Crime Alert 04.23.24

According to court documents, the elaborate plan to kill Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelly began with a simple lie, the day before the murders.  Tad Cullum, the boyfriend of grandmother Tiffany Adams,  had asked the owner of the property he rented for cattle grazing, if he could do some work in the pasture, with his skid steer.  Picture a heavy-duty front-end loader, with lift arms that can attach to various tools, especially ones for digging. Cullum reportedly said he wanted to cut down a tree, remove a stump, and bury some concrete. The intent was that if the hole was discovered, it was explainable.  If the land owner was asked about the disturbed dirt and track marks,  he could honestly answer that some dirt work had been done and concrete had been buried. The landowner just didn’t know there were bodies underneath. News reports also say there was hay placed near and on the digging site to draw Cullum’s cattle to the spot, to trample the earth, further disguising the dig.    The OSBI, the FBI, and the Texas County Sheriff’s Department followed cell phone pings to find a horrific scene, a 10-foot-deep hole, 8 1/2 miles from the mom's abandoned car,  in a pasture on leased farmland and near a bridge. Whether the two moms were buried alive.... not yet revealed.       Associate District Judge Clark Jett entered "not guilty" pleas on the behavior of Adams, Cullum, Cora, and Cole Twombly. Judge Jett also assigned pro bono attorneys for each of the four defendants and denied bail. According to the police affidavit the 4 suspects “  had “resources sufficient to organize and execute a complex murder and therefore, they also have the resources to flee if given the opportunity.”  The police documents also say Adams and Cullum own numerous firearms, and Cullum had a rifle, ammunition, body armor, and a “go-bag” prepared at his home.    Joining Nancy Grace Today: Squirrel - Founder of God's Misfits    Garrett Oates - Veronica Butler's Lawyer (during custody battle) Tom Smith - Former NYPD Detective, Co-Host of the GOLD SHIELDS Podcast; FB & Instagram: @thegoldshieldshow   Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) and Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School Rachel Bernstein - Cult Expert - Therapist - Host of IndoctriNation Podcast   Lauren Conlin – Investigative Journalist, Host of The Outlier Podcast, and also Host of “Corruption: What Happened to Grant Solomon; X- @Conlin_Lauren/ Instagram- @LaurenEmilyConlin/YouTube- @LaurenConlin4   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Elderly couple carjacked, husband killed. Florida boat captain falls off the deck, drunk! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brazilian Au Pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes and her charge leave the Banfields' Fairfax County, Virginia home but turn around when Peres Magalhaes realizes she forgot their bagged lunches. Arriving at the house, the au pair sees a car she doesn't recognize and a man she doesn't know entering the house. Confused, she calls her employer, Brendan Banfield, who tells her to stay in the car, that he will be right there. Banfield is at the house in minutes, and they enter the house together. The au pair takes her 4-year-old charge to the basement. Brendan Banfield goes upstairs to find his wife.  Banfield finds his wife, Christine, nude, and a man he doesn't know, holding a knife to her throat. Banfield tells the man to put the knife down, but he starts stabbing the 37-year-old mother. Brendan Banfield carries a gun as an IRS Special Agent, and he draws his service revolver shooting the man in the head. The intruder is wounded and down on the ground. Banfield calls for Peres Magalhaes telling her to get his personal gun, a Glock, out of the bathroom safe. At Banfield's direction, shoots Joseph Ryan in the heart as he is lying on the ground.    Police say it appeared that Christine Banfield had been posted on an adult fetish website., but investigators say they believe it was all a ruse. Someone else created the profile on the Adult Fetish website, pretending to be Christine Banfield.  In fact, investigators believe Ryan's murder was part of an elaborate plan to kill Christine Banfield so her husband, Brendan, and their Brazilian live-in Au Pair, could be together.  Investigators found pictures of Banfield and the au pair together in the Banfield bedroom, and Peres Magalhaes' clothes were found hanging in Banfield's closet, not her own.    Joining Nancy Grace: Amanda Rieman - Virginia Attorney, AC RIEMAN LAW; IG: @acriemanlaw  Barry Golden– Former Senior Inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service, Owner of Golden Consulting and Investigations Dr. Heidi Green – Clinical Psychologist, Trauma Specialist,  and Author: ‘The Path to Self-Love and World Domination; IG: @drheidigreen Dr. Jan Gorniak – Medical Examiner, Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner (Las Vegas, NV), Board Certified Forensic Pathologist Alexis Tereszcuk – CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker for Lead Stories; X: @swimmie2009 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Man gropes passenger seated next to him throughout three-hour flight. Man pelts roommate with pizza! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Katherine Aguasvivas is on a road trip, from her home in Homestead Florida, which is south of Miami, to central Florida to visit friends. After going through Orlando, Aguasvivas calls her husband Miguel in a panic.  She tells him that she is in Winter Springs, and there is a green Acura running into her back bumper. He tells her not to stop, and keep driving, but neither of them calls 911. At 5:30 p.m., Aguasvivas stops for a traffic light at the intersection. What goes down next is caught on camera by a witness. A man dressed in all black gets out of the Acura approaches the driver's side of Aguasvivas' Dodge Durango and threatens her with a gun. He forces his way inside, climbing into the back seat, and forcing Katherine Aguasvivas to drive. The eyewitness calls 911. Joining Nancy Grace: Brian Foley –  Board-certified Criminal Defense Attorney, Former Chief Prosecutor in Harris County, (Houston) Texas; Author: “What Prosecutors Don’t Tell You;" Instagram @brianfoleylawpllc/ Youtube – @brianfoleylawyer/X @brianpllc Irv Brandt – Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch; Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs, US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica; Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON IN JANUARY; ALSO “FLYING SOLO: Top of the World;” Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski – Forensic Psychologist, Author: “Darksides;” FB: forensicsandmediapsychologist/TikTok: Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski Dr. Eric Eason – Board-certified Forensic Pathologist, Consultant; Instagram: @eric_a_eason, Facebook: Eric August Eason, LinkedIn: Eric Eason, MD   Jennifer Torres - Senior Reporter at GulfLive.com   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FBI agent kidnapped by drug smugglers. Fake cop "equipped to deceive."  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A police affidavit says Tifany Adams allegedly gave statements indicating she was responsible for the deaths of Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelley.  Investigators now say they believe Butler and Jillian Kelley were lured to the location, arriving around  9:40 a.m. Besides the pools of blood, officers found Butler’s glasses on the ground near a broken hammer.  Police say they believe the women were forced into another vehicle. Much information has been released in the probable cause affidavit, but not the women's cause of death. The bodies were found in a cattle pasture, leased by Tad Bert Cullum, the boyfriend of grandmother Tifany Adams.  The location was narrowed down by cellphone data from three burner phones purchased by Adams. The phones first pinged at the location of Butler's abandoned car, the data then led police to the pasture property. Obvious signs of digging were discovered. A hole had been dug and filled back in. Inside the hole were the bodies of the missing women. The motive, according to investigators, is custody of Butler’s two children: a custody battle has gone on for more than five years. Father Wrangler Rickman, Tifany Adam’s son, had custody of the children, but Rickman was confirmed to be in a rehabilitation facility in Oklahoma City.   Veronica Butler’s custody arrangement allowed her supervised visitation with her children every Saturday. And reportedly, according to Butler’s attorney, she was likely to be granted unsupervised visitation during an upcoming hearing. The affidavit states that  “Adams vehemently opposed this and went to great lengths to plan and purchase items used in Butler and Kelley’s murders,” It continues... “Adams, Cullum, Cole and Cora were willing to kidnap and murder two victims to limit visitation for Butler.” Court documents allege that Adams and the other suspects tried to killer Butler once before in February.  Adams, her boyfriend, and the other couple drove to Butler’s home near Hugoton, Kansas, intending to kill her. A witness told investigators that the planned was to throw an anvil through Butler’s windshield while she was driving. They reasoned that it would look like an accident, but Butler did not leave her home. As state investigators pulled information from Adams’ phone, it showed web searches for “taser pain level, gun shops, prepaid cellular phones, and how to get someone out of their house."  That’s also according to the probable cause documents.  Adams reportedly purchased five stun guns before the women’s disappearances, according to the documents. She bought three prepaid, unregistered burner phones from a Walmart near her.  All the prepaid burners stopped transmitting the mornings the women went missing. Joining Nancy Grace Today:  Kelly Hyman- Trial & Civil Attorney, TV Legal Analyst, Podcast Host: "Once Upon a Crime In Hollywood", Twitter: @kellyhyman1, TikTok: @kelly.hyman, Instagram: @Kelly_Hyman1  Sheryl McCollum  – Forensics Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder; Host of Podcast: “Zone 7;” X: @149Zone7 Irv Brandt – Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch; Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs, US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica; Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON IN JANUARY; ALSO “FLYING SOLO: Top of the World;” Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) and Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School Lauren Conlin – Investigative Journalist, Host of The Outlier Podcast, and also Host of “Corruption: What Happened to Grant Solomon; X- @Conlin_Lauren/ Instagram- @LaurenEmilyConlin/YouTube- @LaurenConlin4 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Missing Houston girl rescued from possible trafficking scheme. This suspect is tired of the 'paw-parazzi.'  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years she was labeled “Bones 20” the unidentified victim of the Green River Killer. Now, thanks to police work and Othram Labs, the victim has been named as Tammy Liles. She was from Everett, Washington, and vanished in the summer of 1983. She was only 16 years old when she became a victim of serial killer Gary Ridgeway. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will take you behind the headlines and into the lab that helped give a name to a young lady who spent decades being called “Bones 20." Transcript Highlights   00:0:16 Introduction – The Green River Killer last victim identified  00:02:28 Talk about age reference   00:06:32 Discussion of high-profile murders  00:10:48 Talk about the Green River Killer 16-year-old victim  00:15:56 Discussion of identifying remains  00:20:54 Discussion of the Green River Killer evidence  00:25:58 Talk about starting with incomplete skeleton  00:29:41 Discussion of Genetic Genealogy  00:34:51 Talking about Othram labs  00:37:39 Conclusion; might be the most noble of pursuits   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christina Harris is found dead by a neighbor. Harris’ cause of death was initially ruled accidental by the medical examiner's office after a blood sample tested positive for opiates, but her family is adamant Christina did not use drugs. The family even insisted officers test her frozen breast milk to prove it. Harris was still breastfeeding an infant. Police ultimately arrest husband Jason Harris for poisoning his wife's cereal. Harris has now lost his appeal bid. Joining Nancy Grace today: Matthew Mangino – Attorney, Former District Attorney (Lawrence County); Author: “The Executioner’s Toll: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States” Dr. Shari Schwartz – Forensic Psychologist (Specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy); Author: “Criminal Behavior” and “Where Law and Psychology Intersect: Issues in Legal Psychology;” Twitter: @TrialDoc” Justin Boardman – Retired Detective, West Valley City Police Department Special Victim’s Unit, Boardman Training & Consulting Dr. Michelle DuPre – Former Forensic Pathologist, Medical Examiner and Detective: Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, Author: “Homicide Investigation Field Guide” & “Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide;” Forensic Consultant Karen Drew – TV News Anchor/Investigative Reporter, WDIV TV, NBC Detroit; Instagram/Twitter: @KarenDrewTV   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnet See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.