TEXAS COUNTY, Okla. (KAMR/KCIT) — Cole Twombly and Tad Cullum were rearraigned in court on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the deaths of Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley.
The rearraignment comes after the Texas County District Attorney George H. Leach III filed paperwork that he will seek the death penalty against Twombly and Cullum. Twombly and Cullum both pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, one count of conspiracy, two counts of unlawful removal of a dead body, and two counts of unlawful desecration of a human corpse.
During court, according to KSNW’s Julia Thatcher, Twombly chose to abstain from entering a plea. The judge then called the standing mute, and the abstention was entered as “not guilty” by default. Twombly’s attorney also argued for the case to go to trial in 2027; however, the judge set a 2026 date instead.
Grandmother pleads no contest in deaths of two Kansas moms
Cullum’s trial date is set for June 1, 2026, and Twombly’s trial date is set for Oct. 19, 2026, and Tifany Adams is set to be sentenced for the deaths in January 2026…