Minnesota jurors on Thursday convicted a man for murdering his girlfriend after he'd warned she could end up like Gabby Petito, the vlogger who in 2021 was also slain by her boyfriend.
After nine hours of deliberations in Mankato, 30-year-old Adam Fravel was found guilty of the first-degree murder and other charges in connection to the killing of Madeline "Maddi" Kingsbury, 26.
The victim vanished on March 31, 2023 after dropping off her and Fravel’s two children at daycare in Winona. Her body was found on June 7 last year in a wooded area near Mabel, and Fravel was arrested.
“As for the verdict today, of course we’re glad of it (but) it’s a bit of a Pyrrhic victory. We’re not going to get Madeline back,” the victim’s father David Kinsgbury told reporters outside court. “Fravel can’t be punished enough.”
The victim's loved ones said it'll never be clear to them what led Fravel to kill Kingsbury.
"Why?" the victim's dad said. "His life has (been) wasted (and he's) ruined and (brought) devastation to two families. There's no joy in there."
A friend of the victim had testified that Kingsbury told her Fravel threatened that if she didn't do as told, the mother of two could end up like end up like Petito.
The travel influencer was murdered during a cross-country trip that she had been documenting on YouTube and Instagram in 2021.
The victim’s brother, David Kingsbury, said he was always confident prosecutors would be able to show jurors that Fravel was a killer.
"At the end of the day, you've just got to trust the process and that the truth rises to the top and is evident, it always comes out, " he said,
Fravel is set to be sentenced on Dec. 17, when he could be sent to prison for life.
The defendant appeared to be distraught after the verdicts were read on Thursday.
"This is a disappointing finish," defense lawyer Zachary Bauer said. "The family was emotional, obviously Mr. Fravel was emotional."
The victim's family hopes to keep their loved one's name alive through a foundation to help other victims of domestic violence
"Her name is going to carry on for a very very long time," Kingsbury's mother Krista Hulthgren said.
