{"id":51492,"date":"2020-09-18T15:33:18","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T21:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mother-of-dylan-redwine-pushed-new-law-now-used-in-high-profile-crimes\/"},"modified":"2020-09-18T21:33:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T21:33:18","slug":"mother-of-dylan-redwine-pushed-new-law-now-used-in-high-profile-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mother-of-dylan-redwine-pushed-new-law-now-used-in-high-profile-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of Dylan Redwine pushed new law now used in high-profile crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Elaine
Elaine Hall in August 2017 speaks in support of not reducing Mark Redwine\u2019s bail. Redwine is accused of killing his 13-year-old son, Dylan Redwine, in 2012.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Though the pain of losing her son will never heal, Elaine Hall said a law she helped pass, making tampering with a deceased body a felony, offers at least a little respite.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe healing process is obviously day-by-day, and I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ll ever fully heal,\u201d Hall said. \u201cBut \u2026 seeing it used, I\u2019m happy with that. It puts some meat behind the other charges.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dylan
Dylan Redwine went missing during a visit to his father Mark Redwine&#x2019;s home in November 2012. Dylan&#x2019;s remains were found about 10 miles from the home in June 2013.<\/span>Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Thirteen-year-old Dylan Redwine went missing in November 2012, a day after he arrived in La Plata County to visit his father, Mark Redwine, in Vallecito, about 25 miles northeast of Durango, as part of a court-ordered visit.<\/p>\n

Dylan\u2019s remains were found in June 2013, about 10 miles from Mark Redwine\u2019s home, in a mountainous, wooded area. Mark Redwine was arrested in 2017 on suspicion of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.<\/p>\n

Redwine\u2019s trial, which has experienced numerous postponements<\/a>, is scheduled to start Oct. 28.<\/p>\n

Hall, however, started working around 2016 with another mother, Laura Saxton, whose child, Kelsie Schelling, was murdered and her body never found, to make tampering with a dead body a more severe crime. The two mothers would talk to state politicians and spoke at a Colorado legislative committee meeting in favor of making the punishment harsher.<\/p>\n

In 2016, their efforts were successful, elevating tampering with a body from a misdemeanor to a Class 3 felony. The charge now carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison, and is usually tacked onto more serious crimes, like murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it wasn\u2019t already a felony in Colorado,\u201d Hall said. \u201cTo me, it was very common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tampering with a body is usually charged when a person intentionally \u201cdestroys, mutilates, conceals, removes or alters\u201d a human body to impair legal proceedings, according to the bill. It is often tacked on to high-profile cases.<\/p>\n

The charge was used in the case of Chris Watts, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to killing his pregnant wife and two young daughters. Watts reportedly buried his wife in a shallow grave and put his daughters\u2019 bodies in oil tanks.<\/p>\n

Watts was sentenced to several life sentences, 48 years for unlawful termination of pregnancy and 12 years for three counts of tampering with a deceased body, according to Denver CBS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In March, Letecia Stauch, who is accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson earlier this year, was also charged with tampering with a deceased body, according to KKTV 11 News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A report in the Montrose Daily Press in January<\/a> said there have been 34 charges and 12 convictions for tampering with a deceased body since it became a felony in 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Mark
Mark Redwine, who is accused of killing his son, Dylan, listens during his first appearance in District Court in 2017 in Durango. Redwine&#x2019;s trial is scheduled to start Oct. 28.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

6th Judicial District Attorney Christian Champagne said it is important to make the crime a felony instead of a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we see someone who is doing inappropriate things with the remains of our loved ones, I think it strikes many people as a very serious crime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Champagne also said prosecutors can use the charge if there\u2019s a lack of evidence for more serious crimes in a case.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tool we can use when we don\u2019t have the evidence \u2026 and still get some accountability for someone who has hidden a body or moved someone\u2019s remains to avoid detection,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Champagne said Redwine\u2019s alleged crimes happened in 2012, before the tampering law became a felony, and prosecutors can only charge for crimes in place at the time of the incident. He doesn\u2019t plan to add the charge at this time.<\/p>\n

For Hall, she said she\u2019s happy to have helped future victims get more justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew our children were victims, and there was no severe penalty in Colorado for tampering with remains,\u201d she said. \u201cWe felt it needed to be more severe.\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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