Defense rests in Madeline Kingsbury murder trial; Adam Fravel declines to testify

MANKATO – A neighbor told law enforcement he saw a slim figure walk around Adam Fravel and Madeline Kingsbury’s property the day she disappeared. Fravel’s brother said he’s never seen Adam angry. And law enforcement testified they searched the area where Kingsbury’s body was found months before it was discovered.

Lawyers for Adam Fravel, 30, made their case Friday in his trial in the killing of 26-year-old Madeline Kingsbury, the Winona woman whose disappearance made national headlines in spring 2023.

Bauer rested the defense’s case just before noon Friday after calling five witnesses. Prosecutors called 68 witnesses over the past four weeks.

Fravel chose not to testify Friday. Closing arguments were pushed back to Nov. 6.

Attorney Zach Bauer has argued law enforcement was too focused on Fravel as a suspect and sloppy in investigating Kingsbury’s disappearance. Bauer also sought to demonstrate that Kingsbury and Fravel mutually agreed to separate before she went missing, and to minimize evidence from other witnesses who said they saw bruises on Kingsbury at various points, saying the bruises happened during sex.

Prosecutors argue Fravel financially relied on Kingsbury and killed her out of jealousy over a new relationship she planned to pursue. Though no one saw the couple argue or fight in person, prosecutors brought forth witnesses this week who testified about times they saw bruises on her neck or legs, or saw Fravel strike or push Kingsbury during video calls.

Prosecutors rested their case Thursday after a law enforcement official reviewed video footage showing Fravel allegedly drive Kingsbury’s van from Winona to near Mabel on March 31, 2023, the day Kingsbury disappeared.

Robert Albrecht, who lived next to Adam and Kingsbury before she went missing, testified he was smoking outside his home when he saw a slender person walking on the property that morning.

But Albrecht had to review what he previously told police — he couldn’t initially remember what time of day he saw the person, nor could he make out any features. He confirmed who he saw wasn’t Fravel, however.

Bauer also questioned two Houston County sheriff’s deputies who were involved in the searches for Kingsbury and the investigations into Fravel. Investigator Nate Smith said he put a tracker on Fravel’s car on April 2, two days after Kingsbury went missing. And investigator Steven Garrett told the court that on April 3 he searched the area where Kingsbury’s body was later discovered and found nothing.

“There was debris along that road and downed treetops along county roads, but nothing that would stick out to me,” Garrett said.

Garrett also testified he searched the area on an all-terrain vehicle and never stepped off it to search.

Kingsbury’s body was found on June 7, 2023, wrapped in a sheet in a culvert near a dirt road off Hwy. 43, just a few miles north of Mabel, Minn., about an hour’s drive from Winona. Law enforcement officials have testified the body was found under a pile of logs and other debris. A Fillmore County sheriff’s deputy found the body that day after noticing swarming flies.

Ryan Fravel said Friday morning he had never seen his brother angry. Though the two are 12 years apart, Ryan said he maintained contact with Adam throughout their lives. Ryan also participated in two searches for Kingsbury, though he told the court he didn’t speak with or hear from Adam for almost a week after she disappeared.

Ryan Fravel also confirmed Adam’s side of the family knew about their on-again, off-again relationship but said they appeared “lovey-dovey” and often spent time with their children.

“Those kids adored (Adam),” Ryan said. “They would always look to him for comfort and also guidance.”

Fravel’s lawyers have tried to cast doubt on the evidence against him, arguing much of it was circumstantial. Friends and family testified Tuesday and Wednesday about times they saw Kingsbury with bruises. Prosecutors say the bruises show a pattern of domestic abuse between Adam and Kingsbury, which is key to one of Adam’s four murder charges.

But one friend, Holly Stamschror, testified Wednesday she asked Kingsbury in 2018 about bruises on her throat. At the time, Kingsbury replied that “things got out of hand in the bedroom.”

Stamschror later said she was one of the friends Kingsbury confided in about an incident in 2021 when Adam allegedly choked Kingsbury from behind and pushed her onto a couch while they were watching a documentary on Gabby Petito, the Florida blogger whose boyfriend killed her and hid her body earlier that year.

Kingsbury left Fravel and stayed with their two children at her parents’ house for a few days before returning home to Winona.

Also on Friday, Winona County District Judge Nancy Buytendorp excused a juror after she asked to be removed from the case. The juror had a previously scheduled cruise and didn’t anticipate the trial going over the initial Nov. 1 deadline. The juror told the court her judgment could be affected by her desire to hurry the trial along.

The court last month seated 12 jurors and five alternates for Adam Fravel’s trial.