(NewsNation) — Despite the ominous name, it’s likely that the ideology of the group “God’s Misfits” had little to do with the kidnapping and killing of two Kansas women, according to NewsNation legal analyst Jesse Weber.
An Oklahoma judge ordered public defenders to represent four members of the anti-government group who appeared in court Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and killing two Kansas women.
The judge also entered not guilty pleas and denied bail for Tifany Adams, 54, and her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43, both of Keyes, Oklahoma, as well as Cole and Cora Twombly of Texhoma, Oklahoma.
All four are charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in the killing of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley of Hugoton, Kansas, who disappeared on May 30 while driving to Oklahoma to pick up Butler’s children and attend a birthday party.
According to a witness who spoke to Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agents, all four suspects were part of “an anti-government group that had a religious affiliation.” The affidavits said they called themselves “God’s Misfits” and held regular meetings at the home of the Twomblys and another couple who Adams said watched the children the day the women disappeared.
“(The case does) not seem even directly tied to what they believed in that group (God’s Misfits),” said Weber. “It seems to be, at the base of it, what we always suspected it was: A bitter custody dispute.”
Arrest affidavits painted a gruesome picture of the scene where the women’s car was found, not far from the rural highway intersection where Butler had arranged to pick up her son and daughter from Adams. Investigators found blood on the road and Butler’s glasses near a broken hammer.
“It’s a really disturbing case,” said Weber. “You have this grandmother who had custody of the children. Then you come to find out that today was supposed to be a hearing where one of those victims, Veronica Butler, would have potentially got unsupervised custody of the children.”
Weber said investigators will likely look into that motive more than the suspects’ affiliation with “God’s Misfits.”
“If you talk about having a motivation here, (the custody battle) is definitely something that prosecutors and investigators are looking at,” said Weber. “But just looking at the details that were listed in that probable cause affidavit, (prosecutors) have a strong case.”