton, Kansas. The two women disappeared in late March and their bodies were found later buried in a field.
Prosecutors accuse Adams of planning the murders. She was involved in a custody dispute with Butler over her two children.
The preliminary hearings are expected to continue through Thursday.
[ photo: Veronica Butler, Jilian Kelley ]
