originally appeared TO! online

New details emerge about a gruesome murder case.

Investigators investigating murders Jilian Kelley39 and Veronica ButlerThe 27-year-old man, whose bodies were found in a freezer in Oklahoma two weeks after he was reported missing in March, says they now believe the women were killed to end a custody battle over his grandmother. CBS reported Citing court documents.

However, as the investigation continued, Kelley’s probable cause of death was confirmed.

According to the coroner’s report seen by E! In the news, it was stated that his death was the result of “multiple cutting tool blows” and that the manner of death was murder. According to the report, Kelley had nine stab wounds and seven slash wounds on his body; two of which were “consistent with Ms. Kelley’s attempt to defend herself.”

“Although possible stun gun marks were visible on the back of his neck and behind his left shoulder, the decomposed state of his body limited definitive, microscopic confirmation,” the report continued.

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The report said Kelley’s injuries also included a “devastating upper cervical spinal cord injury” and that his death was likely “so rapid because he would likely have lost not only the ability to move his body under his head, but also the ability to move.” breathe on your own.”

Kelley and Butler first disappeared on March 30 after driving from Kansas while on their way to pick up Butler’s daughter for a birthday party. Kelley was with him as the monitor assigned to visit under the custody order, according to search warrants obtained by CBS News.

Their car was found abandoned on a highway near the Oklahoma border; prosecutors claimed they were set up by suspects who planned to kill them, according to CBS.

On April 13, investigators found the bodies of two women in a freezer buried in pasture on a property rented by . Tiffany AdamsButler’s daughter’s grandmother and boyfriend Tad Bert CullumAccording to statements obtained by CBS News.

The medical examiner’s report also stated that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation found “clothing, a stun gun, tape and a knife” buried under the freezer.

The owner of the property told authorities that Cullum asked on March 28 if he could “chop down a tree, remove a log and bury some concrete,” and that Cullum had been carrying out the project for more than 2,000 years, according to court documents obtained by CBS News. the next day or so.

Cullum, Adams and three others…Cole Twombly, Cora TwomblyAnd Paul Grice—arrested in connection with the murders, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

All five suspects allegedly belong to an anti-government group called “God’s Misfits” that has religious affiliations and holds regular meetings at Twombly’s home, according to the OSBI.

They are each charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, according to the OSBI. If convicted, the suspects individually face up to life in prison or the death penalty in Oklahoma on the murder charges.

TO! The News reached out to local police and Cullum’s attorney for comment but did not receive a response. The other four suspects are represented by attorneys appointed by the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, according to the department’s chief executive. Tim Laughlinand “as a matter of policy, agency attorneys do not comment on pending cases to protect our clients’ privileges and interests.”

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