A Winona, Minn., man accused of murdering his former girlfriend and dumping her body will stand trial in Mankato instead, according to a Wednesday court filing.

Madeline Jane Kingsbury (Courtesy photo)

Adam Fravel, 30, is accused of killing Madeline Kingsbury, the 26-year-old mother of his two young children, last year.

A motion to move the trial out of Winona County was granted in June by Judge Nancy Buytendorp because of concerns about the high level of media coverage related to the southeastern Minnesota case and the impact it could have on a jury pool.

Fravel’s defense team hired a research firm that found that of 100 people surveyed in Winona County, 89 had read, seen or heard news about Kingsbury’s disappearance and death. Sixty-six respondents had formed opinions about who was responsible for it.

Only one of those 66 people did not believe that Fravel caused Kingsbury’s death, the report found.

The number of people involved in mass searches for Kingsbury after her disappearance was also cited as possibly tainting the jury pool, as well as the high interest in the case on social media.

“After careful consideration, the court finds that Blue Earth County is best positioned to ensure the impartiality required for a fair trial and is well-suited to accommodate this Winona County case,” Buytendorp stated in the court document Wednesday.

Fravel’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 7 at the Blue Earth County Justice Center in Mankato, which is 120 miles west of Winona. Pretrial appearances for the case are still scheduled Sept. 3-4 in Winona County.

Fravel faces four charges related to Kingsbury’s killing, including murder in the first degree while committing domestic abuse with a past pattern of domestic abuse, murder in the first degree premeditated, murder in the second degree and murder in the second degree without intent while committing a felony.

Adam Taylor Fravel. (Winona County Sheriff’s Office)

Fravel has been held in the Winona County jail since June 7, 2023. The body of Kingsbury, who went missing on March 31, 2023, was found that day in a culvert north of Mabel near the home of Fravel’s parents.

Kingsbury’s cause of death was listed only as “homicidal violence.”

Fravel’s bail is set at $2 million with conditions and $3 million without conditions.

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The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Woodbury, which abruptly closed earlier this summer, will reopen Tuesday.

The cinema, known for its arthouse films, expansive dinner menu and craft beer, will feature “Alien: Romulus,” “Blink Twice,” “The Crow” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Doors open to the public at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

During the first two weeks of reopening, guests will enjoy $5 movie tickets for all shows and 25 percent off food and non-alcoholic beverage items.

The cinema closed June 6 after a Texas-based franchise operator filed for federal Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to news reports.

Tickets are on sale now at drafthouse.com.

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Woodbury Days – a three-day festival expected to attract thousands of people – starts on Friday.

The 46-year-old event will be held in Ojibway Park, near Woodbury High School. It will include a fireworks show, carnival games, a parade, bands, a car show, food vendors, games and other free entertainment. There also will be a basketball tournament, a business fair and robotics demonstrations.

One note: There will be no Woodbury Farmers’ Market on Sunday due to the Woodbury Days parade.

With Central Park under construction, the Farmers’ Market location has been temporarily relocated to Red Rock Elementary School, which is where the Woodbury Days parade starts. “While this has been known since the start of the season, we want to remind Farmer’s Market visitors in advance,” said Jason Egerstrom, a spokesman for the city.

The Grande Parade starts at 11 a.m. Sunday, and the route runs from Red Rock Elementary School (staging area) and continues along Commonwealth Avenue from Radio Drive west to Sherwood Road west to Woodlane Drive north to the Woodbury High School parking lot.

The entire parade route will be closed to motorists from 10:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, but emergency access will be maintained to homes along the route at all times, Egerstrom said.

For more information, go to woodburydays.org.

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Christopher Yang and Melinda Thao had been trying to conceive for three years — and got a positive test in April.

The married couple, who were high school sweethearts, went to their first ultrasound on June 18 and found out their baby was 9 weeks and 2 days old. On July 13, they got back the baby’s gender — and decided to learn together while sitting in their vehicle during Yang’s lunch break.

Yang pulled up the results on his phone, looked over at his wife and took a deep breath.

“Don’t say anything,” Thao said during the gender reveal, which they recorded on video. “Just show me.”

Yang turned the phone in her direction.

“It’s a girl!” she said, then laughed.

“It’s a girl!” he said.

On Sunday, just five weeks after the happy moment, tragedy struck: Thao, 26, and the unborn child they had named Leona died after a driver, who was allegedly drunk, crashed into the couple’s car at a Coon Rapids intersection.

Gender reveal video

Yang posted the gender reveal video to YouTube on Tuesday, the same day that Makayla April Sua Richardson, 20, of Mounds View, was charged with causing the crash. A preliminary breath test at the scene showed Richardson had a blood-alcohol concentration more than twice the legal limit to drive, the charges say.

In a GoFundMe post Wednesday, Yang wrote about the couple’s struggles to become parents.

“Melinda was so excited, she waited until I went on lunch break so we (could) look at the results together,” he said. “To our surprise, it was a GIRL! We were honestly happy regardless of the gender, we were more happy that the baby was healthy.”

He said their due date was Jan. 19, Melinda’s birthday.

They’d been together since 2013 and got married five years later after finishing college, finding stable jobs and buying a home in Coon Rapids, he said.

“Melinda worked so hard to uplift our lives to be filled with joy, love, and security,” he said. “She worked hard for us to buy a home, conceive a child, and have careers. This is just the tip of the iceberg of our story and it pains me to, now, explain why I am on this page to request for everyone’s help.”

Yang said any funds raised will go toward a funeral service, burial lands, tombstones and “everything else needed to send two beautiful souls to a better place.”

Criminal complaint

According to Tuesday’s criminal complaint:

Police were dispatched to the crash at the intersection of Coon Rapids Boulevard and Springbrook Drive just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday and found Thao injured in the front seat of a Toyota Highlander and Yang injured behind the wheel.

Officers learned that the couple was turning left onto Springbrook Drive on a green arrow when Richardson, who was headed west on Coon Rapids Boulevard in a Ford Super Duty F-350 pickup with a trailer behind, plowed into them. Witnesses confirmed the couple had a green arrow and that Richardson went through the intersection against a red light.

Makayla April Sua Richardson (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

Thao was pronounced dead at a hospital, as was the child. Yang suffered three broken ribs.

“Prior to everything, I remembered what we did, ate, and purchased,” Yang said in the fundraising post. “It pains me to be reminded that we bought baby clothes that morning, and now I don’t have Melinda or Leona.”

Richardson admitted to having drunk alcohol before driving, telling officers she had one drink. She also acknowledged driving above the posted speed limit and only having an instruction permit to drive.

An empty can of an alcoholic beverage was found inside the pickup. She submitted to field-sobriety tests, which she failed, and blew a 0.18 BAC on a preliminary breath test. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08. A warrant was executed, taking a sample of her blood; results are pending.

Richardson has been charged with one count each of criminal vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol and DWI, and two counts of criminal vehicular operation while under the influence of alcohol.

She was released from the Anoka County Jail on Wednesday after posting bond and is scheduled to return to court on Sept. 12.

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