{"id":45976,"date":"2021-07-01T13:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T19:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/expert-witness-says-fracture-on-dylans-skull-consistent-with-blunt-force-trauma\/"},"modified":"2021-07-01T19:42:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T19:42:00","slug":"expert-witness-says-fracture-on-dylans-skull-consistent-with-blunt-force-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/expert-witness-says-fracture-on-dylans-skull-consistent-with-blunt-force-trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert witness says fracture on Dylan\u2019s skull consistent with blunt force trauma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Diane
Diane France, a forensic anthropologist, points out the blunt force fracture that she found on the front of Dylan Redwine's skull as she testifies Thursday, the ninth day of Mark Redwine\u2019s trial in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A forensic anthropologist said Thursday that a fracture found on Dylan Redwine\u2019s skull is consistent with blunt force trauma at or near the time of his death in November 2012.<\/p>\n

The evidence of blunt force trauma was presented Thursday during the ninth day of a jury trial for Mark Redwine, a La Plata County man who is charged with second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of his 13-year-old son.<\/p>\n

When asked by a prosecutor if the fracture could have been caused by moving or dropping the skull, Diane France, the forensic anthropologist, said, \u201cNo.\u201d The question was relevant after an off-trail hiker who found the skull in November 2015 testified Wednesday that he dropped the skull \u201cat knee-length\u201d after handling the skeletal remains.<\/p>\n

Marks indicating injuries by a sharp tool were also found on the zygomatic arch on the skull, which forms the cheek area, France testified.<\/p>\n

France also analyzed a selection of Dylan\u2019s remains before the skull was found. She found evidence of \u201cscavenging,\u201d which is when animals consume already-killed remains. Groove and puncture marks on the bones from biting or gnawing were also found.<\/p>\n

\"A
A forensic anthropologist testified Thursday about signs of trauma on Dylan Redwine\u2019s skull. Mark Redwine, the boy\u2019s father, is suspected of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of the 13-year-old boy. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Anthropologists can determine if injuries occur before or after death based on fracture patterns, France said.<\/p>\n

No marks caused by tools or human activity were found on the first remains analyzed.<\/p>\n

France noted the nature of the recovery sites and testified the area where Dylan\u2019s first remains and possessions were found looked like \u201ca pretty classic dumpsite.\u201d<\/p>\n

The location in the backcountry northeast of Vallecito Reservoir is within 50 yards of road access and a downhill access point, where a suspect could easily drop remains and evidence, she testified.<\/p>\n

Defense lawyers have suggested Dylan may have been killed in a fatal animal attack, not at the hands of his father. But wildlife biologist Heather Johnson testified Wednesday that a bear or mountain lion attack would have been \u201chighly unlikely\u201d because of hibernation patterns and typical animal behavior exhibited in November.<\/p>\n

\"Dylan
Dylan Redwine<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mark
Mark Redwine looks over evidence as Diane France, a forensic anthropologist, testifies Thursday during Redwine\u2019s trial in Durango. Redwine is charged with second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of his son, Dylan Redwine. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Additionally, some of Dylan\u2019s remains and personal effects were separated by 5 miles. It would have been highly unusual, if not unheard of, for a bear or mountain lion to carry remains and personal possessions that far, said Drayton Harrison, a now-retired wildlife manager in the Durango area, who testified Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about where your next meal (is) coming and conserving energy,\u201d Harrison said.<\/p>\n

Harrison has seen coyotes carry items to different areas, but only a half-mile at most, he testified.<\/p>\n

If a fatal animal attack occurred, there would also be a clear site of a disturbance where paw prints, torn apart clothing and blood would be present, he said.<\/p>\n

Kaela Roeder is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a 2021 graduate of American University in Washington, D.C.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wildlife official testifies bears, cougars don\u2019t travel miles with kills<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1078,168,519,28,131,4531,525],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-45976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-6th-judicial-district","tag-crime","tag-dylan-redwine","tag-headlines","tag-homicide","tag-mark-redwine","tag-trials"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45976"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=45976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}