Oklahoma county GOP chair arrested in alleged murder-kidnap plot

Tifany Adams, an Oklahoma resident who last year was elected as the chairwoman of Cimarron County Republican Party, was arrested this week and charged with three other people of participating in kidnapping and murder.

Local news station KOCO reports that Adams was charged with participating in the kidnapping and murder of 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, who both disappeared a little over two weeks ago.

According to local news station KSN, Butler was involved in a custody dispute with the 54-year-old Adams, who was the paternal grandmother of Butler's children.

Butler and Kelley had been traveling to Adams' house to pick up Butler's children for a court-ordered visitation on March 30 before they mysteriously vanished.

The two women's bodies were discovered on April 14th and Adams was arrested shortly afterward, along with fellow suspects Tad Cullum, Cole Twombly, and Cora Twombly.

Each of the four suspects is being charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

State Sen. Nathan Dahm, the chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party, tells KOCO that he laments the horrific crimes allegedly committed by Adams, and he also emphasized that the Cimarron County GOP is a tiny organization and that Adams was elected chairwoman by a very small number of people last year.

"This is a tragic situation, with innocent children being at the center of this still-developing situation," he said. "While we at the Oklahoma Republican Party have no personal relationship or knowledge of the individuals who have been accused in this senseless crime, we have been made aware that Ms. Adams was previously elected by a handful of people to the role of Chair in her county.

"We ask everyone to join us in praying for the family and most especially the children devastated by this horrible tragedy."