WINONA, Minn. – The murder trial of Adam Fravel for the 2023 slaying of Maddi Kingsbury will not be held in Winona. “A fair trial cannot be ensured within this county,” said Judge Nancy Buytendorp. Her ruling accepted the argument of Fravel’s attorney that the Winona area to too prejudiced against Fravel to empanel a disinterested and impartial jury. Judge Buytendorp said she will work to find a “suitable county” for the case. The Winona court is in Minnesota’s Third Judicial District, which is headquartered in Rochester and spans 11 counties. Generally venue changes are kept relatively nearby for logistical reasons: The Winona judge and prosecution team, for example, would need to commute elsewhere, perhaps relocate, for the duration of the trial, which could be weeks, even months. An Olmsted County trial in Rochester, 40 miles away, seems unlikely because Favel’s attorney has blamed local prejudice partly on media coverage, much of it from Rochester television stations whose signals blanket the region. The most distant Third District court is 100 miles west in Albert Lea. Other possible Third District courts are in media-underserved Wabasha County, 40 miles away, or in Steele County, 90 miles away.
Buytendorp. Official portrait. On Winona bench since 2008.
How far is far enough? The Third Judicial district in green.
Fravel. Held for first-degree degree murder under $3 million bail.