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A Texas man burned the body of his son with Down syndrome in a pile of wood on the family property after shooting him because he allegedly mistook him for an intruder.

Michael Howard, 68, told investigators he believed his son, 20-year-old Mark Howard, was an intruder when he shot him Dec. 1, according to the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office. He had recently contacted authorities about a break-in at his property in Hemphill, Texas.

When the Houston lawyer found out he had killed his son, he told investigators he took his body, placed it in a “backhoe loader bucket” and carried it to a secluded area on his property. There, he placed the body on a “wooden trash pile” and burned it, officials said.

He waited about 17 hours before informing officers of the incident. Police believe he contacted his son’s mother before calling a deputy. The father and son were the only ones on the property and had arrived several days earlier.

The next day, he used his work cell phone to call the officer who responded to the break-in. When the deputy arrived around 2 p.m., the officer, with Michael Howard’s consent, searched the area to locate his son.

Finally, Michael Howard showed the officer where he had taken his son for “cremation,” an area about two miles from the scene of the shooting. The defendant told the officer he “cremated” his son because he felt his son “would have wanted that,” JP MacDonough, a county investigator, said at a news conference Thursday.

The sheriff’s office later obtained a search warrant for the property and investigated the crime scene with the Texas Rangers.

During this search, they discovered bones and body parts, including a portion of the lower jaw that contained some teeth that appeared to have been burned due to “charring.” The office said the site was full of “soot and ash.”

The body parts were recovered from the area and taken to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office where they are awaiting an autopsy.

Additionally, police found evidence that Howard attempted to clean the crime scene with a “water hose.”

“It’s a bizarre crime all around … just because of the nature of the event,” MacDonough told reporters, saying he believed Michael Howard burned the body and cleaned the crime scene for “nefarious purposes.”

The defendant is charged with murder and tampering with evidence/human corpses. He is being held in the Sabine County Jail on a $20 million bond.

Howard has a private law firm based in Houston but has owned property 170 miles away in Hemphill for years. Police declined to comment on whether Howard had a criminal history.

In 1995, the state Court of Appeals revoked his license while he was serving a year of probation for third-degree theft. Howard’s practice areas include personal injury, real estate, gas and energy resources, and legal malpractice.

The lawyer has two other children. Mark Howard’s mother was interviewed as part of the investigation, MacDonough said.

Sabine County District Attorney Paul Robbins said his office will move forward with the grand jury indictment. His team is considering possibly charging the attorney with additional charges, including misdemeanors.

The Independent emailed Howard’s office seeking comment.