Jury selection in Adam Fravel murder trial met with series of setbacks

Jury selection in Adam Fravel’s high-profile murder case has been met with a series of unexpected delays, further pushing back opening statements scheduled for next week.

According to KSTP’s sister station KAAL, immediately in the morning, one juror was struck for cause before entering the courtroom due to their age and hearing difficulties.

Thursday, Judge Nancy Buytendorp scheduled six jurors to be further questioned in the morning and five in the afternoon. By the end of the day, only 10 were back inside the courtroom.

Thursday morning began rather slow, with the first juror of the day sitting on the stand for more than an hour only to be excused in the end after revealing her sister’s abusive relationship caused her to ‘fear for her life.’

Throughout the day, only two more male jurors were sat, joining five others on the jury.

Despite one juror telling the courtroom he was nervous and his parents had been in an abusive relationship, he said he believes he can be fair and impartial given the allegations in this case.

Currently, the panel is made up of four women and three men: retail sales representative, a retired physicians assistant, retired store owner, a paralegal, a mother, a delivery driver and a mortgage banker.

The morning was also met with a unique disturbance.

In what Kyle Christopherson with Minnesota Courts calls a ‘rare occurrence,’ the juror that never showed up to the courthouse Wednesday was forcefully brought in Thursday morning by law enforcement.

After causing a scene and screaming in the parking lot, the male juror walked into the courtroom, barefoot, not wearing appropriate clothing and made it clear he did not want to serve his civic duty.

Judge Buytendorp, with agreeance from both the prosecution and the defense, excused him.

According to a deputy with the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office, the man was free to leave the courthouse on his own and do not anticipate bringing any charges forward but adds it is ultimately up to the judge to decide.

Later in the day, a potential juror took a strong opinion when he was questioned, telling the courtroom he knows a lot of details about this case from local news coverage. The juror also stated that he has had friends participate in searches for the victim, Madeline Kingsbury. He went on to say, “he killed her, drove her to Mabel and dropped her in the woods,” adding that he “believes Fravel is guilty.”

The judge excused him from serving on this case.

Thursday afternoon, Fravel’s defense utilized another one of its 15 strikes. After striking out six jurors, the attorneys only have nine more.

The state has seven strikes left and have used two.

So far, there have been 29 potential jurors and 22 of them were either struck or excused.

Click here for KSTP’s full Madeline Kingsbury coverage.