Jury convicts man of killing girlfriend and hiding her body in rural Minnesota; Sentencing set for Dec. 17
NOVEMBER 7, 2024:
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota man was convicted Thursday (Nov. 7, 2024) in the killing of his girlfriend, whose 2023 disappearance garnered national attention and prompted thousands of people to join search efforts before her body was found hidden in a rural area of the state.
Less than a day after deliberations began, the jury found Adam Fravel, 30, guilty of first-degree murder. He was arrested in June 2023, days after deputies found the body of Madeline Kingsbury in a wooded area a few miles away from a property owned by Fravel's parents. The 26-year-old Kingsbury vanished in March 2023 after dropping off her and Fravel's two young children at day care in Winona, a southeastern Minnesota town of about 26,000 residents.
The trial centered around competing portrayals of the couple's domestic life and the police investigation that led to Fravel's arrest.
Phil Prokopowicz, a special prosecutor handling the case for the Winona County Attorney's Office, built his case around testimony from family and friends of the couple who spoke to instances of alleged domestic abuse, MPR reported . Zach Bauer, Fravel's attorney, said the law enforcement investigation and prosecution of Fravel relied on "tunnel vision, revisionist history and secret truths."
Jurors delivered their verdict before a full courtroom with members of Kingsbury and Fravel's families in attendance. Some sitting in the courtroom gallery burst into tears when the verdicts were handed down, MPR reported.
The witnesses testified they saw bruises on Kingsbury's neck and in one instance, a friend said she was on FaceTime with Kingsbury when Fravel allegedly hit her. Another friend testified that Kingsbury told her Fravel had warned his girlfriend that she could end up like Gabby Petito, a woman who was killed by her boyfriend in a high-profile 2021 case.
Prosecutors and other witnesses said Kingsbury had been planning to leave Fravel after becoming frustrated with his alleged abusive behavior and inadequate contributions to their family. He responded by killing her, prosecutors argued.
"The relationship was never about them," Prokopowicz said in his closing statement. "It was always about him."
Prokopowicz said the evidence showed Fravel was the only person with the opportunity to kill Kingsbury.
Police found Kingsbury's body in a gray fitted bedsheet that had been closed with black Gorilla tape. Prokopowicz said she was strangled with a towel, and a medical examiner concluded she likely died of asphyxiation. The towel, bedsheet and tape matched items found in their Winona home, he added.
Bauer, Fravel's attorney, argued that there was no sign of a physical struggle inside the couple's home, undermining the idea that Kingsbury died there. Bauer also relied on testimony from a neighbor who claimed to have seen an unknown person waving at him from the home on the morning Kingsbury disappeared.
Bauer also challenged the prosecution's claim that Fravel engaged in a pattern of domestic abuse. He pointed to testimony from one neighbor who reported to have never heard the couple argue.
The trial took place in Mankato, Minnesota, about 136 miles (219 kilometers) from Winona after a judge granted a request from Fravel's attorneys to have the case moved.
Fravel will be sentenced on Dec. 17.
OCTOBER 7, 2024:
MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — Jury selection begins Monday (Oct. 7, 2024) in the murder trial of the former boyfriend of a Minnesota woman whose body was found hidden in a rural area of the state in 2023.
Adam Fravel, 30, has been charged with first-degree murder. He was arrested in June, 2023, days after deputies found the body of Madeline Kingsbury in a wooded area a few miles away from a property owned by Fravel's parents. The 26-year-old Kingsbury vanished in March, 2023, after dropping off her and Fravel's two young children at day care in Winona, a southeastern Minnesota town of about 26,000 residents.
Kingsbury's disappearance garnered national attention and thousands of people joined in the search for her. Police said they investigated hundreds of tips and that digital evidence, including phone and computer records, helped lead to the discovery of the body. Fravel continues to maintain his innocence.
Prosecutors expect jury selection to last several days. Opening arguments could begin as soon as Oct. 14 if the jury selection doesn't take longer than expected. A judge granted a request from Fravel's attorneys to have the case moved out of Winona, where many members of community helped search for Kingsbury. The trial will instead take place in Mankato, about 136 miles (219 kilometers) from Winona.
A criminal complaint said that after a friend reported Kingsbury missing, Fravel told police that they had recently decided to separate and she was seeing someone else. Investigators believe Fravel had financially relied on Kingsbury and killed her after she told him she planned to move out of the home they shared. The complaint said a friend of Kingsbury had seen Fravel be violent with her.
Fravel's attorneys argue the case against him is circumstantial, citing no murder weapon or direct witness to the crime, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. They've also argued much of the testimony against him is hearsay.
Authorities said Kingsbury's body was found in a gray fitted bed sheet that had been closed with black Gorilla tape. An autopsy report said Kingsbury died of "homicidal violence," but it did not contain additional details.
