Man allegedly shot son after mistaking him for an intruder, then ‘cremated’ his body

HOUSTON (WKRC) – A father allegedly shot and killed his son with down syndrome after mistaking him for an intruder, and later “cremated” his body before calling 911.

68-year-old Michael C. Howard called the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office on Monday evening to report a “horrible accident,” police said.

Howard allegedly told police that he had shot his 20-year-old son, who had down syndrome, with a shotgun after mistaking him for an intruder, according to Sabine County Sheriff’s Office Deputy J.P. MacDonough.

MacDonough said Howard did not call 911 to report the death until 17 hours after he used a tractor to drag his son’s body for two miles across his 2,500 acres of land to a pile of wood trash.

Howard then placed his son’s body on the pile before lighting it on fire, “cremating” the corpse, according to MacDonough.

Howard said he “cremated his son in accordance with what he felt his son would have wanted,” authorities said. MacDonough had other ideas about Howard’s motive.

“It is a bizarre crime anywhere you are just because of the nature of the event,” said MacDonough. “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 called police two days before the shooting to report someone had stolen a mower and trailer from his property, according to The Associated Press, but MacDonough did not comment on whether or not he believed that incident influenced MacDonough’s actions.

Howard was charged with murder and tampering with evidence, but authorities said more charges could be added after further investigation.