Defense rests case in Fravel murder trial

Story provided by WDIO’s sister station, KAAL.

On Friday, November 1st, the defense rested its case in Adam Fravel’s murder trial. The defense called five witnesses to the stand to testify including two law enforcement officers, Fravel’s brother, the neighbor of the home Kingsbury and Fravel shared and the neighbor of Fravel’s parents’ residence.

Lieutenant Steven Garrett testified he participated in searches for Kingsbury on April 2, 2023, and April 3, 2023, both on foot and on ATV. On April 3, 2023, he searched four dead-end roads on ATV, including the road where Kingsbury’s body was later found. When given a map of the area, he said he had not searched the entire thing because he came up to a gate that he believed was private property. He testified he did not see anything out of the ordinary in the ditches and culverts along the road, adding that overgrowth did at time make things less visible.

Raymond Curtis lived two doors down from Kingsbury and Fravel in Winona and testified for the defense on Friday. On March 31, 2023, Curtis was outside of his own home when he saw a man outside of their home, walking around the blue van in the driveway. Curtis described the man as “slender”, and he had never seen him before.

Curtis was unable to recall the time of day this event took place, and the court went on recess so the defense could remind him of his previous testimony at Fravel’s grand jury hearing. When the court returned, Curtis testified it had been late morning when he had witnessed the man. He also stated the man was waiving at him. The prosecution asked if Curtis actually remembered the incidents he testified to, and he said he remembered some of the events, but not all.

Fravel’s brother, Ryan Fravel, took the stand Friday, and testified Kingsbury and Fravel had ups and downs in their relationship, but he never saw any bruises on Kingsbury or heard any yelling between the two. He previously told investigators his brother was an “emotional guy”, but never saw him get angry.

Fravel waived his right to testify in his own defense on Friday.

Closing arguments are currently scheduled for Wednesday, November 6th. Originally, closing arguments were scheduled for Monday, but were rescheduled to allow the jury to vote. Jury instructions and deliberations will follow directly after closing arguments.