Fravel on Trial: The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury – Updates from court
(ABC 6 News) – Thursday morning, opening statements in Adam Fravel’s murder trial were given to a nearly full courtroom at the Blue Earth Co. Justice Center.
For the very first time, Fravel and his team of attorneys, Zachary Bauer and Grace Dokken of Meshbesher & Spence, presented their arguments to the 17-person jury as to why he is innocent in the murder of the mother of his children, Madeline Kingsbury.
The prosecution gave its opening arguments to the jury first, with attorney Phillip Propokowicz taking the lead. Propokowicz appearing calm, stoic and matter of fact to the jury as he tells the story of Kingsbury’s life. He says “Madeline Kingsbury will not testify. She’s not here. But through the testimony of her friends, family, forensic scientists and investigators you will hear the story of Kingsbury’s life. You’ll hear her happiness, her sadness and her tragic death.”
Propokowicz explained to the jury the evidence they will see, the testimony they will hear and went through the last few months and weeks of Kingsbury’s life. A great detail of the testimony was spent on the mother went missing, March 31, 2023.
A history of domestic violence was painted to the jury, as Propokowicz walked through several instances that friends or family saw abuse happening by Fravel to Kingsbury. One of these dates back to 2021, when Kingsbury was watching coverage on the Gabby Petito case. Propokowicz said that “Fravel put his hands around her neck, pushed her down and threatened she would end up like Petito if she did not learn to mind.”
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According to friends and family, Propokowicz says Kingsbury was seen with bruises on her neck several times before she disappeared and, “would even wear turtlenecks in the heat of the summer.”
Another part of the opening statement was the pieces of evidence the state is preparing to show the court, including the way in which Kingsbury’s body was found several months after she was reported missing. Kingsbury was found in a culvert on a gravel road off of Highway 43 just south of Rushford, Minn. in Fillmore Co.
Kingsbury’s body was found wrapped in a bedsheet held together by black duct tape. Propokowicz told the jury that same bed sheet matches the missing sheet inside Fravel and Kingsbury’s shared home and that the duct tape is consistent with a similar roll found inside as well.
Kingsbury’s cause of death was ruled to be asphyxiation and a bath towel was found wrapped in a slip knot around her neck. Propokowicz says a photo on Kingsbury’s phone of her children bathing in a bathroom shows the same bath towel hanging on a towel rack.
Propokowicz tells the jury that they will see pieces of evidence like phone data and surveillance cameras to create Fravel’s timeline from the day Kingsbury disappeared and claims Fravel was driving right where the 26-year-old’s body was found.
After 45 minutes, Propokowicz wrapped up his opening statement.
On the other side, Fravel’s lead attorney, Bauer, told the courtroom it, “all comes down to a case of tunnel vision, revisionist history and secret truths.”
Bauer, constantly pacing, using his hands and speaking very conversational to the jury, painted a picture of a man that has been deemed guilty by law enforcement from the beginning.
Bauer argued that 24 hours after Kingsbury was reported missing on March 31, 2023, law enforcement zeroed in on Fravel and Fravel alone. Bauer stated that from April 1 until Kingsbury’s body was discovered on June 7 of that same year, Fravel was under constant surveillance. He claimed that law enforcement ignored evidence and despite several search warrants on Fravel’s person, property, electronics, vehicles and even his garbage, no direct evidence was found.
‘Revisionist history’ is another term that Bauer frequently used in his opening statements, which is defined by Cambridge Dictionary as “someone who examines and tries to change existing beliefs about how events happened or what their importance or meaning is.” Bauer questioned why the ‘history of domestic violence’ alleged between Fravel and Kingsbury was not discussed by her friends before the spring of 2023.
Bauer stated that Kingsbury’s friends had a ‘lot of frustration with how the case was moving forward’ and that they were able to discuss these stories and allegations with each other before speaking to law enforcement. Bauer told the jury there is “a lot of revisionist history with those statements.”
Another big point in Bauer’s opening arguments was the topic of ‘secret truths’ of which he claims Kingsbury had many. One of these, he says, is regarding her recent relationship with a new partner, Spencer Sullivan. Sullivan and Kingsbury were old acquaintances at Winona State University and began speaking in the fall of 2022 before their relationship became sexually intimate.
Kingsbury and Sullivan’s relationship was ‘severely downplayed’ to her own family and friends. He also claims that when it comes to the apparent bruising seen on Kingsbury’s neck several times according to family and friends, Bauer stated Kingsbury herself claimed it was because “things got out of hand in the bedroom.” The attorney told the jury they would hear from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that Kingsbury had researched choking multiple times on X websites.
Bauer told the jury that Fravel and Kingsbury’s relationship was full of love since they met at Winona State University and eventually brought them their two children. He added that it “had its ups and downs and there was fighting like everyone else,” and further argued that Fravel moving out of their shared townhome in Winona at the time of Kingsbury’s disappearance “was quite frankly a regular occurrence in their relationship.”
His opening statements ended with him telling the jury, “the only verdict supported by evidence shown in the case and the only verdict you can come to is not guilty.”
—————————————————- OCT. 16TH —————————————————
(ABC 6 News) – Jury selection is completed in Adam Fravel’s murder trial in Mankato, as the last juror was seated Wed. afternoon.
Opening statements are scheduled for Thurs. morning at 9 a.m., days later than were originally scheduled.
The sixth potential juror of the day was passed by both the defense and the state. The male juror said he is a father, was recently laid off as a truck driver and wanted to be a juror on this case.
It only took 25 minutes of further questioning for him to be selected.
Earlier in the day, both teams of attorneys utilized additional strikes on potential jurors.
The defense executed one strike on a mother who said her coworker was being abused by her husband.
The state also struck two more jurors in the morning: once for an older woman who had been a juror twice before and another woman who’s son is currently in jail for drug crimes.
Jury selection has wrapped up with the defense left with one of its 15 strikes while the state had only two strikes left of its nine.
Overall, 66 jurors have walked into the courthouse and 17 were passed by the attorneys to be seated on this case.
The seated jurors include two retail workers, a retired physicians assistant, retired store owner, a paralegal, a mother, a delivery driver, a mortgage banker, an office manager, a nurse, a metal fabricator, a bank credit analyst, a tech security supervisor, a gas station worker, a truck driver, a hospital specialist and an unemployed father.
This case will have 12 immediate jurors and five alternates. One of those five will step in if a juror steps out.
Of the immediate 12 jurors, six are men and six are women. The five alternates are all men.
This trial is expected to last one month.
—————————————————- OCT. 15TH —————————————————
(ABC 6 News) – Jury selection continues Tues. in Adam Fravel’s murder trial at the Blue Earth Co. Justice Center while attorneys seek to seat four more jurors on this case.
Ten potential jurors are set to filter into the courthouse for a barrage of questions from prosecutors and defense attorneys.
The first juror of the day to be vetted by the attorneys was selected to be seated on this case. He is a father of a teenage girl, knows nothing of the case and works as a truck driver. He also admitted his mother was abused by her husband.
Another male juror was seated Tues. He is a father of three and works at the front desk of a local hospital. He told the courtroom of a traumatic childhood in which his sisters were abused by his father and his daughters had been sexually assaulted. Despite the close resemblance to allegations in Fravel’s trial, the defense passed the juror as did the state.
Finally, a third male juror joined the panel. He is in his 20s, works at a retail store and wanted to be a juror. He told the courtroom he had brief knowledge of the case through his dad and that his sister was in an abusive relationship.
The defense also executed another one of its strikes. The juror works as a manager at Aldi’s but was formerly a dispatcher and had spoken to victims of domestic violence.
Fravel’s defense team now only has two more strikes out of its 15 in this process. The state has four strikes remaining of its nine total.
The current number of seated jurors is 16, including ten men and six women.
The seated jurors include two retail workers, a retired physicians assistant, retired store owner, a paralegal, a mother, a delivery driver, a mortgage banker, an office manager, a nurse, a metal fabricator, a bank credit analyst, a tech security supervisor, a gas station worker, a truck driver, a hospital specialist.
One of the excused jurors of the day was a middle aged woman who says she has been following this case since Madeline Kingsbury, the victim, disappeared in the spring of 2023. She claimed she had even donated to GoFundMe’s for Kingsbury’s family. The woman on the stand admitted that she already formed an opinion on the case, telling the courtroom simply, “I believe Adam Fravel is guilty of murder and that [Madeline Kingsbury] was a victim of domestic violence.
Fravel maintained eye contact with the woman, took a few notes, and bowed his head.
It’s the homestretch for all parties, as the state and defense have one more person to seat and two days to do it before opening statements are set to begin on Thurs.
However, if the jury is not completely seated, that could be delayed even further.
—————————————————- OCT. 14TH —————————————————
(ABC 6 News) – Despite opening statements scheduled for Mon. in Adam Fravel’s high-profile murder trial, jury selection is continuing into a sixth day.
While Friday marked a relatively quick questioning period for each juror from the state and Fravel’s defense team, proceedings Mon. morning have been slow.
Overall, ten more jurors were scheduled to come back to the courthouse, but one was excused immediately for being sick while another was able to be dismissed due to her being 70 years old or older.
The day was met with several strikes from both prosecutors and the defense with both having used two strikes.
Two of the struck jurors say they were victims of abuse, one’s significant other knew too much about the case, while another was pregnant.
Out of the 15 strikes Fravel’s team is able to utilize, only three more remain.
The state was given nine strikes and now have four.
Two male jurors were passed Mon. afternoon, bringing the total seated jurors to 13 with seven men and six women. One works at a gas station while the other is a security supervisor for a tech company. Both wanted to be jurors.
Judge Nancy Buytendorp is seeking 12 jurors and five alternates for a total of 17 people.
The makeup of this jury is as follows: retail sales representative, a retired physicians assistant, retired store owner, a paralegal, a mother, a delivery driver, a mortgage banker, an office manager, a nurse, a metal fabricator, a bank credit analyst, a tech security supervisor and a gas station worker.
Ten more jurors are set to filter into the courthouse Tues.
Opening statements are scheduled for Thurs., but four more people need to be seated in order for that to stay on schedule. If it does not, opening statements will be further delayed.
If all four jurors are seated on Tues., opening statements will not be moved up to Wed. according to Judge Buytendorp to allow for ample travel time for witnesses in this trial.
—————————————————- OCT. 11TH —————————————————
(ABC 6 News) – On what was supposed to be the final day of jury selection in Adam Fravel’s murder trial in Mankato, Minn., will instead only mark the halfway point in the process.
Friday, Judge Nancy Buytendorp scheduled for ten additional jurors to enter the courtroom for further questioning by her, the defense and the state.
While a new sense of urgency is felt in the courtroom, as jurors have been questioned for no more than 45 minutes so far, Fravel’s defense team has had no issues with striking out jurors it doesn’t want sitting inside the box.
Friday morning, out of the four jurors that filtered into the Blue Earth Co. courthouse, the defense struck three jurors in a row.
The defendants team, already using ten of its 15 strikes as week one comes to a close. Four of those strikes were made on Friday.
The prosecution also used another one of its nine strikes Friday, now with just six remaining.
A woman joined the panel just before lunch on Friday. In a rare occurrence, the woman’s 18-year-old son was also summoned for jury duty on this case.
Kyle Christopherson, who works for Minnesota Courts, says in his 20 years of working in the judicial system he has never seen that happen.
Following a joint motion by both the prosecution and the state, Judge Buytendorp excused the woman’s son, another potential juror, for cause given she admitted her son would most likely be heavily influenced by her opinions.
The total number of jurors sat is now at eleven. Six of them are women and five are men.
The makeup of this jury is as follows: retail sales representative, a retired physicians assistant, retired store owner, a paralegal, a mother, a delivery driver, a mortgage banker, an office manager, a nurse, a metal fabricator and a bank credit analyst.
Court officials are looking for 12 jurors and five alternates to sit on this case.
Over the course of this week, 39 jurors have been questioned.
At this point, opening statements in this murder trial have been scheduled for next Thursday, instead of Monday as originally planned.
———————————————— OCT. 10TH ————————————————-
(ABC 6 News) – Jury selection in Adam Fravel’s high profile murder case has been met with a series of unexpected delays, further pushing back opening statements scheduled for next week.
Immediately in the morning, one juror was struck for cause before entering the courtroom due to their age and hearing difficulties.
Thursday, Judge Nancy Buytendorp scheduled six jurors to be further questioned in the morning and five in the afternoon. By the end of the day, only ten were back inside the courtroom.
Thursday morning began rather slow, with the first juror of the day sitting on the stand for more than an hour only to be excused in the end after revealing her sister’s abusive relationship caused her to ‘fear for her life.’
Throughout the day, only two more male jurors were sat, joining five others on the jury.
Despite one juror, telling the courtroom he was nervous and his parents had been in an abusive relationship, he said he believes he can be fair and impartial given the allegations in this case.
Currently, the panel is made up of four women and three men: retail sales representative, a retired physicians assistant, retired store owner, a paralegal, a mother, a delivery driver and a mortgage banker.
The morning was also met with a unique disturbance.
In what Kyle Christopherson, with Minnesota Courts, calls a ‘rare occurrence,’ the juror that never showed up to the courthouse Wed. was forcefully brought in Thursday morning by law enforcement.
After causing a scene and screaming in the parking lot, the male juror walked into the courtroom, barefoot, not wearing appropriate clothing and made it clear he did not want to serve his civic duty.
Judge Buytendorp, with agreeance from both the prosecution and the defense, excused him.
According to a deputy with the Blue Earth Co. Sheriff’s Office, the man was free to leave the courthouse on his own and do not anticipate bringing any charges forward but adds it is ultimately up to the Judge to decide.
Later in the day, a potential juror took a strong opinion when he was questioned, telling the courtroom he knows a lot of details about this case from local news coverage. The juror also stated that he has had friends participate in searches for the victim, Madeline Kingsbury. He went on to say, “he killed her, drove her to Mabel and dropped her in the woods” adding that he “believes Fravel is guilty.”
The judge excused him from serving on this case.
Thursday afternoon, Fravel’s defense utilized another one of its 15 strikes. After striking out six jurors, the attorneys only have nine more.
The state has seven strikes left and have used two.
So far, there have been 29 potential jurors and 22 of them were either struck or excused.
———————————————— OCT. 9TH ————————————————-
(ABC 6 News) – Jury selection continues at the Blue Earth Co. courthouse in Adam Fravel’s murder trial Wed.
New developments in this female-dominated jury, as the first male juror is sat after 40 min. of questioning by Fravel’s defense team and the state.
The total number of jurors sat is now at five, with four women and one man.
The professions of those jurors are as follows: retail sales representative, a retired physicians assistant, retired store owner, a paralegal, and a mother.
Fravel’s defense team also utilized several of its strikes Wed. So far, the defendant’s team of attorneys has used five of its 15 strikes halfway through week one of jury selection.
On the second to last juror of the day, the prosecution utilized its first strike of nine. The potential juror, a father of two, told the courtroom his brother was convicted of assault and he was facing certain allegations of his own.
Of the five stricken potential jurors by the defense, four had mentioned a family member or someone close to them having been involved in an abusive relationship or were touched by domestic violence. The fifth person struck was a father of two and a convicted felon.
Neither team of attorneys needs to indicate a reason for striking someone from serving on this jury.
As of Wed. evening, 19 jurors will have been individually questioned to serve on this trial. Of those potential jurors, 14 have been dismissed. The last juror of the day, juror #20, never showed.
Due to the pace at which jury selection has moved so far, Kyle Christopherson, the communications specialist with the Minnesota Court Information Office, says jury selection could push into next week. Initially, opening arguments were scheduled to begin next Mon., Oct. 14.
The lead attorney on Fravel’s defense team, Zach Bauer, told the courtroom that he “can’t imagine starting [the trial] before Tues. or Wed.” and that his team “plans on utilizing a lot more strikes” throughout the jury selection process.
———————————————— OCT. 8TH ————————————————-
(ABC 6 News) – Tues. morning marks the first, full day of jury selection in the murder trial of Adam Fravel at the Blue Earth Co. courthouse in Mankato, Minn.
While there were 158 qualified jurors to sit on this case, 96 showed up to the courthouse Mon. afternoon and were given detailed questionnaires to reveal more about their beliefs, opinions and experiences.
Tues., 20 jurors were pulled from that same panel and brought back to the courthouse to be questioned further by Judge Nancy Buytendorp, the prosecution and Fravel’s defense team. The process is used to determine if any potential jurors would have any reason to deem them incapable of serving on the case, have any biases that would affect their ability to do so, or have already formed an opinion making them no longer impartial.
Throughout the jury selection process, the defense is able to strike 15 potential jurors from the list, while the state can only do so nine times.
As of 11:30 a.m. Tues. Oct. 8, four potential jurors were further questioned and all four were dismissed. Three of those excused were from Judge Buytendorp, while one was struck out by the defense.
One potential juror shared concerns about his ability to be unbiased, given his stepfather was murdered when he was a child. He shared to the courtroom that he does not feel he would be best fit serving as a juror on a violent case, given Fravel’s serious charges. Judge Buytendorp excused him.
The third potential juror of the morning indicated she was excited to be on the case, knew some details from local media agencies and had watched the evening news the night before. While she claimed she understood jurors must refrain from watching the news and social media so as not to be influenced in the case, she admitted she would have difficulty not watching the news. Fravel’s defense team used their first strike of the day on this juror.
Another one of the dismissed jurors indicated early on that he was concerned about his ability to be impartial. On his questionnaire, he stated he had negative feelings toward Fravel because of the severity of the charges he faces. He also added that he has had a family member involved in an abusive relationship. Within minutes of both teams of attorneys approaching the judge, Judge Buytendorp excused him.
By lunchtime on Tues., only one of the five jurors have been selected to sit on this case.
Due to the lengthy questioning from Fravel’s defense attorneys, only ten out of the 20 jurors were brought into the courtroom on Tues., pushing the remaining ten into Wed.
There is also another round of potential jurors to be interviewed later this week.
By the end of the day on Tues., only three jurors have been selected to serve on this trial and all three are women. At this point, seven jurors exited the Blue Earth Co. courthouse for the last time, two of which were struck by the defense.
Kyle Christopherson with Minnesota Courts says officials need 12 jurors and five alternates, bringing the total number of jurors to 17 for the trial to start. Christopherson adds that five alternates is a uniquely high number.
———————————————— OCT. 7TH ————————————————-
(ABC 6 News) – At the Mankato courthouse in Blue Earth County, Minn. Monday morning, jury selection is slated to get underway in the trial of Adam Fravel.
Fravel is charged in the death of the mother of his two children, Madeline Kingsbury, who was murdered in the spring of 2023.
Fravel is facing two counts of 1st-degree murder and two counts of 2nd-degree murder in the case.
Monday morning, court officials tell ABC 6 News that currently, there are 158 qualified jurors in this case. There will be two sessions held at the courthouse, where a total of 126 people will be given forms to fill out detailing their experiences, opinions, etc. By Monday afternoon, only 96 potential jurors showed up to the courthouse.
It is at this stage that prosecutors and defense attorneys will begin filtering out jurors to sit on this case. The goal is to find 12 people that will not let a number of factors including prior experiences, opinions, biases, and more affect the outcome of this trial.
According to Kyle Christopherson, the communications specialist with the Minnesota Court Information Office, the defense has 15 strikes it can utilize when it comes to picking potential jurors. The state only has nine.
Jury selection is expected to last for about a week. Christopherson says Judge Nancy Buytendorp booked out the entire month of Oct. for this trial. Christopherson adds opening statements, at this point, are slated for next week, Oct.14.
Monday, a number of motions still needed to be ruled on by the judge, including whether Fravel will be restrained throughout trial. According to court documents, there are a number of factors that go into this decision, including if the defendant is deemed a threat to the courtroom, has a history of attempting to escape and the severity of their crimes. Despite the state arguing Fravel’s charged with “the most serious crime in Minnesota,” Judge Buytendorp ruled Fravel will not be wearing any sort of handcuffs throughout his trial. Court documents say the decision ultimately was made because Fravel’s right to a fair trial outweighs any possible courtroom safety concerns at this point.
Judge Buytendorp also granted Fravel’s defense team motion requesting the trial be moved out of Winona Co. in order to ensure it is fair and impartial in June of 2024. Fravel’s team argued it would be “impossible” to have a fair and unbiased jury in Kingsbury’s hometown due to the extensive media coverage this case has gotten and the thousands of people in the community that assisted in search parties to find the mother of two.
Kingsbury was first reported missing to police on the evening of March 31, 2023 by a close friend. After months of mass searches with thousands of volunteers, Kingsbury’s body was eventually found on June 7, 2023, in rural Fillmore Co. near Highway 43.
For a full timeline of events leading up to the trial, click here.
ABC 6 News is in court for the entirety of this trial and will bring you the latest as it happens.