Judge restricts access to Adam Fravel's statements, testimony

Mar. 20—WINONA, Minn. — Saying that releasing testimony and statements would jeopardize Adam Fravel's right to a fair trial, a Winona County District Court judge agreed to

restrict access to statements he made to police and in court.

Lawyers representing Fravel, who is

accused of killing Madeline Kingsbury

, asked the court Tuesday to keep his statements from being made public.

"(T)here is a substantial likelihood that prejudicial evidence will be revealed in (Fravel's) statements to law enforcement," District Court Judge Nancy L. Buytendorp wrote in a ruling filed Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

Fravel is accused of killing

26-year-old Kingsbury,

his ex-girlfriend and mother of two. She was reported missing March 31, 2023 from Winona. Her body was found north of Mabel, Minnesota on June 7. A grand jury in October 2023 indicted him with first-degree murder.

Grand jury transcripts and witness testimony are ordinarily kept sealed. However, Fravel's attorney, Zachary Bauer, is appealing the indictment and the state's request for more severe penalties in the case. He will need to present evidence in pre-trial hearings that will likely include statements Fravel made to law enforcement.

Bauer wrote that pre-trial publicity might hurt Fravel's ability to have a fair trial and find an impartial jury in Winona County.

Buytendorp agreed with Bauer in his request to restrict access to the statements in pre-trial proceedings.

"In the case of pretrial proceedings, publicity has a far greater potential for prejudicing defendants than it does at the time of trial," she wrote.

Bauer has also filed a

request for a change in venue for the trial.

A hearing on that motion and others is scheduled for April 30.