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Courtroom packed for closing arguments in Fravel murder trial
Maddi Kingsbury’s family and friends are on one side, with Fravel’s family sitting behind him as both the prosecution and defense make their final pitch to jurors.
MANKATO, Minn. — Jurors returned to a Blue Earth County District courtroom Wednesday after four days off to hear closing arguments in the murder trial of Adam Fravel.
KARE 11’s Lou Raguse has covered the case of Maddi Kingsbury’s disappearance and murder extensively and is in court for Wednesday’s closing arguments. After hearing the defense present its case in less than three hours Friday, the jury panel was given Monday and Tuesday off to take part in the election of 2024.
The courtroom was packed as jurors were led into the courtroom to listen to prosecutors and Fravel’s defense teams make their final arguments. Maddi Kingsbury’s family and friends grouped on one side, while Fravel’s family and supporters sat directly behind him and the defense table.
Lead prosecutor Phil Prokopowicz opened by thanking jurors and giving a detailed explanation on the concept of reasonable doubt, also touching on the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence, which the state’s case is largely built on.
“Law does not prefer one form over another. Direct evidence is just as good as circumstantial,” Prokopowicz told the panel. “There is only one reasonable conclusion you can draw… that Adam Fravel is guilty of all crimes with which he is charged.”
Prokopowicz spent significant time drilling down on testimony from people about the troubled relationship between the defendant and Kingsbury. He referred to testimony about abusive language used by Fravel, multiple instances of marks being seen on Maddi’s neck and one witness who testified she was talking to Kingsbury on Facetime and allegedly saw the defendant backhand her across the face during an argument about the house being a mess.
The prosecution then brought up Fravel’s reported obsession with the case of Gabby Petito, a young woman who was killed by her boyfriend during a cross-country camping trip. Prokopowica reminded jurors about testimony from members of Kingbury’s family about her telling them Fravel brought up the Petito case, then walked up behind her and wrapped his hands around her throat.
Fravel reportedly said it was just a joke, but Maddi packed up and left the home for a number of days.
“As I said earlier, from the outset of the relationship between Maddi Kingsbury and Adam Fravel, it was never about them, it wasn’t about the children. It was about him and what he wanted. Prokopowicz insisted. “His efforts to control the relationship. Physical violence. Emotional manipulation.”
The state then focused on Maddi’s growing relationship with a new partner, Spencer Sullivan, and Fravel’s loss of power as Maddi took steps to end their partnership. He was jealous, unemployed, would have to move back in with his parents and realized that life as he knew it was ending, Prokopowicz told the jury panel.
“No longer would his degrading comments work. The slapping of her face, shoving into the counter, strangulation. No longer would he be able to play on her emotions and sense of guilt.” Prokopowicz stated. “The relationship was no longer about him and he was damned if he was going to let her do this to him, to take his kids and take his life from him. His anger swelled… with lingering and hovering. No other man was going to raise his kids. It’s rational and reasonable that Adam Fravel’s self-centeredness, possessiveness, jealousy, and anger caused him to strike out against the only person who was the cause of it all. Maddi Kingsbury. Who else had the motive? There was no one but the defendant Adam Fravel.”
Prokopowicz ended by laying out a collection of physical evidence that, while circumstantial, points to Fravel as Maddi’s killer, according to investigators. A towel found wrapped around Maddi’s head across her nose and mouth, identical to a towel captured in a picture of the couple’s bathroom; a sheet Kingsbury’s remains were found in that resembled one missing from an air mattress set up in their home; and surveillance cameras that were operational on March 24 but disconnected March 29 and found in the couple’s garage.
The defense was poised to deliver its closing arguments following a break late Wednesday morning.
Fravel is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two of second-degree murder in the death of Maddi Kingsbury, his former partner and mother of Fravel’s two children. Maddi was last seen the morning of March 31, 2023 when she and Fravel dropped their daughter and son off at daycare. She was reported missing later that day. After weeks of massive searches in southeastern Minnesota, Kingsbury’s remains were discovered on June 7 in a remote area near Mabel, not far from the home of Fravel’s parents.
The shooting occurred Monday around 7:30 p.m. on the 500 block of Front Avenue.
ST PAUL, Minn. — A 25-year-old Minneapolis man is accused of fatally shooting a man who he claimed assaulted him in an act of road rage Monday night in St. Paul.
Ian Loi Bursey is charged with two counts of second-degree murder after he shot a man Monday around 7:30 p.m. on the 500 block of Front Avenue. Bursey told officials that the shooting stemmed from an incident that began on Interstate 35E.
According to court documents, Bursey, who was driving a silver Hyundai, was merging onto the interstate and then allegedly “brake checked” a red Toyota Corolla that had let him in. Prosecutors say Bursey “brake checked” him and then later accused the driver of the Corolla of cutting him off after the two vehicles got off at Maryland Avenue. Court documents go onto say that Bursey followed the Corolla west on Maryland Avenue and south on Dale Street.
Prosecutors say Bursey then followed the Corolla into the parking lot of a strip mall and allegedly threw something at the vehicle. The driver of the Corolla then went into a store and then while leaving the lot, saw Bursey parked nearby. Court documents say the driver of the Corolla pulled up next to Bursey’s Hundai, and then the passenger of the Corolla got out and started punching Bursey. Bursey then fired his gun, according to court documents.
The driver of the Corolla then began driving toward Regions Hospital, but was involved in a crash near 12th Street and Cedar Street. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the passenger unconscious with a gunshot wound. The passenger, later identified as 26-year-old Tajai Evans of St. Paul, died at the scene.
Bursey told investigators that the Corolla cut him off about five times before the confrontation, however, was unable to provide much detail about what occurred. He told officials that his anxiety affects his memory. He did tell authorities that he followed the vehicle to the strip mall to get the license plate number, but officials say he didn’t have any record of the plate number. Bursey, who says he’s a rideshare driver, told investigators that he later parked and tried to get a rider when Evans started punching him.
Bursey said he tried to punch back but couldn’t. He told officials he racked a round into the chamber as a warning, and shot twice from inside the vehicle. Evans then ran off and Bursey called 911. He told officials he wasn’t trying to shoot and kill Evans, according to the charging documents, and when asked if he thought Evans had a weapon, Bursey told officials “it looked like the other man kind of did.” The driver of the Corolla, however, told police that Bursey shot so quickly after the first punch was thrown that “it seemed like Bursey had been planning something,” the criminal complaint says.
Democrats will keep their one-seat majority in the state Senate. But Republicans gained enough seats to potentially tie control of the House.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Tim Walz faces a new era of divided government when he returns home from the presidential campaign trail, now that Republicans appear to have broken the Democratic trifecta that helped put him on Kamala Harris’ radar.
While Democrats will keep their one-seat majority in the Senate, Republicans gained enough seats in the election to potentially tie control of the House. The chamber stood at 65-65 Wednesday afternoon, and would end in a 67-67 tie if the leaders of the last four undeclared races remain ahead, although two of them are so razor-thin that automatic recounts have been triggered unless lawmakers waive them.
The last time the House was tied was in 1979, and the history of that legislative session suggests that power-sharing will be contentious.
In House District 14B, in the St. Cloud area, Democratic incumbent Dan Wolgamott led by just 28 votes over Republican Sue Ek in unofficial results as of midday Wednesday, while in District 54A, in the Shakopee area, incumbent Democrat Brad Tabke led Republican Aaron Paul by just 13 votes. Two other races had margins of 225 votes and 160 votes with 99% of the votes counted.
Recounts in legislative races rarely change outcomes, according to Minnesota’s nonpartisan Legislative Reference Library. Fluctuations in the vote totals, if any, usually stay within single digits. The prominent exception in recent decades was in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race in 2008, when Democrat Al Franken came from behind to unseat Republican Norm Coleman by 312 votes after an eight-month recount and court battle.
Democratic legislative leaders warned ahead of the 2024 election that split control would be a recipe for gridlock. A tie is bound to force difficult compromises on taxes and spending as lawmakers try to negotiate deals to achieve a constitutionally mandated balanced budget in 2025.
House Democratic and Republican leaders said little early Wednesday as the prospect of a tie came into focus.
“Tonight, House Republicans broke the Democrat trifecta and restored balance to Minnesota,” Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring, said in a statement.
Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman, of Brooklyn Park, was more cautious.
“It is important to be patient while we wait for results to be finalized,” Hortman said.
In the Senate, Democratic Majority Leader Erin Murphy, of St. Paul, said in an interview that her narrow majority is “going to continue to lead with our values,” meaning their priorities will include affordable health care and child care, housing and infrastructure.
Minnesota has usually had some degree of divided government over the last several decades. The 2019 session — the first under Walz — wasn’t always pretty, but both sides agreed it was fairly productive despite Republicans holding the Senate and Democrats controlling the House.
Democrats gained their trifecta — control of the governor’s office and both legislative chambers — in the 2022 election and used it to enact a long list of pent-up priorities last year. Those included stronger protections for abortion rights and trans rights, child tax credits, paid family and medical leave, free school meals for all kids, and gun safety measures, to name just a few.
Democrats also held full power under Gov. Mark Dayton in the 2013 and 2014 legislative sessions and in the four sessions from 1987-1990 under Gov. Rudy Perpich. But Minnesota Republicans haven’t had a trifecta since the late 1960s under Gov. Harold LeVander, when legislative races were technically nonpartisan and lawmakers caucused as either conservatives or liberals.
In 1979, GOP and Democratic leaders came up with a power-sharing agreement after weeks of difficult negotiations that gave Republicans the speakership, while Democrats got the chairmanships of the three most powerful committees. The arrangement worked fairly smoothly for most of the session. Bills that advanced through the process generally had bipartisan support. But the deal fell apart in the closing days, and lawmakers needed a one-day special session to finish off the year’s must-pass bills.
According to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, tied chambers aren’t that unusual nationwide. Every election in even-numbered years from 1984-2010 led to at least one deadlocked chamber somewhere, and they’ve often worked out better than expected, the report found.
Barrientos was initially found guilty of the murder of 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in October of 2008.
MINNEAPOLIS — Editor’s Note: The above video first aired on 10/11/2024.
A Hennepin County judge has vacated the convictions of Edgar Barrientos-Quintana, 15 years after he was found guilty of murdering Jesse Mickelson.
Judge John McBride found that the defense counsel’s representation for Barrientos-Quintana was flawed and the prosecutors’ Brady violations undermined confidence in the jury’s guilt, said the Great North Innocent Project, who represented Barrientos-Quintana.
The Conviction Review Unit of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office recommended Barrientos’ release in August.
Barrientos was found guilty of the murder of 18-year-old Jesse Mickelson, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in October of 2008.
On that October night, Mickelson was at a family member’s birthday party, playing football out back, when witnesses say a white car drove up and a passenger started firing at another group, hitting Jesse in the process.
The prosecution’s case relied on two teenage witnesses who were associated with a rival clique that identified Barrientos as the shooter. There was no physical evidence that linked Barrientos to the shooting.
The report from the CRU focuses on numerous failings of the justice system, beginning with the witness’s description of the shooter.
He was sentenced to life without parole.
“As a family, we express our gratitude to God for granting Edgar’s freedom. He has missed out on so many precious moments, including watching his children grow up, attending graduations, birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas celebrations with the family, and the loss of our beloved dad. He has a lot of ground to cover,” said Barrientos-Quintana’s family in a release.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
