Autopsies reveal two Kansas moms were stabbed more than a dozen times
Autopsies reveal that two Kansas women were stabbed repeatedly as they tried to defend themselves this spring in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
On March 30, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Jilian Kelley, both of Hugoton, disappeared as they were driving to a scheduled visitation with Butler’s two children.
Butler had told family members that she would return later. But her car was found abandoned on the side of the road south of Elkhart in rural Texas County, Oklahoma.
On April 14, authorities discovered the bodies of the two women. Five people were arrested in connection with their deaths.
The bodies were found inside a freezer buried 4 to 8 feet deep. Clothes, a stun gun, roll of tape and a knife were also found.
Veronica Butler
Butler’s autopsy shows she died from multiple sharp force trauma. Her body had 30 sharp force injuries, including stab wounds.
The cuts were in her head and neck, and other parts of her body. She suffered nine stab wounds and had 21 deep cuts. Ten of the cuts were from Butler attempting to defend herself, according to the autopsy report.
Butler apparently grabbed a knife blade with her right hand, “resulting in her fingers being sliced multiple times,” according to the autopsy. “She additionally sustained a blunt force laceration to the back of the head.”
Jilian Kelley
Kelley’s autopsy, which was released on Nov. 5, shows that she also died from multiple force trauma. She reportedly had suffered 16 sharp force injuries.
Kelley’s body had nine stab wounds and and seven deep cuts. Two of the 16 cuts were from her attempting to defend herself, the autopsy report said.
Both Butler and Kelley also had stun gun marks on their necks.
“Given the nature of Mrs. Kelley’s injuries, including a devastating upper cervical spinal cord injury, it is my opinion that her death was very rapid as she would have likely not only lost her ability to move her body below her head, but also her ability to breathe on her own,” the autopsy said. “It is my opinion that, therefore that she was most likely deceased before she was placed inside the freezer.”
Victims were mothers
Kelley was a mother of four and “led a life dedicated to her faith and service to others as a devoted Christian woman and Pastor’s wife,” her obituary read.
Butler was a mother of two who was described as a “compassionate soul who touched the lives of many with her kindness and unwavering dedication,” an obituary said.
Kelley and Butler were on their way to Oklahoma for a scheduled parental visit with Butler’s kids. Kelley was riding along with Butler because the visits required another adult to be present.
Court documents show Tifany Adams, the grandmother of Butler’s children, was embroiled in a custody battle over Butler’s kids. The father of the children, Wrangler Rickman, is Adams’ son. He had legal custody of them.
This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 7:41 PM.