DENVER — After multiple delays, a jury will finally hear the case against the man charged with the 2012 death of his 13-year-old son.
Mark Redwine is charged with second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. His son, Dylan Redwine, was last seen alive on Nov. 18, 2012 during a court-ordered visit with his father at his home in Vallecito, which is a small community northeast of Durango. His body was found 100 yards away from a mountain ATV trail the following spring.
Mark Redwine wasn’t indicted in his son’s death until 2017, and was arrested while he was working as a long-haul trucker in Washington.
During opening statements, Prosecutor Fred Johnson emphasized the fact that Dylan Redwine’s father was the last person to see him alive. After the night of Nov. 18, 2012, no one heard from the teenager again, and there was no activity on his cellphone or iPod.
“After 9:56 that evening, all communication from Dylan Redwine stopped,” he said. “That night, under the shadow of Middle Mountain, that defendant murdered Dylan Redwine.”
Johnson pointed to evidence that showed the presence of blood in Mark Redwine’s living room as well as a cadaver dog indicating the possibility that there had been a body in the back of his truck. He said that the father and son had a fraught relationship after the boy discovered incriminating photos and confronted him about it.
The defense also mentioned this fraught relationship during their opening statements, saying that this is reason to suspect that Dylan Redwine had died after wandering away from his father’s house alone the morning of Nov. 19, 2012. His last text message was to a friend, saying they would meet up at 6:30 a.m. after he was told he had to spend the night at his father's house.
“This one essential question informs the entirely of this case … would Dylan have left his father’s house on the morning of Nov. 19, 2012 while his dad was at work?” Public Defender John Moran said.
Moran said the answer was yes, and that the evidence indicates that Dylan Redwine’s body had been damaged by animals and there was no evidence Mark Redwine was responsible for what had happened.
“Mr. Redwine … in addition to being innocent, lost everything,” Moran said. “He lost it all, and now he sits here with this demand for wrongful conviction.”
The trial is expected to continue in the coming weeks. The prosecution and defense previewed witnesses who will discuss cadaver dogs, DNA and cellphone evidence, and members of Dylan Redwine’s family.
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