Jury Seated For Fravel Murder Trial-Opening Statements Tomorrow

Mankato, MN (KROC-AM News) - Opening statements are scheduled to be presented tomorrow morning in the Adam Fravel murder trial.

The lengthy process of selecting the jury for the case was completed this afternoon. A total of 17 jurors and alternates were chosen to hear the evidence against the 30-year-old Winona man, who was charged with first and second-degree murder for the death of 27-year-old Madeline Kingsbury. The 12 member jury is evenly split with six men and six women, while five men were selected to be alternates.

Fravel was charged with second-degree murder after the body of the Winona woman was discovered near the town of Mabel in Fillmore County last June, more than two months after the young woman's disappearance. He was later indicted by the Winona County Grand Jury on the first-degree murder charges.

Kingsbury vanished in late March of last year and was last seen with Fravel as the estranged couple was dropping off their children at daycare. Kingsbury was supposed to travel to Rochester that day for her job at Mayo Clinic, but never showed up.

The charges against Fravel allege his on and off relationship with Kingsbury included a history of physical abuse. The criminal complaint says Fravel told investigators that his relationship with the victim was coming to an end and they were preparing to move out of their shared apartment in Winona. The court document also states that Fravel told investigators that Kingsbury had informed him that she had started seeing someone else about two weeks before her disappearance.

The trial was moved from Winona to Mankato due to the extensive publicity surrounding the case, which included international news coverage about Kingsbury's disappearance. The testimony portion of the trial is expected to last at least several weeks.