A Texas man has been charged with murder after he admitted to fatally shooting his son in a “horrible accident” before “cremating” him.
Michael Howard, 68, a Houston-area attorney, told investigators he thought his son, 20-year-old Mark Howard, was an intruder when he shot him on December 1, according to the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office. He’d recently contacted authorities about a burglary on his Hemphill, Texas property days prior.
When he discovered he killed his son, who had Down Syndrome, he took his body, placed it in a “front-loading bucket of a backhoe tractor” and carried it to a remote area on his property. There, he placed the body on a “wood trash” pile and burned it, officials said.
He waited about 17 hours before notifying officials of what had occurred. Police believe he contacted his son’s mother before calling a deputy. The father and son were the only two on the property and had arrived a few days prior.
The following day, he used his work cell phone to call the deputy who had responded to the burglary. When the deputy arrived around 2 p.m., the officer searched the area with Michael Howard’s consent trying to locate his son.
Finally, Michael Howard showed the deputy where he had taken his son for “cremation,” an area about two miles from where the shooting occurred. The defendant told the deputy he “cremated” his son because he felt that’s what his son “would have wanted,” JP MacDonough, a county investigator, said at a news conference on Thursday.
The sheriff’s office later obtained a search warrant for the property and processed the scene along with the Texas Rangers.
In that search, they discovered bones and body parts, including a portion of the lower jaw that contained a few teeth, which appeared to have been burned based on “charring.” The area they were found was heavy with “soot and ash,” the office said.
The body parts were recovered from the area and taken to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office where they are awaiting autopsy.
Additionally, police found evidence to suggest Howard tried to clean the crime scene using a “water hose.”
“It is a bizarre crime anywhere… just because of the nature of the event,” MacDonough told reporters, stating he thinks Michael Howard burned the body and cleaned the crime scene for “nefarious purposes.”
The defendant has been charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence/human corpse. He’s being held in the Sabine County Jail on a $20m bond.
Howard owns a Houston-based private law practice but has owned property 170 miles away in Hemphill for years. Police would not comment on whether Howard had a criminal history.
In 1995, the state Board of Disciplinary Appeals suspended his license during the term of his one-year criminal probation for third-degree felony theft. Howard’s practice areas include personal injury, real estate, gas and energy resources and legal malpractice.
The attorney has two other children. Mark Howard’s mother has been interviewed as part of the investigation, MacDonough said.
Paul Robbins, the Sabine County District Attorney, said his office would be moving forward with a grand jury indictment. His team is looking at potentially hitting the attorney with additional charges, including misdemeanor crimes.
The Independent has emailed Howard’s office for comment.
