After years of delays, a Colorado man accused of killing his son, Dylan Redwine, will start his trial on Thursday.
The Durango Herald reports that jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday in connection with a case against Mark Redwine, a man accused of killing his son in November 2012. The case quickly caught national attention after Redwine claimed he was at work when Dylan vanished from his remote, isolated Durango cabin.
Dylan was visiting his father during a court-ordered custody visitation when he disappeared. Dylan’s family members said the boy had a contentious relationship with his father and didn’t want to go visit him.
Redwine has maintained his innocence, claiming that he has no idea why Dylan left the home or where he could have been headed to.
“We’re ready for trial,” District Attorney Christian Champagne, who obtained an indictment against Redwine in 2017, told the court on Tuesday.
According to the indictment against Redwine, compromising photos may have been the reason that Dylan lost his life. Not only did Dylan allegedly view disturbing photos of his father, but his older brother Corey did as well, and described them as “disgusting.”
“It shows him wearing women’s clothes and makeup and a diaper and then eating his feces from the diaper. It was disgusting,” Corey Redwine previously told ABC 7.
“I think Dylan had a lot more than just pictures that he wanted to get across to Mark. He’s [Mark Redwine] just a sick person, but he’s fully aware of his actions, and he’s fine with being that person. If that’s how he wants to live his life, then well, we can see where that gets you. He’s where he belongs.”
In June 2017, Redwine was arrested in Washington and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, volunteer search teams and authorities scoured the area around Redwine’s Colorado home for months looking for Dylan, which proved difficult because Durango is at an elevation of 6,512 feet with steep canyons and mountains.
In June 2013, searchers found a few of Dylan’s bones, a part of his shirt, a sock, and his shoestring, in Vallecito, around five miles away from Durango. Searchers found his remains in an area difficult to get to, especially for a young boy and for someone who doesn’t know the area well.
Redwine claimed he went to work and to run errands on the morning of November 19, 2012 and left his son sleeping on the couch. He said when he returned, the boy was gone. He figured his son went fishing, but when Dylan didn’t return within a few hours, Redwine claimed he became worried.
“The TV was on. There was a bowl and box of cereal out. After a couple of hours, I got concerned,” Redwine previously said.
Redwine said that he didn’t argue with Dylan and that his son seemed in good spirits the last time he saw him. A grand jury indictment against Redwine, however, provides a different version of what happened.
“Mark Redwine and Dylan Redwine had argued and fought on their previous visit, they had not been getting along leading up to the court-ordered visit, and several witnesses stated that Dylan Redwine did not want to visit Mark Redwine. Text messages indicated Dylan Redwine had asked to stay with a friend rather than his father the same night of his arrival, a request that was denied by Mark Redwine.”
According to the indictment, cadaver dogs picked up Dylan’s blood on Redwine’s living floor and furniture. Further, an expert wildlife official told authorities that there’s no way a wild animal would have taken a body so far up terrain that’s a difficult climb.
In November 2015, authorities found Dylan’s skull a little over a mile from the site where his bones were found in 2013. According to an anthropologist, the boy’s skull had marks on it consistent with knife stab wounds and blunt force trauma.
Redwine has pleaded not guilty. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Dylan Redwine/Handout]
