A father killed his teenage son after being confronted over photos that showed the dad dressed in women’s underwear and eating faeces from a diaper, prosecutors say.
Mark Redwine, 59, is accused of murdering 13-year-old Dylan after the images “triggered a violent rage,” a court heard.
Prosecutor Fred Johnson said: “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.”
The trial heard on Monday how the trucker was arrested in 2017 over Dylan’s 2012 death in Vallecito, Colorado.
He faces charges of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death, The Denver Post reports, and has pleaded not guilty.
Dylan’s brother Cory called the images of his dad “disgusting”, adding: “Every day a kid is forgotten by the legal system and that is not okay.”
Dylan was last seen in 2012 at his dad’s home during a court-ordered visit over thanksgiving.
Prosecutors say the teen was killed in the living room of the home before Redwine tried to cover up his death.
Defense attorney John Moran has argued that Dylan ran away from the home before being attacked by a wild animal.
Moran said the pictures “come from deep within Mark’s private life.”
He added: “If the prosecution could find an expert to say people who do that are more likely to kill their child, that information would be given to you.
“Mr Redwine did not kill his child.”
He said messages show Dylan, and Redwine, who faces up to 48 years in prison, had already discussed the images and the teen was not hurt.
“Mr Redwine, in addition to being innocent, lost everything. He lost it all, and now he sits here with this demand for wrongful conviction,” he said.
The father said he came home to find his son missing.
But prosecutors said the boy was found without his personal belongings, arguing that an animal would not have taken his wallet or bag.
Attorney Johnson argued that on the night Dylan went missing his dad went to bed by 11:00 pm.
He said: “At a time when most people would have been out in the woods with a flashlight, a time when most people would know to leave the light on in case a child was lost in the woods.
“At 11:00 pm, the defendant’s house went dark. Dylan was gone.”