Oklahoma panhandle highway dedicated to 2 women murdered, found buried in freezer
FOUR CORNERS, Oklahoma — A section of State Highway 95 in the Oklahoma Panhandle was dedicated to two women were murdered and then buried in a freezer.
Signs for the Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley Memorial Highway were unveiled during a ceremony Friday.
Butler's aunt Ladonna Thompson got choked up as Clint Butler, Butler’s dad, and her uncle, Joey Padilla, removed cardboard covering one of the signs.
They are located on State Highway 95, north of Four Corners, at County Roads M and K.
A bill naming the highway was passed last year.
Butler and Kelley disappeared in March 2024 while on the way to pick up Butler's children. Investigators later found the women’s bodies in a chest freezer buried in rural Texas County.
Law enforcement said the murders were connected to a custody dispute over Butler’s children.
Tifany Adams, the paternal grandmother of Butler’s children, pleaded no contest to murder and related charges. She was sentenced in February to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Cora Twombly and Paul Grice entered plea agreements that removed the possibility of a death sentence in exchange for their testimony. Their cases remain pending.
Tad Cullum and Cole Twombly have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against both men.