Grandma Who Orchestrated Murders of 2 Kansas Moms Found Buried in Freezer Learns Fate By KC Baker

An Oklahoma grandmother convicted of orchestrating the stabbing deaths of two Kansas moms whose remains were found buried in a freezer has learned her fate.

On Monday, Feb. 2, Tifany Adams, 56, of Keys, was sentenced to two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the murders of Veronica Butler, 27 — who was the mother of her grandchildren — and Butler’s friend Jilian Kelley, 39, according to online court records.

Adams was also sentenced to two five-year sentences for unlawful removal of a dead body, and two seven-year sentences for unlawful desecration of a human corpse.

At the time of the killings, Adams was in a custody battle with Butler over her grandchildren, who were Butler’s children.

In October 2025, Adams was convicted of the charges after she entered a no-contest plea, according to online court records.

As PEOPLE previously reported, the two moms were reported missing on March 30, 2024, after their van was found abandoned on a highway in rural Texas County in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

Butler, who had two children with Adams’s son, was traveling from Kansas with Kelley to meet Adams to pick up the kids, then 6 and 8, in Oklahoma to go to a birthday party, police said at the time.

The women’s bodies were found two weeks later, buried in a freezer in Texas County.

They had both been fatally stabbed.

Butler was stabbed nine times and suffered from 21 other cuts, which included defensive wounds, an autopsy showed, KVII reports.

In April 2024, Adams and three other suspects were arrested in connection with the women’s deaths: Adams’s boyfriend Tad Bert Cullum, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44. 

They were charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of first-degree conspiracy to commit murder.

The four were members of a fringe anti-government religious group called “God’s Misfits,” according to an affidavit cited by the Des Moines Register and FOX 25.

Ten days later, police issued a warrant for a fifth suspect, Paul Grice, 31, who was arrested and charged with the same alleged crimes, KFDA reports.

The investigation revealed that Butler and Kelley were ambushed by Adams and the other suspects when they arrived at the intersection where they agreed to meet, police said at the time, KVII reports.

According to court documents, Adams bought five stun guns and burner phones, KVII reports.

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Cora Twombly allegedly told authorities, “The plan was to throw an anvil through Butler’s windshield while driving, making it look like an accident because anvils regularly fall off of work vehicles,” KVII reports.

According to KFDA, Grice and Cora Twombly have entered into plea agreements with prosecutors.

Tad Cullum’s trial is scheduled to begin in October 2026. Cole Twombly’s trial is set for February of 2027.

Their attorneys did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.