A Colorado father has been accused of killing his 13-year-old son after the boy found "disturbing" photos of him eating feces from a diaper while wearing women's underwear, prosecutors allege. Mark Redwine, 59, who killed his son, Dylan Redwine, eight years back in 2013, is finally facing trial after his case was halted due to unnecessary delays.
Redwine's trial began Monday with opening statements by prosecutors who claim he flew into a rage when his teenage son, Dylan, may have mentioned or shown him the disturbing photos the night he was killed, according to the Denver Post. If proved guilty, Redwine could end up serving years in prison.
Silencing His Son
During the trial, which is being held at La Plata County court, prosecutors said that Dyland disappeared in November 2012 in the Vallecito area near Durango over Thanksgiving. Daylan had somehow seen his father eating faces from a diaper while wearing women's underwear and had either confronted him or was caught.
"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.
He then disappeared from his home during a court-ordered visit at the residence over Thanksgiving 2012. Dylan's remains were not discovered until 2013 and 2014, the Denver Post reported.
Redwine had initially pleaded guilty but was arrested after a grand jury indicted him in July 2017 on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. Johnson added that the prosecution plans to prove Dylan knew about the photographs and made him uncomfortable to be around his father.
Monstrous Father
Prosecutors are planning to prove that Redwine killed Dylan in his living room and then dumped the body off a trail near his home. In between, he continued to mislead investigators to cover up the murder. A year later, while investigating, traces of Dyna's blood were found in Redwine's living room.
Redwine's trial has been postponed over 10 times with a judge granting multiple mistrials last year due to COVID-19 restrictions. If found guilty, Redwine can end up serving up to 48 years in prison.
That said, Redwine's defense attorney, John Moran, has dismissed the motive saying that Dylan had previously confronted his father about the fetish photos during a cross-country trip and he didn't suffer any harm at that time. Moran insisted that the prosecutors will not be able to prove a connection between his death and the revealing snapshots.
However, prosecutors are sanguine that Dylan was killed on the night of November 18, 2012. He had made plans to meet a friend the following morning but never showed up, and there was no activity on his cellphone after 9.56pm the night before.
Redwine initially told investigators he left Dylan alone that night to run errands and returned to find him missing. Dylan's remains were found seven months later in 2013, scattered in southwestern Colorado mountains by wild animals.
However, his skull was still missing, which was later found by hikers in 2015 about a mile from the initial location.
Redwine was working as a trucker in Washington when he was arrested, KUSA reported. Dylan's older brother, Cory, who previously said he saw the "disgusting" photos of his father as well, called for "justice" in his brother's death in November 2020.
"Dylan needs strength from more than just us and I can't begin to explain how much every single person that knows his story is a part of that!" Cory Redwine wrote on Facebook. "Every day a kid is forgotten by the legal system and that is not ok!!"
