Prosecutors in the Dylan Redwine case said Monday that a Colorado man murdered his own son over embarrassing, unsavory photos.
Mark Redwine, the divorced father of 13-year-old Dylan, is on trial in Denver for allegedly murdering his son and hiding the child’s remains in the woods. On Monday, prosecutors alleged that Redwine killed in a fit of rage over photos showing him dressed in women’s underwear while eating feces from a diaper.
“A damaged relationship, exposed with compromising photographs, photographs in the hands of a 13-year-old who is disgusted by it, which triggered a violent rage in the defendant,” Prosecutor Fred Johnson said on Monday
Court documents indicate that both Dylan and his older brother Corey had seen the photos before Dylan’s last visit to his father’s Durango home. Around the same time, Dylan apparently became upset with the way Redwine treated his mother; he expressed numerous times that he didn’t want to visit his father, who had legal custody visitations with him.
Despite his protests, Dylan was sent by plane to Redwine for the 2012 Thanksgiving holiday. On November 18, he arrived in Colorado and left the airport with Redwine. They stopped by a McDonald’s restaurant and a Walmart, confirmed by security footage. Prosecutors said the pair’s final stop was to Redwine’s residence in Durango.
At close to 10 p.m. that evening, Dylan stopped sending text messages and stopped responding on his cellphone.
“After 9:56 that evening, all communication from Dylan Redwine stopped,” Johnson said. “That night, under the shadow of Middle Mountain, that defendant murdered Dylan Redwine.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Redwine was arrested in Washington in 2017 and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse, years after Dylan’s death. Since his arrest, he has maintained his innocence, but prosecutors said Dylan’s remains were hidden in a remote area near the suspect’s home.
In 2012, volunteer search teams and authorities began scouring the area around Redwine’s home for months. The search proved to be difficult since 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, which is around five miles away from Durango. Searchers found his remains in an area difficult to get to, especially for a young boy or for someone who doesn’t know the area well.
Investigators also found Dylan’s blood inside Redwine’s residence, in several different locations. Cadaver dogs picked up death scents in the laundry room, living room, and kitchen.
The defense argued that the blood found was “infinitesimally small” and could have happened to anyone who lives in a house. Defense attorney John Moran added that dog-sniffing death scent techniques are “junk science.”
Moran argued that Dylan ran away from Redwine’s home and was likely killed by a mountain lion or bear. Johnson said Dylan was found without his backpack or wallet, two things he would have taken if he ran away.
“An animal would have no interest in taking that,” Johnson said, referring to the boy’s belongings. “A stranger would have no interest.”
Testimony will resume Tuesday. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Dylan Redwine/Handout]
