The cause of death for two Kansas Moms who went missing in early April has been revealed. Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly disappeared as the two drove to pick up Butler’s children for a birthday party . Butler was locked in a years’ long custody battle with her children’s father. Jillian Kelly was filling in as a court-ordered supervised-visit agent. When the women missed the party and do not return home as planned, Kelly’s pastor husband and a friend when looking for them. Just three miles from the women’s destination in Eva, Oklahoma, the men see law enforcement surrounding Butler’s abandoned blue Kia on the side of the road.

In a court filing, prosecutors have revealed that both Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelley were stabbed to death. Prosecutors allege the women were attacked just outside of Butler’s car, and their bodies were transported 8 ½ miles away to a 10-foot deep hole that was dug the day before. There, the defendants stuffed Butler and Kelley’s bodies into a chest freezer, along with incriminating evidence, then lowered the freezer to the bottom and refilled the hole.

Police reveal the murders were meticulously planned by 5 suspects. The ring leader reportedly the paternal grandmother of Veronica Butler’s children. Here’s the particulars. Tifany Adams, 54; Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; Cole Twombly, 50; and Paul Grice, 31.

Prosecutors now allege that Paul Grice stabbed Butler to death, slicing his hand in the attack, and Tad Cullum stabbed Kelley. Investigators have not revealed if the women were killed at the same time, or one after the other, but only one knife was recovered from the burial site. The accessories for that K-bar knife found at Tad Cullum’s home.

The court filing details the five defendant’s roles. Prosecutors claim Cole and Cora Twombley act as lookouts and block the road, diverting the women to where Tad Cullum and Paul Grice are waiting. Cullum and Grice stab each of the women to death, then change out of their bloody clothes. The bodies, weapons, and bloody clothes are stuffed in the chest freezer that Grice transports to the hole Cullum dug the day before. Cullum then lowers the freezer into the hole and buries the evidence.

Custody of the children is thought to be the motive.

Joining Nancy Grace today:

• Mark Tate - Trial Lawyer, The Tate Law Group- TateLawGroup.com Sued opioid makers
• Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst , Author: "Deal Breaker," featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock https://www.drbethanymarshall.com/ , Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, Twitter: @DrBethanyLive
• Chris McDonough - Director At the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective, Host of YouTube channel- ‘The Interview Room’, ColdCaseFoundation.org
• Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft. Worth) Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University)
• Annette Lawless - Kansas Investigative Reporter

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