MANKATO, Minn. — With an arduous jury selection process finally in the rearview mirror, both prosecutors and the defense began laying out their cases Thursday in the murder trial of Adam Fravel.
Fravel is charged with four felony counts - first-degree murder, first-degree premeditated murder, second-degree intentional murder, and second-degree unintentional murder while committing a felony offense - in the death of 26-year-old Maddi Kingsbury, his live-in partner and mother of Favel's two children.
Kingsbury was last seen dropping her young son and daughter off at daycare in Winona the morning of March 31, 2023. She was reported missing by family and friends later that day. Maddi's decomposing remains were found south of Winona 68 days later. The medical examiner eventually concluded she died of homicidal violence, likely asphyxiation.
9 a.m.
Opening statements began shortly after 9 a.m. in Blue Earth County District Court, chosen as the venue after Judge Nancy Buytendorp ruled Fravel's trial should be moved from Winona County due to extensive pre-trial publicity.
The state was the first to address the jury panel, with prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz immediately painting a picture of Maddi as a successful career woman and mother who had become increasingly frustrated with Fravel and his inability to contribute as their seven-year relationship crumbled.
Prokopowicz told jurors that Kingsbury had met a man, Spencer Sullivan, on a dating app and as their relationship grew Maddi decided to end her partnership with Fravel. Kingsbury contacted her landlord and said she was terminating the least, and that she had found a townhouse where she and the children would live.
The state also laid out a list of electronic and video evidence it says proves Fravel killed Maddi and engaged in an elaborate coverup, also indicating there will be testimony on alleged abuse in the relationship.
10:10 a.m.
Fravel's defense team began its opening statement with a geography lesson of sorts, with attorney Zach Bauer naming Winona and the small communities of Rushford, Choice, Mable, and the highways and county roads that run through them. Bauer asked jurors to think about the locations as they listen to testimony and absorb the evidence presented in Fravel's trial.
The defense then began painting its own picture of the relationship between Fravel and Kingsbury, saying like many couples they had disagreements and there were times Maddi would move out the home and other times when Fravel would go home to stay with his parents.
Unlike prosecutors - who said Kingsbury's relationship with Spencer Sullivan was getting deeper - the defense told jurors about texts from Maddi to her sister saying she was going to marry Adam Fravel. Ultimately, Bauer told the court, Kingsbury and Fravel agreed to separate but were doing so in a cooperative and planned manner.
Bauer told jurors that Fravel cooperated with police after Kingsbury disappeared, saying his defense team would show that investigators ignored evidence and facts that suggested his innocence. He indicated they will challenge the prosecution's version of how and where the body was found, and who may have had access to the remote site not far from Mabel.
The defense also said they will call a neighbor who will testify they never heard any fighting or signs of discord in the relationship between Kingsbury and Fravel.
11:15 a.m.
The first witness called by the prosecution was Winona police officer Ethan Sense. Sense told jurors that he was dispatched to the residence occupied by Maddi Kingsbury and Adam Fravel on March 31, 2023 around 8:19 on a welfare check.
Officer Sense detailed meeting a friend of Maddi's at the townhouse and walking around looking at the scene. He told jurors he tried to reach Maddi, and then called her father David Kingsbury and then spoke to Adam Fravel's mother, who told Sense her son was putting the children down and would call back.
The officer testified that Fravel did call back 20 to 30 minutes later and the two had a short conversation in which the defendant said he and Maddi dropped the kids off at daycare and he had not heard from her since. Fravel said he picked up the kids up about 4:15 p.m. when he didn't hear from Kingsbury.
Sense said Fravel at one point asked him "Can I expect any sort of follow? I don’t know if I should be worried or what.”
11:45 a.m.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Zach Bauer zeroed in on Officer Sense's training, noting that he had only been with the Winona PD for eight months. Bauer asked the officer about a spot of what appeared to be vomit that Sense had noted upon arriving at Kingsbury and Fravel's townhome. "Did you gather it (the vomit)?"
"No," Officer Sense answered.
"Did you tell the other officer about it?"
"No."
"And you are aware based on your training that DNA can be extracted from the cells in vomit?" Bauer pressed.
"Um, yes," answered Sense.
Bauer also asked Officer Sense if he observed any broken glasses, dishes, or anything else to indicate a struggle. Sense testified that he did not.
Officer Sense was excused, and the jury broke for lunch at noon.