DENVER — Prosecutors told a jury in closing arguments Thursday that a Colorado father charged with killing his son almost a decade ago committed the deed after the 13-year-old boy learned things about his father that ultimately ruined their relationship.
Mark Redwine, 59, is on trial on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of Dylan Redwine, who was reported missing on Nov. 19, 2012 while on a court-ordered Thanksgiving visit to his home outside the small southwestern city of Durango.
“The defendant’s words and his deeds had pushed this loving boy to the point where Dylan no longer wanted to have any contact with the defendant and the only reason he had contact with the defendant was because the court ordered him to do so,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty told jurors.
Dylan’s remains were found in 2013 a few miles from his father’s home, and his skull was found nearly three years later.
Redwine told investigators that Dylan was asleep when Redwine woke up that morning and that he returned from errands to find his son gone. His defense team has suggested the boy was killed by a wild animal.
Earlier in the trial, prosecutors revealed a compromising photo of Redwine in women’s lingerie while eating what appeared to be feces from a diaper. After Dylan Redwine’s older brother Cory Redwine testified in court that the siblings discovered the photos on their father’s computer, the prosecution argued that the discovery led to a slow decline in the way that Dylan saw his father and their closeness.
“Dylan was no longer simply an adoring young boy who just wanted to be with his parents. He came to recognize that his parents were people and he came to recognize the person that the defendant was in his life,” Dougherty said.
Redwine’s defense team is scheduled to present closing arguments Thursday afternoon.
Redwine was arrested after a grand jury indicted him in July 2017. He faces up to 48 years in prison if he is convicted.
Nieberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.