Change of Venue Requested For Maddi Kingsbury Murder Trial

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Winona, MN (KROC-AM News) - Motions were filed today in Winona County Court seeking the dismissal of the first-degree murder indictment against the man accused of killing Maddi Kingsbury.

A second motion filed by the defense attorney for Adam Fravel asks the court to deny a prosecution request to seek an aggravated sentence if the 29-year-old Winona man ends up being convicted. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder stemming from the death of the 27-year-old Winona woman last year.

The motion to dismiss argues the Winona County Grand Jury that returned the first-degree murder indictment was not presented with sufficient evidence to show premeditation, which is needed to prove first-degree murder. Fravel's defense is also seeking to suppress some of the evidence used to charge him with the murder.

A change of venue to move the case out of Winona County has also been requested. The motion cites the high amount of publicity surrounding Kingsbury's disappearance in late March of last year and the later discovery of her body in Fillmore County. The case has attracted international media attention.

All of the motions are scheduled to be argued before a Winona County judge during a series of omnibus hearings beginning on March 19th.

Kingsbury was last seen alive on the morning of March 31st when she and Fravel dropped their children off at daycare. She was scheduled to report to her job in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic that morning but never showed up.

The charges against Fravel say he told investigators that his relationship with Kingsbury was coming to an end and they were preparing to move out of the apartment they shared in Winona. He also indicated that Kingsbury told him that she had started seeing someone else about two weeks before her disappearance.

In July, her body was discovered in some brush near a seldom-used gravel road just north of Mabel. Fillmore County officials indicated the location is only a mile or two from the home of Fravel's parents.

Fravel is currently jailed at the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center with his conditional bail set at $2 million.

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