Judge talks his firing after NewsNation interview on Kansas moms
- Four charged in connection with moms' death, disappearance
- Suspects tied to anti-government group 'God's Misfits'
- Municipal judge, friend of Kansas moms suspect present during raid
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(NewsNation) — A friend of one of the suspects charged in the murder of two Kansas moms is speaking out after he was forced to resign for an interview he did with NewsNation.
Vincent Forbes, a local municipal court judge in Kansas who says he’s a friend of suspect Tad Cullum, revealed he had been in regular contact with Cullum and was even present at the residence during the police raid.
After the NewsNation interview aired, the judge said he was called to a city council meeting, where he was forced to resign due to the “static” generated by his comments.
“‘We’ve had a lot of static about your interview. And we don’t like it,'” Forbes said the city council told him.
“The mayor has absolute control over my job. I’m appointed, he could hire me or fire me. And I said, ‘Well, just fire me.’ One of the councilmen popped up and said, ‘Oh, you’re going to turn in your resignation.’ Very nasty about it,” Forbes recounted. “I didn’t appreciate that. And I said, ‘That’s not a problem. I’ll quit.'”
Forbes, who is also Cullum’s business partner, said he never got a “bad vibe,” describing him as “one of the nicest, funniest” people he knew. However, Forbes acknowledged that Cullum’s partner and alleged accomplice, Tifany Adams, seemed “a little bit out of left field.”
“I’m blown away that this even happened,” Forbes previously said, referring to the arrest of his friend. “Tad was a very good friend of mine. I’m not gonna say he was a very good friend of mine. He is a good friend of mine.”
Grandmother Adams, her boyfriend Cullum, Cora Twombly and her husband, Cole Twombly, are each charged with the kidnapping and first-degree murder of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley, who vanished March 30 while traveling to pick up Butler’s children for a supervised visit.
Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50 and Cora Twombly, 44, were arrested in Texas and Cimarron Counties, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said Saturday. 
Vincent Forbes, a local municipal court judge, who claims to be a friend of Cullum, expressed disbelief at the unfolding events. Forbes revealed that he had been in regular contact with Cullum and was even present at his residence during the police raid. 
Two southwest Kansas women remain missing. Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, are gone, and authorities say there are “suspicious circumstances” regarding their disappearance. 
Two southwest Kansas women remain missing. Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, of Hugoton, Kansas, are gone, and authorities say there are “suspicious circumstances” regarding their disappearance. 
The quartet, allegedly part of an anti-government religious group called “God’s Misfits,” have become central figures in the investigation.
“The way I understand it, is they got God behind them, and they make their own laws. But now, again, that’s hearsay. I never knew about them,” Forbes said.
Authorities have revealed that the disappearance and killings are believed to be linked to a violent escalation in a custody dispute between Butler and Adams.