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.

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. 

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. 

MINNEAPOLIS — The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help to find a missing teenage girl. 

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) shared Thursday on X that 16-year-old Tivona Cardenas was last seen in late September in north Minneapolis. 

Cardenas is 5 feet 2 inches and 108 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, according to the Minnesota BCA. 

If you have any information on the teen’s whereabouts, call 911. 

ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul’s Harriet Island will host runners, walkers and supporters on Sunday for the 20th annual Get Your Rear in Gear event. 

The fundraiser boosts money and awareness for colon cancer and the importance of screening for it. Attendees can enjoy music, snacks, a giant inflatable colon, timed 10K and 5K races, untimed 5K and one-mile memory walk and a Kids’ Fun Run. 

Chris Evans, the president of the Colon Cancer Coalition, and William Pierce, a caregiver who lost his mom to colorectal cancer, visited KARE 11 News at Noon to share more about the event and the importance of screening. 

According to the American Cancer Society, about 2,550 Minnesota residents will be diagnosed and 830 could lose their life to colon cancer in 2024.