A new arrest was made on Wednesday in connection with the tragic deaths of two mothers in Oklahoma, authorities announced.
Paul Grice, aged 31, was taken into custody and placed in the Texas County Jail on charges of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, as stated in a press release by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, went missing on March 30 while en route from Kansas to retrieve Butler's children from a birthday celebration in a nearby Oklahoma location. Their bodies were discovered on April 14 after they were last seen together in a vehicle that was later found deserted by the highway in a remote area of Texas County.
Previously, four individuals had been apprehended and charged with murder in connection to the women's tragic deaths. Tad Bert Cullum, 43, Tifany Machel Adams, 54, Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44, were all taken into custody on April 14, according to the bureau.
As per an unsealed affidavit, Adams is the grandmother on the paternal side of Butler's children, and the two were engaged in a custody dispute. Callum and Adams were reported to be in a relationship, as per the affidavit.
Reports indicate that the five individuals in question are members of an organization known as "God's Misfits," which has been identified as an anti-government group. Meetings for this group were frequently held at the Twomblys' residence and other undisclosed locations. A teenage witness, who spoke with investigators, revealed previous attempts by the group to harm Butler. The same witness implicated the group in the recent murders, as stated in the affidavit.
Recently, a judge took action by entering not guilty pleas for the four suspects and denying them bail.
During the court proceedings, relatives of the victims were present to face the accused individuals. Bryson Butler, the younger brother of Veronica Butler, expressed his desire for justice to prevail in an interview with CBS affiliate KFDA, stating, "How can you hate somebody so much that you want to kill them? How can you hate the mother of your grandchildren so much that you want to end her life?" Butler's aunt also shared her sentiments with KFDA.
