Murder trial for ex-boyfriend of Madeline Kingsbury set to start

Adam Fravel is set to spend the next few weeks inside a Blue Earth County courtroom as he faces trial in the murder of his ex-girlfriend Madeline Kingsbury, whose disappearance drew national attention last year for almost 10 weeks.

Jury selection begins Monday for Fravel, who is charged with first-degree murder. He has maintained his innocence since Kingsbury’s disappearance. But the massive attention on him and Kingsbury already has factored into court proceedings. In addition, Kingsbury’s family won’t be present for much of the trial per a judge’s recent decision.

A special prosecutor was assigned to the case once Fravel was arrested. Fravel’s lawyers successfully argued to have his case moved out of Winona County, where much of the community banded together to search for Madeline and support the Kingsburys after her body was found.

“The court is now asking many of those same individuals to be jurors in a case where either they, or people they know, invested time and/or money in the search for Mr. Fravel’s alleged victim,” attorney Zachary Bauer wrote in a motion earlier this year.

Winona County District Judge Nancy Buytendorp last week granted motions to sequester witnesses from courtroom proceedings until they were called on, as well as bar anyone wearing shirts or clothing with “Justice for Maddi” or any other wording that could influence the trial.

Kingsbury’s family members are among more than 150 potential witnesses, meaning they won’t be allowed in court until they’re called upon to testify.

Madeline’s sister Megan Kingsbury wrote in a social media post the family understands and respects the judge’s decision, though they still have questions and requests for information pending.

“As Madeline’s immediate family, we are also considered victims in the eyes of the law,” Megan Kingsbury wrote. “Victims have certain rights, one of which is to be present in the courtroom for trial proceedings. However — it is not common for immediate family to be witnesses in cases of this nature.”

The trial is scheduled to run through Nov. 1, pending changes during the proceedings.

Kingsbury was first reported missing at the end of March 2023.

Fravel’s attorneys argue the case against him is circumstantial. There’s no murder weapon or witness to the crime. They’ve also argued much of the testimony against him is hearsay, though a judge has ruled most of it admissible.

Investigators believe Fravel killed Kingsbury after she told him she was seeing another man and planned to move out of the home that she and Fravel shared in Winona. Fravel had financially relied on Kingsbury at the time, according to court records.

The last time Kingsbury was seen alive was when she and Fravel dropped off their children, ages 2 and 5, at day care the morning of March 31. Kingsbury’s disappearance gained national attention as thousands of people joined the search for her. Her body was found wrapped in what appeared to be a gray fitted bed sheet that had been closed with black Gorilla tape in Mabel, Minn., a few miles from property owned by Fravel’s parents.

Fravel later told police that Kingsbury was supposed to pick up their children that afternoon but she didn’t show up, so he did it. But the day care provider told police she never contacted Fravel asking him to pick up the kids, according to court records. He showed up at the day care’s regular pickup time.

Search warrants unsealed in July 2023 indicate friends and family knew for some time that the relationship was abusive and that Kingsbury was trying to leave.

Warrants show several friends and family told police Fravel reportedly told her, “If you don’t listen, you’ll end up like Gabby Petito,” the social media influencer who was slain by her boyfriend while traveling in 2021. Fravel later told police he meant it as a joke.

Fravel was arrested in June shortly after Kingsbury’s body was discovered. He has been in the Olmsted County jail since his arrest.