Adam Fravel's charges are based on circumstantial evidence. How will that affect the case?

Jul. 7—WINONA, Minn. — Authorities announced the

arrest of Adam Fravel on June 9 for the murder

of the mother of his two children, Madeline Kingsbury, after her body was found near Mabel following months of searching.

So far, prosecutors have only released circumstantial evidence regarding

two felony second-degree murder charges against Fravel

, leading one legal expert to question whether or not the Winona County Attorney's Office jumped the gun with charges.

"What really strikes me as odd here is they don't have anything that directly connects him to the murder," David Schultz, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and Hamline University, told the Post Bulletin.

Fravel was the last person to see Kingsbury alive and law enforcement has connected what they think is Fravel traveling down to the Mabel area in Kingsbury's vehicle, along with other evidence, like matching tape and sheets found on her body and at the couple's shared home. Kingsbury is also alleged to have broken off an abusive relationship with Fravel, who admitted to an obsession with Gabby Petito, a woman who was killed in 2021 by her fiance.

Kingsbury was reported missing March 31, 2023.

Fravel is being held on a $1 million bail in the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center.

Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman declined to comment for this article, citing law enforcement's ongoing investigation into the case. Phillip Prokopowicz, a former Dakota County prosecutor, is leading the case against Fravel for Sonneman's office.

"(Kingsbury) had a bright future and Mr. Fravel took that from her," Sonneman said during a June 2023 press conference. "By charging him today with her murder we intend to hold him accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

Sonneman's office was

chastised by a judge earlier last month during a child protection

hearing for attempting to block any sort of reunification efforts between Fravel and his children due to his murder charges.

"If you think we're going to try this murder case here today in this motion, you're gravely mistaken," District Judge Mary Leahy said during the hearing. "We have this Constitution that ensures everyone due process. It ensures the defendant a fair trial. It ensures a trial by his peers. It ensures a presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It does not ensure that there's going to be an end around through a CHIPS proceeding."

An

agreement was made between Fravel and his children's grandparents

in a separate family civil case shortly after the protection hearing. His kids will continue to stay with their grandparents and Fravel's visitation rights were suspended while he remains incarcerated.

Fravel

denied any involvement with Kingsbury's disappearance in an April 2023 statement

. His lawyer, Zachary Bauer, did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

"During these last 12 days I have cooperated with law enforcement at every turn, including sitting down for multiple interviews with Winona County law enforcement," Fravel's statement said. "I did not have anything to do with Maddi's disappearance. I want the mother of my 5-year-old and 2-year-old to be found and brought home safely."

Following Kingsbury's disappearance, dozens of search warrants were issued in Winona County. Those search warrants are still under seal and not viewable to the public.

Law enforcement in Olmsted County issued a search warrant last month for Kingsbury's insurance information at her workplace, Mayo Clinic. Police want to see if any policies were recently changed to add Fravel as a beneficiary, which would give another possible motive for her murder.

"Based on (the criminal complaint) I almost wonder if they charged (Fravel) too soon," Schultz said. "They needed to do a couple more things but my suspicion is, they were under enormous pressure to get an arrest."

Schultz suspects that law enforcement is continuing to work the case and that if he was a prosecutor, short of a confession, he would want more evidence.

So far, prosecutors have not supplied any DNA evidence, eyewitness testimony, a confession or forensic data that ties Fravel to the murder. Fravel has admitted to driving to the area where she was found the day she went missing and a witness said she saw Fravel hit Kingsbury in the past. Authorities also point to text message evidence that seems to confirm the abuse by Fravel.

Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said prosecuting cases with only circumstantial evidence is not unusual and can lead to convictions.

Ostrem pointed to the case of Ayub Abucar Hagi Iman, a Rochester man prosecuted by Ostrem's office for the 2019 murder of Garad Roble.

Iman was convicted of second-degree murder

during a jury trial last year and was sentenced to over 27 years in prison.

"We built that case on purely circumstantial evidence and it was a very strong case," Ostrem said.

Iman's co-defendant in the case, Muhidin Abukar, pleaded guilty prior to Iman's trial. Abukar admitted that he, Iman and Roble drove to a rural area south of Rochester where Roble and Iman got out of the vehicle. Abukar testified that he heard gunfire before Iman got back into the vehicle and the pair left the scene.

Ostrem's office is not involved in Fravel's case and he declined to comment on it.

In Iman's case, Ostrem's office had cell phone data to help identify people Roble had been with earlier that evening which helped narrow down suspects. His office also identified the gun used in the murder by connecting the gun's magazine to another magazine with the same markings from a sharpie found in a nearby apartment.

"It's complicated but it's not all that unusual that we have these types of cases," Ostrem said, adding that many of his office's property crimes are built on circumstantial evidence. "Whether it's cell phone evidence or other tracking things, we're able to put people in places and connect the dots and put a story together."

It's also common for law enforcement to continue to work a case after charges have been filed, according to Ostrem. Chasing down leads, following up on hunches and getting forensic testing results are all part of the standard routine for police.

"The investigation never really stops until we have a jury verdict," Ostrem said.

While a case can be won on circumstantial evidence alone, having something that directly ties a defendant to a crime helps with a prosecutor's comfort level, according to Ostrem.

"If we have a witness to an event, that's great. When we have defendants confess, we like that even better," Ostrem said. "All of that stuff is good but the reality is that doesn't happen all that often in our cases."