Kingsbury’s family, friends react as Fravel’s attorneys push for different trial location
(ABC 6 News) – Adam Fravel, the man accused of killing Winona mother Madeline Kingsbury appeared in court Tuesday morning. But the main question, is will the Winona County Court be the setting for his trial?
It was a nearly three-hour long hearing with three people being called to the stand in an effort to get Judge Nancy Buytendorp to move the case. Ultimately, no decision was made. But if anything is clear from Tuesday’s hearing, it’s that Fravel’s defense does not want the case tried in Winona County.
Related: UPDATE: Judge to consider Fravel’s murder trial location
His attorneys argue news articles, interviews, and access to law enforcement releases could jeopardize a fair trial. One woman who testified for the defense is Kim Adams from SNG Research. She was first on the stand. Her company surveyed 100 people from Winona County and found 89 of those people had followed coverage of Kingsbury’s disappearance and Fravel’s arrest. While 66 of those respondents already formed an opinion about Fravel’s guilt or innocence.
“It was good to hear in their testimony. The science behind their reasoning,” said Holly Stamschror, a friend and former sorority sister of Kingsbury.
The defense also called Winona Mayor Scott Sherman who confirmed that much of the city participated in searches for Kingsbury. Ben Klinger, Emergency Management Coordinator for the County Sheriff’s Department spoke on social media posts about the search which referenced domestic violence and domestic abuse. Madeline’s friends, addressing it after court.
“This town has a great advocacy center and we wanted to shed light on the domestic violence that happens anywhere. It doesn’t have to be a specific case. It still happens and it needs to end. So yes, the parade included her name and ending domestic violence,” added Stamschror.
Fravel wasn’t named in the social media posts but he had been charged for Kingsbury’s death shortly before the posts. Those posts went up during the Steamboat Days Parade.
While Kingsbury’s friends and family were open to speaking after the hearing, it was the opposite from the Fravel family. His attorney was a little more open, telling the press:
“We got things rescheduled and hopefully the court will have made a determination in the next few months.
Months of waiting for answers.
“We’re just hopeful that we’ll be good with whatever decision the judge makes,” Krista Naber, Madeline’s mother said.
We won’t know a decision for a while. The defense has until May 17th to enter an argument with the state’s deadline being May 31st. Come June 7th, there will be a chance for rebuttal with it being taken under advisement on June 10th.
Fravel currently faces two first-degree and two second-degree murder charges.