WINONA, Minn. — The sentencing of Adam Fravel Tuesday afternoon will bring a heart-wrenching murder case to a close, but the family of Maddi Kingsbury will never be the same.
Fravel will be in a Winona County courtroom at 1:45 p.m. for the official sentencing, although it's already known he will receive a mandatory life sentence with no chance at parole after being convicted of first-degree premeditated murder on Nov. 7.
A Blue Earth County jury also found Fravel guilty on three other murder counts: first-degree with a pattern of domestic abuse, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree murder while in the commission of a felony.
The trial was moved from Winona County to Mankato due to pre-trial publicity, and the challenge of seating an unbiased jury.
What is unknown, is what Kingsbury's family and friends will say during victim impact statements, and how Judge Nancy Buytendorp will address the defendant before committing him to prison for the rest of his life.
Fravel will also given the opportunity to speak, but it is unknown if he will do so. He chose not to testify during his trial.
The proceedings will be broadcast live as cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, something still relatively uncommon in Minnesota. KARE 11 plans to carry the sentencing live on our YouTube channel with links to the stream on other social platforms.
Maddi Kingsbury was reported missing on March 31, 2023, after she and Fravel dropped their daughter and son off at a daycare not far from their home in Winona. She was reported missing by friends and family that evening after they couldn't contact her.
A series of massive searches conducted in Winona and Fillmore Counties united the community and brought in volunteers from across Minnesota and the country to help.
Maddi's remains were found weeks later on June 7, in a remote culvert near the community of Mabel, where Fravel's parents live. A coroner from the Mayo Clinic determined her cause of death was homicide, and Fravel was arrested and convicted in the killing.
Kingsbury’s body was wrapped in a gray fitted bed sheet that had been closed with black Gorilla tape. During the trial, special prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz said she was strangled with a towel and that a medical examiner concluded she likely died of asphyxiation. The towel, bedsheet and tape matched items found in their Winona home, Prokopowicz said during the trial.
Prokopowicz and witnesses said Kingsbury had been planning to leave Fravel for another man after becoming frustrated with his alleged abusive behavior and inadequate contributions to their family. He responded to those plans by killing her, the prosecutor said.
“The relationship was never about them,” Prokopowicz said in his closing statement. “It was always about him.”
Witnesses testified they had seen bruises on Kingsbury’s neck. In one instance, a friend said she was on a video call with Kingsbury when Fravel allegedly hit her. Another friend testified that Kingsbury told her Fravel had warned Kingsbury that she could end up like Gabby Petito, a woman who was killed by her boyfriend in a high-profile 2021 case.
Fravel's defense attorney Zach Bauer, said in closing arguments that the case against Fravel relied on “tunnel vision, revisionist history and secret truths.” He contended that there was no sign of any physical struggle inside the couple’s home. He also pointed to testimony from a neighbor who claimed to have never heard the couple argue.
Speaking to reporters following the verdict, Bauer said he was unsure if Fravel would appeal his case to the Minnesota State Supreme Court.