The defense team for Mark Redwine rested its case Wednesday after presenting several days of testimony from expert witnesses, co-workers, investigators and former acquaintances.
Redwine, who is accused of killing his son, Dylan, also announced he will not take the witness stand in his own defense.
“I have decided I will not testify,” Redwine told the court in Durango after a short conversation with his attorneys.
Chief District Judge Jeffrey Wilson advised Redwine of his rights and will advise jurors that Redwine’s decision not to testify cannot be used against him and does not infer guilt.
Rebuttal witnesses put on by prosecutors concluded Wednesday and closing arguments are expected to begin as soon as Thursday morning after instructions are read to the jury.
“We're in the homestretch,” Wilson announced.
Earlier Wednesday, a previous coworker and an old friend of Redwine’s, Freddy Cracium, testified that Dylan was Redwine’s “pride and joy.”
Cracium told jurors he saw Redwine looking at pictures of Dylan playing baseball on his phone after work one day in 2012, and he appeared to be “so happy.”
After Dylan disappeared in November 2012, Redwine changed, Cracium said.
“I see a man that I didn't know anymore,” he said. “He didn't look the same. He didn’t talk to me ... he was scared.”
Redwine gave Cracium flyers identifying Dylan as a missing person, and Cracium said he placed two on his own car and handed out others to friends. But over time, the two lost touch.
During cross-examination by the prosecution, it was learned that Carcium never met Dylan and had never been to Redwine’s home in Vallecito. Carcium almost rented Redwine’s home and purchased one of his trucks, but backed out because of vandalism on the property and harassment Redwine was experiencing.
On Tuesday, a local postal worker in the area testified that she may have seen Dylan with another boy the day he went missing. But during rebuttal testimony, it was revealed the mail carrier, Angela Lee, likely saw Jaquelin George and a boy from the neighborhood who resembled Dylan.
George testified Wednesday that Crawford and Dylan looked very similar, and George was perceived as a tomboy when she was a child.
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.
