A father accused of shooting and killing his adult son with Down syndrome and then burning his body in an East Texas home, claiming he mistook him for an intruder, authorities described Thursday as a “bizarre crime.”
Investigators say Houston attorney Michael C. Howard, 68, accidentally killed his 20-year-old son, Mark Randall Howard, with a shotgun while he was at his Sabine County home Sunday evening. told. Sheriff's Office Deputy JP McDonough said at a news conference.
Howard did not call the sheriff's office until Monday afternoon. That was about 17 hours after a tractor backhoe was used to transport his son's body about two miles away to a secluded spot on the more than 2,500-acre property and place his body on top of tree trash. Ta. McDonough said they piled them up and then “cremated them.”
Howard and her son arrived at their home in Sabine County, about 270 miles northeast of Houston, on Thursday or Friday, authorities said.
Officers found body parts and bones in the trash pile and sent them to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.
Howard told investigators it was all a “horrible accident.” McDonough said Howard told investigators that he had “cremated my son the way I felt he would have wanted.”
“Given the nature of the incident, it's a bizarre crime anywhere,” McDonough said. “Mr. Howard committed this act and, in furtherance of it, burned the body and cleaned the crime scene, which I, as an investigator, take to be indicative of a nefarious or illicit purpose.”
Howard's son was diagnosed with Down syndrome, but was highly functioning and had a job, McDonough said.
Two days before the shooting, authorities responded to a call in which Howard reported the theft of property, including a large lawn mower and a trailer. Mr. McDonough declined to say whether the theft may have played a role in Mr. Howard thinking his son was an intruder.
Mr. Howard was charged with murder and tampering with evidence and remains jailed in Sabine County on bail totaling $20 million. Officials said additional charges are possible.
It was not immediately known whether Mr. Howard had an attorney to speak on his behalf.
