Kingsbury murder trial start date, change of venue location announced

By Denise Lana,

The trial of Adam Fravel, accused of murdering his estranged partner Madeline Kingsbury nearly 18 months ago, is scheduled to start Oct. 7. A change of venue was awarded earlier this summer, and the trial will be moved 127 miles west from Minnesota’s Winona County to the city of Mankato in Blue Earth County.  

Kingsbury, age 26, resided in Winona with Fravel and their two young children, and she disappeared March 31, 2023, after dropping the children off at day care. According to court records, Fravel was questioned several times and denied any involvement in her disappearance. For several months, numerous search parties searched Winona and Fillmore counties for the missing mother.  

On June 7, more than two months after her disappearance, a Fillmore County deputy discovered Kingsbury’s body in a culvert near Mabel along Highway 43. The culvert where her body was found was 4 miles away from the Fravel family farm, according to court records, and although the land was public, it had previously been maintained routinely by members of the Fravel family. Fravel was arrested the next day and charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Prosecutors later presented evidence of a history of both physical and verbal abuse as well as threats made by Fravel towards Kingsbury. In October of 2023, a grand jury returned an indictment of first-degree murder with premeditation, based on this past pattern of abuse, in addition to the existing two counts of second-degree murder. Fravel was held in a Winona jail on $2 million bond with no conditions or $1 million bond with conditions, and he has been housed there ever since, awaiting trial.  

Earlier this year, the 30-year-old’s defense argued a fair and impartial trial could not be held in Winona County due to overwhelming publicity of the case, citing 59 separate news reports, videos and stories which ran between April and December 2023.  

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Additionally, a public opinion survey was conducted by the defense, and it reported an increased awareness of the murder case in Winona County, with a large portion of the 100 residents surveyed feeling Fravel was guilty of Kingsbury’s death.  

The court ruled in favor of granting a change of venue.  

The new location for the trial was made public Aug. 21, with presiding Judge Nancy Buytendorp declaring the order. 

“The court finds Blue Earth County is best positioned to ensure the impartiality required for a fair trial and is well suited to accommodate this Winona County case,” the judge said.   

The trial is currently scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7 at the Blue Earth County Justice Center in Mankato.   

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