Jury finds man guilty of killing girlfriend and hiding body in rural Minnesota

MANKATO, Minn. — A Minnesota man was convicted Thursday of murdering his girlfriend, whose disappearance in 2023 garnered national attention and spurred thousands of people to join the search before her body was found hidden in a rural part of the state.

Less than a day after deliberations began, the jury found 30-year-old Adam Fravel guilty of first-degree murder. He was arrested in June 2023, days after deputies found Madeline Kingsbury’s body in a wooded area several miles from a property owned by Fravel’s parents. Kingsbury, 26, disappeared in March 2023 after dropping herself and Fravel’s two young children off at day care in Winona, a southeastern Minnesota town of about 26,000 people.

The trial centered around conflicting depictions of the couple’s home life and the police investigation that led to Fravel’s arrest.

Special prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz, who prosecuted the case for the Winona County District Attorney’s Office, built his case on testimony from family and friends of the couple who spoke out about allegations of domestic violence, MPR reported. Fravel’s attorney, Zach Bauer, said the law enforcement investigation and prosecution of Fravel was based on “tunnel vision, revisionist history, and hidden facts.”

Jurors announced their verdict in front of a full courtroom, with members of Kingsbury and Fravel’s families present. Some people sitting in the courtroom gallery burst into tears when the verdicts were announced, MPR reported.

Witnesses testified they saw bruises on Kingsbury’s neck, and a friend once said she was on FaceTime with Kingsbury when Fravel allegedly hit her. Another friend testified that Kingsbury told Fravel he warned his girlfriend that she might be like Gabby Petito, who was killed by her boyfriend in a high-profile case in 2021.

Prosecutors and other witnesses said Kingsbury planned to leave Fravel after becoming frustrated with his allegedly abusive behavior and inadequate contributions to his family. Prosecutors alleged that the man responded by killing the woman.

“The relationship was never about them,” Prokopowicz said in his closing statement. “It was always about him.”

Prokopowicz said the evidence showed Fravel was the only person who had the opportunity to kill Kingsbury.

Police found Kingsbury’s body inside a gray sheet covered with black Gorilla tape. Prokopowicz said the woman was strangled with a towel, and the medical examiner concluded she likely died of asphyxiation. He added that the towels, sheets and tape matched items found in their Winona home.

Bauer, Fravel’s attorney, argued that there were no signs of a physical fight at the couple’s home, disproving the idea that Kingsbury died there. Bauer also relied on the testimony of a neighbor who claimed she saw an unknown person from the house waving at her the morning Kingsbury disappeared.

Bauer also disputed the prosecution’s claim that Fravel committed domestic violence. He noted the testimony of a neighbor who said he never heard the couple arguing.

The hearing took place in Mankato, Minnesota, about 130 miles from Winona, after the judge granted a request from Fravel’s attorneys to move the case.

Fravel will be sentenced on December 17.