Texas County prosecutors file 40 documents in Butler, Kelley murder case

Texas County prosecutors have put 40 new filings on the court record in the Butler and Kelley murder case, laying out plea terms, fighting a death-penalty challenge and narrowing what jurors and judges will have to decide next.

The filing includes eight motions and 32 responses to motions filed by attorneys for Tad Cullum. One of Cullum’s requests asks the court to declare the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment. Prosecutors said that argument has no factual or legal support. Another response addresses Cullum’s demand that the state disclose any agreements it has made with witnesses, a sign that plea terms and testimony deals are now central to the case.

Those agreements could reshape the path to trial. Prosecutors disclosed that if Paul Grice truthfully testifies, they will not seek the death penalty against him and will recommend two life sentences without parole on the murder counts, along with the maximum penalties on the remaining charges. A separate deal for Cora Twombly would keep the death penalty off the table and call for a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Both agreements still need judicial approval before they become final.

The filings land in a case that has already moved through a long chain of arrests, plea negotiations and capital punishment litigation. Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley were reported missing March 30, 2024, after leaving Hugoton, Kansas, to travel to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children from their paternal grandmother, Tifany Adams. Their vehicle was found abandoned on Oklahoma Highway 95 just south of Elkhart, Kansas. Less than two weeks later, authorities found their bodies buried in a chest freezer in a field. Autopsies showed both women had been stabbed to death.

Five people were arrested: Adams, Cullum, Grice, Cora Twombly and Cole Twombly. Adams later pleaded no contest and has been sentenced to life in prison. Earlier court and warrant records said the burial site was on property leased by Cullum, about 8.5 miles from where Butler’s car was found, and investigators believed the killings were part of a planned ambush tied to a custody dispute.

The case took another major turn in October 2025, when Texas County District Attorney George Leach III filed paperwork seeking the death penalty against Cullum and Cole Twombly. Court records later shifted the trial dates to October 19, 2026, for Cullum and February 22, 2027, for Cole Twombly, keeping the next phase of the case squarely in the Texas County courtroom.