Kansas

Kansas women killings: Court documents detail alleged murder-kidnapping motive

Published

2 weeks ago

April 15, 2024

Kansas women killings: Court documents detail alleged murder-kidnapping motive

In the wake of the disappearance and killing of two women from Kansas, newly released court documents detail, according to prosecutors, the motive and evidence behind the alleged murder-kidnapping.

On Monday, the affidavit of probable cause for the arrest warrants of the four suspects arrested in connection with the alleged murder of moms Veronica Butler, 27, and Jilian Kelley, 39, was released.

The four individuals are Tad Bert Cullum, 43; Tifany Machel Adams, 54; Cole Earl Twombly, 50, and Cora Twombly, 44. All four remain in custody.

Ongoing custody battle

In the court documents, investigators state they discovered Butler was in a “problematic custody battle” with suspect Tifany Adams’ son for the custody of Butler’s two children.

Adams is the grandmother of Butler’s children and mother of the kids’ father, Wrangler Rickman, who has legal custody, according to the documents.

The custody battle between Butler and Rickman began in February 2019, according to the documents.

Previous child custody case recordings were obtained by investigators, in which Rickman allegedly discussed death threats made by his mother and her boyfriend, fellow suspect Tad Cullum, with legal representatives.

On March 30, the day of Butler and Kelley’s disappearance, Kelley was chosen to supervise Butler’s court-ordered custody exchange with Adams at 10:00 a.m. local time.

Adams’ preferred custody supervisor, Cheryl Brune, was allegedly “unavailable” for the March 30 exchange, however, Brune allegedly told investigators Adams had told her to take time off.

The children’s father was allegedly in an Oklahoma City rehabilitation facility at the time of the disappearance, according to the documents.

Investigators report that Adams claimed she was at home when Butler called to cancel the custody exchange at 9:00 a.m., local time.

Evidence near the vehicle

Amid the investigation into Butler and Kelley’s disappearance, authorities say they found their vehicle abandoned in rural Oklahoma, near the Kansas border.

An examination of the vehicle and the area surrounding found evidence of severe injury, according to the affidavit, which notes, blood was found on the roadway and edge of the roadway.

Butler’s glasses were also found in the roadway south of the vehicle near a broken hammer and a pistol magazine was found inside Kelley’s purse at the scene, but no pistol was found, according to documents.

Anti-government group

The affidavit states the two other suspects, married couple Cora and Cole Twombly, are allegedly members of an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits” with Adams and Cullum.

According to the court documents, an unnamed teen reported the Twomblys’ potential involvement in the alleged murder-kidnapping to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The teen allegedly told investigators that they “overheard” Cora allegedly confirm her involvement in the deaths and saw the alleged burner phones used in the suspected scheme.

All four suspects are scheduled to make their initial court appearance on Wednesday, according to officials.

Unidentified bodies discovered

On Sunday, police recovered two dead bodies in rural Texas amid the investigation into Butler’s and Kelly’s disappearance.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and the Texas County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on X that the bodies will be “transported to the Office of the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner to determine identification and cause and manner of death.”

Authorities have not identified the deceased.

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Kansas

GOP lawmakers in Kansas are moving to override the veto of a ban on gender care for minors

Published

36 mins ago

April 29, 2024

Press Room

GOP lawmakers in Kansas are moving to override the veto of a ban on gender care for minors

“The language put in the bill is, in my opinion, is to try to prevent state entities, state employees, from promoting the use of different pronouns and, if you will, the search for gender change,” Republican state Rep. John Eplee, a northeastern Kansas family physician.

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Kansas

Kansas State basketball takes another portal hit with guard Dai Dai Ames’ departure

Published

8 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Press Room

Kansas State basketball takes another portal hit with guard Dai Dai Ames’ departure

For Kansas State basketball, the transfer portal is turning into a merry-go-round.

After adding two players — former Villanova guard Brendan Hausen and Arkansas big man Baye Fall — over the weekend, the Wildcats lost another one Sunday when point guard Dai Dai Amens tossed his name in the portal.

Ames, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Chicago, started 16 games, including the last 13 of the 2023-24 season. He averaged 5.2 points, 2.0 assists and 1.1 rebounds while shooting 35.3%, including 32.9% from 3-point range.

Ames becomes the sixth Wildcat player to enter the portal. He joins starting guard Cam Carter, who has since signed with LSU, and starting center Jerrell Colbert, along with super-senior guard Ques Glover, sophomore guard Dorian Finister and freshman guard R.J. Jones.

Ames was expected to be a key player for the Wildcats next year after a strong finish to his freshman season. He scored in double figures two of the last three games, including a career-high 16 points with five assists in a season-ending National Invitation Tournament loss to Iowa.

Kansas State basketball adds sharpshooting Villanova guard from transfer portal

Kansas State basketball is headed to the Big Apple in December for Big 12/Big East battle

K-State finished with a 19-15 record and a first-round NIT loss in Jerome Tang’s second season as head coach after he led them to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight the year before. He already has signed four players from the portal, plus a four-star high school recruit, but has at least four scholarships left to give.

K-State’s top portal addition so far is former Michigan point guard Dug McDaniel. Tang also has signed shooting guard CJ Jones from Illinois-Chicago along with 3-point specialist Hausen and the 6-foot-11 Fall, a former McDonald’s All American.

Only four players remain from the 2022-23 Wildcats. Senior forward Arthur Kaluma, the third-leading scorer at 14.4 points and top rebounder at 7.0 per game, has declared for the NBA draft but remains eligible to return, while forward David N’Guessan (7.8 points, 6.8 rebounds) has yet to officially announce whether he will be back for a final super-senior season.

The other two still on the team are freshmen reserve forwards Taj Manning and Macaleab Rich.

K-State remains in the hunt for Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi and Arkansas shooting guard Khalif Battle, both of whom visited Manhattan last week.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

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Kansas

New Kansas bill helps farmers across the state

Published

15 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Press Room

New Kansas bill helps farmers across the state

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Bryan and Gina Zesiger opened Z & M Twisted Vines Winery 6 years ago.

“It started off as something we could do together as a hobby,” said Z & M Twisted Vines Winery Gina Montalbano-Zesiger.

The retired U.S. Army Major and educator wanted to create a unique farm-to-table with wine.

“We tell our story through the wine, of things we like and kind of pushing the boundaries of wines doesn’t always have to be pretentious,” said Montalbano-Zesiger.

However, their lives were crushed a few years into opening.

Leavenworth County classified the winery as commercial rather than agricultural, leading to higher taxation on the property.

“We thought it was a joke. For whatever reason the second year we got this new bill and it’s like ‘Where does any of this come from?’,” said Montalbano-Zesiger.

“When you double and triple your taxation on your farm, we don’t have the means to make that up,” said Z & M Twisted Vines Winery Bryan Zesiger.

This uncorked Brayn Zesiger to craft SB 410 that aims to help farmers across the state.

Governor Laura Kelly signed the bill into law April 24.

“I crafted the bill to ensure that farms and ranches, agriculture that participate in agritourism do not get taxed as commercial,” said Zesiger.

Zesiger says the success of the bill passing is like taking a sip of your own crafted wine, rewarding and fulfilling.

“It wasn’t that anyone was doing anything wrong. This was to make sure that we still understand here in Kansas that agriculture is agriculture and come out and enjoy our farm and enjoy what we make on our farm,” said Zesiger.

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