A Colorado father has been found guilty of murdering his son after the boy found photos of him wearing a red bra and eating feces from a diaper.
Mark Redwine, 59, was convicted Friday by a unanimous jury and found guilty on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse, resulting in the death of his son Dylan Redwine in 2012.
He faces up to 48 years in prison for the murder conviction and his sentencing hearing is set for October 8 at 9 a.m.
Redwin was charged in 2017 in connection with the disappearance of Dylan, 13, who was reported missing on November 19, 2012, during a court-ordered Thanksgiving visit to his father’s home outside the city of Durango.
Colorado father has been found guilty of murdering his son after boy found photos of him wearing a red bra and eating feces from a diaper
The boy’s father showed no visible reaction when the verdicts were read while standing in front of him with his hands clasped. Before the verdicts were read, Redwine had nervously fiddled with his tie while wearing a black button-up shirt.
“This has been an extremely difficult case for all involved. It has been difficult for the parties, for the lawyers, for their staff, and difficult for the families and the entire community,” the judge said before the verdict was read.
“This case has cost a lot of resources from the entire state and La Plata County. The planning to make this case run as smoothly as possible was extensive.’
The judge added: “Emotions are running high on both sides, but this is a court. I expect everyone in this courtroom to behave properly.”
Dylan Redwine’s remains were found a few miles from his father’s house in 2013, and hikers found his skull in 2015.
Prosecutors alleged that Redwine killed Dylan in a fit of rage after they argued over embarrassing photos of him wearing women’s lingerie and eating feces from a diaper.
Dylan’s older brother testified in June that Dylan found the photos a year before his disappearance.
The boys had accidentally discovered the photo on their father’s computer during a road trip in 2011, and viewed it in a locked bathroom while their father slept.
Dylan’s brother Cory Redwine took his own photos to save on his phone. He said during the cross-examination that he had sent copies of the compromising photos to his father in August 2012, while Dylan and Mark Redwine were traveling alone together.
Mark Redwine, 59, (left) has been convicted of the murder of his 13-year-old son Dylan (right), who disappeared near their home in Colorado’s La Plata County in November 2012.
Dylan was aware of the photos and was not injured during that trip, despite the texting confrontation between Cory and Mark Redwine.
Cory called his father an “(expletive)-eating coward” and said “you are what you eat,” according to text messages revealed in court in June.
In response, Mark Redwine texted back “not to hurt Dylan,” public defender John Moran said.
Mark Redwine also called Cory a thief for taking the photos, saying he was “trying to hurt him,” as did his mother, with whom he was then engaged in a contentious custody battle.
Cory had testified that the accidental discovery of photos had ruined Dylan’s relationship and his father’s image.
“Dylan had no reason to look up to Mark that day,” Cory Redwine said.
He told the court his younger brother was “quite disgusted” and said he wanted to use the photos as leverage in an argument with his father a year later.
“Hey send me those poop pictures of Dad because he gave me a speech about you guys being a bad example and I want to show him who he really is,” Dylan Redwine said in a text message to his older brother in August 2012, according to court documents.
Dylan’s skull was found in 2015 by hikers about a mile from its original location
According to the indictment, forensic anthropologists found that the skull had injuries consistent with blunt trauma in two locations.
Mark Redwine’s house is pictured after the boy’s disappearance
Redwin, who did not testify at the trial, told investigators that he left Dylan home alone to run errands and returned to find him missing.
Defense attorneys suggested the photos are unrelated to Dylan Redwine’s death and that the boy ran away and may have been killed by a wild animal. Public defender John Moran called an injury to Dylan’s skull a dental impression.
A forensic anthropologist, Diane France, testified that Dylan suffered a fracture above his left eye. Two marks on the boy’s skull were likely caused by a knife or sharp tool at or near the time of death, France said.
Meanwhile, Redwine’s defense finally said that expert testimony had shown that Dylan’s skull was still in a peri-mortem condition in 2015. He said this means it retained its elasticity and wetness, making it susceptible to environmental factors such as culling from animals for three years before it was discovered.
Prosecutor Justin Bogan called the investigation “biased” and “sloppy” due to destruction of evidence by an expert who broke off a piece of Dylan’s skull during their interrogation and a scientist who revealed in court that the prosecution gave them police reports prior to their testimony. .
Fred Johnson, special deputy district attorney, told jurors that investigators found traces of Dylan’s blood in Redwine’s living room and that a cadaver-sniffing dog warned them about the smell of human remains in the back of Redwine’s truck and on his clothing.
But Moran said the “infinitely small” amount of blood found in the living room is likely to be found in someone’s home. He also referred to the use of the dog as “junk science.”
The case attracted national attention when Redwin and the boy’s mother, Elaine Hall, accused each other during appearances on the syndicated “Dr. Phil’ TV show in 2013.
Hall testified at trial that she sent Dylan to his father’s home on November 18, 2012, learned that he was missing the next day, and immediately drove six hours to southwest Colorado, La Plata County, to look for her son. Hall said she was unaware that her son confronted his father about the photos.
Hall almost immediately suspected that her ex-husband was not telling the full truth about their son’s disappearance, text messages entered as evidence suggesting that. Two hours after learning Dylan was missing, Hall texted Mark Redwine.
“He wouldn’t just leave,” she wrote. ‘He would have called me. I’m so suspicious of you now. How could he just disappear?’
Bogan suggested that her account was tarnished by a controversial divorce and custody battle with Redwin. He also suggested that Hall’s appearance on national television had turned public opinion against her ex-husband and would influence the direction of the police investigation.
Hall insisted that she speak to the media and attend a protest at Mark Redwine’s home in an attempt to bring Dylan home.
“I thought he was safe because he was with his father, and I was devastated that no one knew where my son was,” she said.
Throughout the trial, prosecutors doubled down on Redwine’s compromising photos, arguing that the father-son relationship had been on the wane long before Dylan’s disappearance. Prosecutors also focused on comments Dylan made to family and friends about fearing the court-ordered visit.
Redwine was arrested in Bellingham, Washington after a grand jury indictment in 2017. At the time, prosecutors said “compromising photos” were a point of contention between Redwine and Dylan. They didn’t expand it.
This content was originally published here.
