Mark Redwine is a Colorado man convicted in 2021 of murdering his 13-year-old son, Dylan Redwine, who vanished during a court-ordered Thanksgiving custody visit in November 2012. A La Plata County jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death, and in October 2021 he was sentenced to 48 years in prison, the maximum available. His attorneys filed a notice of intent to appeal the following month.
The 2012 Custody Visit
On November 18, 2012, Dylan Redwine flew into the Durango-La Plata County Airport in southwestern Colorado, where his father picked him up for a court-ordered Thanksgiving visit.1People. Mark Redwine Killed Son Dylan Found Compromising Photos Dylan’s parents, Mark Redwine and Elaine Hall, were in the middle of a contentious divorce and custody battle, and Dylan had not wanted to make the trip. Airport surveillance footage showed little interaction between father and son on arrival.2CBS News. Mark Redwine Arrested in Connection With Son’s Death
That evening, Dylan texted friends asking if he could stay somewhere else. His father said no. Dylan’s last phone activity was recorded at 9:37 p.m.3KOAT. Dylan Redwine Timeline of Events
The next morning, Dylan failed to meet a friend as planned. Mark Redwine told investigators he left the house around 7:30 a.m. to run errands and returned at 11:30 a.m. to find his son gone, with a bowl of cereal on the table and the television tuned to Nickelodeon.4Durango Herald. Colorado Father Sentenced to Prison for Killing 13-Year-Old Son Dylan Redwine He did not contact authorities until 6 p.m. that evening.3KOAT. Dylan Redwine Timeline of Events
How Dylan’s Remains Were Found
The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office launched an extensive search. In June 2013, partial remains were discovered in a wooded area on Middle Mountain, roughly eight miles northeast of Mark Redwine’s home. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation confirmed the remains were Dylan’s on June 27, 2013.4Durango Herald. Colorado Father Sentenced to Prison for Killing 13-Year-Old Son Dylan Redwine
More than two years later, on November 1, 2015, hikers found Dylan’s skull about a mile and a half further up the same road.5ABC News. Grim Details Revealed Father Charged Murdering 13 Year Old That discovery proved to be the turning point. Forensic anthropologists identified a fracture above the left eye consistent with blunt force trauma, along with two thin, V-shaped marks on the cranium that experts concluded were made by a knife or sharp tool.6Denver Post. Mark Redwine Murder Trial Dylan Skull Fracture Knife Mark In August 2015, the La Plata County coroner reclassified Dylan’s death from “undetermined” to “homicide,” and the sheriff’s office named Mark Redwine a person of interest.3KOAT. Dylan Redwine Timeline of Events
Forensic work inside Redwine’s home added weight to the case. Traces of Dylan’s blood were found in the living room, on the couch, a coffee table, and under a rug.5ABC News. Grim Details Revealed Father Charged Murdering 13 Year Old A cadaver dog brought in during August 2013 detected the scent of human remains in the living room, in the bed of Redwine’s Dodge pickup, and on clothing he had worn the night Dylan disappeared.7Durango Herald. Mark Redwine’s Defense Team Receives Assistance With Cadaver Dog Evidence Wildlife experts determined that no local animals could have moved the remains from the home to the remote mountain sites where they were found.
The Photographs Prosecutors Said Set Off the Killing
Central to the prosecution’s theory was a set of photographs Dylan discovered on his father’s computer during a 2011 family road trip. The images showed Mark Redwine wearing women’s underwear and a diaper and eating feces from a diaper. Dylan and his older brother, Cory Redwine, viewed the photos together in a locked hotel bathroom, and Cory saved copies to his phone.8Colorado Sun. Dylan Redwine Colorado Trial Updates
Cory testified that the discovery “ruined” Dylan’s image of their father, saying, “Dylan lost any reason for him to look up to Mark that day.”9Canon City Daily Record. Mark Redwine Murder Trial Dylan Elaine Hall Testimony In August 2012, during a trip with his father to see Major League Baseball games, Dylan texted his brother asking him to send the “poop pics of Papa” because Mark had been criticizing Dylan’s mother and brother. Dylan wrote that he wanted to “show him who he really is.” Cory said Dylan asked seven times, but he never sent the images, and it remained unclear whether Dylan ever confronted his father directly.10The Journal. Redwine Trial: Disturbing Photos Shatter Dylan’s Image of His Dad
Prosecutors argued that during the November 2012 visit, Dylan raised the photographs again, sending his father into a violent rage that led to the killing.11Mercury News. Mark Redwine Dylan Murder Trial
Arrest and Grand Jury Indictment
On July 22, 2017, after a La Plata County grand jury returned a two-count indictment for second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death, Mark Redwine was arrested in Bellingham, Washington.12Denver7. Mark Redwine Arrested in Connection With Son’s Death He was booked into the Whatcom County Jail on a $1 million cash-only bond before being extradited to Colorado.13Denver7. Dylan Redwine’s Father Mark Redwine Arrested
The Sixth Judicial District Attorney later described the discovery of Dylan’s skull in 2015 as the “critical piece of evidence” and “turning point” that allowed prosecutors to take the case to a grand jury.14Durango Herald. Sheriff Sean Smith: No Stone Left Unturned in Dylan Redwine Investigation
Why the Trial Took Nearly Four More Years
The path to trial was long and repeatedly disrupted. In November 2018, proceedings were postponed as the judge worked through pretrial motions. In September 2019, the trial was delayed again after one of Redwine’s defense attorneys was arrested on assault and domestic violence charges.159News. Mark Redwine Trial Ruling
Then the pandemic intervened. The trial was postponed in April 2020, and when proceedings finally began that November, Chief Judge Jeffrey Wilson declared a mistrial after defense team members reported COVID-19 symptoms and needed to quarantine.16Denver Post. Dylan Mark Redwine Trial Coronavirus Mistrial
The 2021 Trial
The trial finally began in June 2021 in La Plata County, with Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty serving as a special prosecutor alongside the local team.8Colorado Sun. Dylan Redwine Colorado Trial Updates
What the Prosecution Argued
Prosecutors said Mark Redwine killed Dylan the night of November 18, 2012, after the boy again brought up the photographs. They pointed to the total absence of digital activity from Dylan after 9:37 p.m. He never answered his mother’s texts, never contacted the friend he was supposed to meet the next morning, and had no social media activity, which prosecutors said was inconsistent with the teenager being alive.17Colorado Sun. Mark Redwine Trial Closing Arguments
Forensic anthropologist Diane France identified a roughly 1.6-inch fracture above Dylan’s left eye caused by blunt force trauma and two thin V-shaped marks made by a sharp instrument.6Denver Post. Mark Redwine Murder Trial Dylan Skull Fracture Knife Mark Forensic pathologist Robert Kurtzman ruled the death a homicide, testifying, “It’s not natural in any way to have skeletal remains with cut marks found in an open environment… Bears don’t carry knives.” Prosecutors also argued that Redwine lied about Dylan’s fishing rod being missing to steer searchers toward Vallecito Reservoir, away from the mountain area where the remains were actually found.18Denver Post. Mark Redwine Murder Trial Dylan Evidence
What the Defense Argued
The defense, led by public defender Justin Bogan and attorney John Moran, told jurors there was no murder weapon, no evidence of a cleanup, and no concrete motive, and characterized the state’s theory as built on “what if” and “maybe.”19Denver7. Mark Redwine Murder Trial Goes to Jury After Closing Arguments They offered an alternative theory: that Dylan left the house on his own, possibly running away, and was killed by a wild animal such as a bear or mountain lion on his way to a friend’s house. Dylan had left his phone charger behind, they noted, which could have caused his phone to die.20KKTV. Opening Statements Wrap Up Day 1 Mark Redwine Trial
Defense forensic anthropologist Bruce Anderson testified that coyotes or other wild animals could have caused both the skull fracture and the sharp marks on the bone, saying “there’s going to be some gray area.” On cross-examination, prosecutors noted he had examined the remains with an eight-power magnifying glass rather than the higher-powered equipment typically used in his lab.21The Journal. Defense Expert Offers Differing Views About Skull Wounds in Redwine Case The defense also called the amount of blood found in the home “minuscule” and argued Redwine lacked the time or knowledge to clean a crime scene well enough to evade luminol testing.17Colorado Sun. Mark Redwine Trial Closing Arguments
Verdict and 48-Year Sentence
On July 16, 2021, after less than a day of deliberations, the jury found Mark Redwine guilty of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.22Colorado Sun. Mark Redwine Guilty Murder
On October 8, 2021, Sixth Judicial District Court Judge Jeffrey Wilson sentenced Redwine, then 60, to the maximum penalty of 48 years in prison. Redwine did not speak at the hearing.23Colorado Sun. Mark Redwine Sentenced Colorado Judge Wilson condemned Redwine’s “utter lack of remorse,” telling him: “As the father, it’s your obligation to protect your son, keep him from harm. Instead of that, you inflicted enough injury on him to kill him in your living room.” The judge also cited Redwine’s actions to sanitize the crime scene and to remove the victim’s head from the body.4Durango Herald. Colorado Father Sentenced to Prison for Killing 13-Year-Old Son Dylan Redwine
Elaine Hall told reporters the outcome was “justice as far as justice can go… There will never be enough time for taking Dylan’s life, but at least he hopefully won’t get out.”4Durango Herald. Colorado Father Sentenced to Prison for Killing 13-Year-Old Son Dylan Redwine
The Appeal
In November 2021, Redwine’s attorneys formally filed a notice of intent to appeal the conviction. The notice identified potential issues including trial objections, sufficiency of evidence, and sentencing, and the defense requested transcripts from the trial and from dozens of motions hearings dating back to 2017.249News. Mark Redwine Appeal No further public information on the status of the appeal has emerged in the available reporting.
The Civil Suit and the New Colorado Tampering Law
Before the criminal case reached trial, the Redwine family was also in civil court. In June 2015, Elaine Hall filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mark Redwine in La Plata County Court. It was dismissed in December 2015 by Judge William Herringer, who ruled it had been filed after Colorado’s two-year statute of limitations expired. The court determined the clock began when Dylan’s remains were found in June 2013 or when he was officially pronounced dead in July 2013, making the June 2015 filing too late.25Durango Herald. Judge Dismisses Mother’s Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Redwine Case Redwine filed a countersuit alleging Hall had inflicted emotional distress through a campaign of public blame and harassment. That suit was dismissed by a judge in October 2016.26Denver Post. Dylan Redwine Parents Legal Battle Ends
Working with Laura Saxton, the mother of murder victim Kelsie Schelling, Hall lobbied Colorado lawmakers and testified before a legislative committee to increase the penalty for tampering with a deceased body. In 2016, the crime was elevated from a misdemeanor to a Class 3 felony carrying up to 12 years in prison. The law has since been applied in other high-profile Colorado cases, including the prosecution of Chris Watts.27The Journal. Mother of Dylan Redwine Pushed New Law Now Used in High-Profile Crimes Because the alleged conduct in the Redwine case occurred in 2012, the new law could not be applied retroactively to Mark Redwine.