DENVER – State lawmakers on Monday advanced a measure that would make tampering with a body a felony – an effort strongly supported and advocated for by the mother of Dylan Redwine.
The bipartisan bill is being pushed by prosecutors and the families of murder victims, who say tampering with a body should carry a stricter penalty than tampering with evidence.
“This has devastated our family, but it also has made us aware of the laws that need to change to protect the victims rather than the criminals,” Elaine Hatfield Hall, Dylan Redwine’s mother, explained Monday with tears in her eyes.
Dylan had been on a court-ordered visit with his father, Mark Redwine, on Nov. 18, 2012, when he disappeared. Dylan was 13 at the time.
In June 2013, some of Dylan’s remains were found about three miles from his father’s home in Vallecito.
In August, the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office announced it had identified Mark Redwine as a person of interest in the case and that Dylan’s cause of death had been changed from “unknown” to “homicide.”
The case remains unsolved.
In the wake of the incident, as well as similar cases throughout the state, lawmakers have worked to address the issue of tampering with bodies.
The bill targets someone who assists a killer with moving or disposing of a body after a crime. Such involvement is a misdemeanor in the state.
Supporters of the bill believe that by making the crime a felony – separate of other crimes such as tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory to a crime – then law enforcement and prosecutors would have additional tools to seek justice.
The measure passed the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee unanimously. It has made its way through the Senate. and now is heading to the full House for debate.
Observers were worried about the fate of the bill, as it was assigned to State Affairs rather than Judiciary. In the Senate, the legislation was assigned to Judiciary.
Leadership often uses State Affairs as a “kill committee” to end unfavorable legislation. When asked why the bill was sent to State Affairs, House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Boulder, said she heard concerns about the legislation.
“What we wanted to do was make sure there was plenty of scrutiny around that bill, to take a really good objective look at what it did,” Hullinghorst said Monday as her colleagues took testimony on the bill.
Few objections were raised during the hearing.
The Colorado Criminal Defense Bar believes the measure is unnecessary, pointing out that felonies exist for tampering with physical evidence and being an accessory to a crime.
But the sponsors of the legislation say it is a matter of adding weight to the horrific and traumatic crime that has become a “dark subject” in the Legislature.
“The penalty now would be similar to tampering with a cellphone to delete evidence out of its memory,” said Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Littleton. “It seems that tampering with a deceased human body should carry a much harsher penalty.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com