A father has been arrested for shooting his adult son with Down syndrome in East Texas, claiming he mistook him for an intruder and then burning his body in what authorities called a “bizarre crime.”
Michael C. Howard, a 68-year-old attorney from Houston, admitted to accidentally shooting his 20-year-old son, Mark Randall Howard, with a shotgun at a home he owns in Sabine County, according to Sabine County Sheriff’s Office Deputy J.P. MacDonough.
Howard waited 17 hours before calling the sheriff’s office, during which time he used a tractor backhoe to transport his son’s body 2 miles away to a remote area on his property, where he placed the body on a wood trash pile and attempted to cremate it, MacDonough stated.
Howard and his son had arrived at the home in Sabine County, located 170 miles northeast of Houston, a few days before the incident.
After finding body parts and bones in the trash pile, deputies sent them to the medical examiner’s office in Jefferson County for further investigation.
Howard claimed the incident was a “horrible accident” and that he cremated his son based on what he believed his son would have wanted.
“It is a bizarre crime anywhere you are just because of the nature of the event,” MacDonough said. “Mr. Howard committed this act and in the furtherance of that, burned the body and cleaned the crime scene, which as an investigator, I would take as indicative of nefarious purposes or for nefarious purposes.”
Howard’s son, who had Down syndrome, was described as high functioning and employed, according to MacDonough.
Authorities had responded to a theft report made by Howard just two days before the shooting, involving the theft of property such as a large mower and a trailer. It is unclear if this incident may have influenced Howard’s mistaken belief that his son was an intruder.
Howard is currently in custody in Sabine County with a bond set at $20 million, facing charges of murder and evidence tampering, with the possibility of additional charges.
It is unknown at this time if Howard has legal representation.
