The mother of a Kansas woman found dead in a chest freezer buried in an Oklahoma cow pasture filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the five people charged in her murder, which included the grandmother of her daughters’ children.
Amanda Verner filed the 32-page lawsuit on Monday, nearly a year after the bodies of her daughter, Veronica Butler, and another woman, Jilian Kelley, were discovered.
The two women vanished in March 2024 after Butler, 27, went to pick up her two young children for a supervised visit. Kelley, 39, was approved by the court to accompany Butler on the visits.
In April 2024, their bodies were found inside a freezer that had been buried in a roughly 12-foot hole filled with dirt, cement, rocks and equipment, the lawsuit states.
The grandmother of Butler’s children Tifany Adams, along with her her boyfriend, Tad Bert Cullum, Paul Grice, Cora Twombly, and Cole Earl Twombly were arrested and charged with murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and kidnapping.
The suit alleges that Adams plotted to kill Butler in an attempt to gain “control” of Butler’s children and enlisted Cullum, Grice, and the Twomblys to help her. The alleged murder plot stemmed from a bitter custody battle involving Butler and Adams’ son. (The son was at a rehab facility at the time of the murders and has not been charged in connection with the case).
Butler was awarded full custody of her children in 2021. She lost custody the following year after Adams falsely accused a relative of Butler’s of sexually assaulting the children, the lawsuit alleges. Adams was also accused in the lawsuit of falsifying records that helped her son get full custody of the children. Butler was awarded limited supervised visitation.
“At some point Adams unilaterally took custody of the children from her son,” the suit states. “Adams then intervened in the custody dispute … in an attempt to gain control over the children.”
The suit alleges that in February 2024, Adams began threatening the judge handling the custody case. Things took a turn when the court learned that Adams had allegedly falsified records that led to her son being granted custody.
The suit says that custody of the children was most likely going to be awarded back to Butler when she was killed.
Adams allegedly purchased five stun guns and three prepaid phones that she gave to the defendants, the lawsuit says. On March 29, 2024, Adams contacted Butler so she could pick up her children.
Butler and Kelley left Kansas the following day to meet Adams.
According to the lawsuit, Cole and Cora Twombly allegedly used their vehicle to “block” the road to divert Butler and Kelley to where Adams and Cullum were waiting to “ambush them.”
Butler and Kelley were tasered with stun guns, abducted and transported to the cow pasture, the suit states. A medical examiner’s report said that Butler had been stabbed 30 times.
The lawsuit is seeking damages for medical and burial expenses, and mental pain and anguish.
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