Sabine County – A father is accused of spraying blood with a water hose after killing his son before “cremating” the body at the family’s weekend lake house near Toledo Bend, according to the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office and district attorney announced the details in a news conference Thursday at the Sabine County Courthouse.

Michael C. Howard, 68, is charged with murder and tampering with evidence. He has a total bond of $20 million, $10 million for each charge.

Lead investigator JP MacDonough says Howard claimed he mistook his 20-year-old son for an intruder when he fired a 12-gauge shotgun at him Sunday night. They were alone at the Lake House on Mt. Sinai Road, off FM 3515 and east of Highway 87. His wife and other children remained in Houston.

According to MacDonough, there is evidence that Howard washed the blood off with a water hose.

Seventeen hours later, on Monday, he called an officer and told him he had killed his son and “cremated” the body in a cremation pile. MacDonough says Howard told investigators he loaded the body onto the front of a backhoe and drove it to a secluded area of ​​his property, placed the body on a wood/trash pile and “cremated” his son.

Investigators recovered a jawbone containing teeth and other charred remains and sent them to a medical examiner’s office.

“It’s a bizarre crime,” MacDonough said. “He burned the body and cleaned up the crime scene. I would call it a nefarious intention.”

Howard had called the sheriff’s office on Nov. 29 to report the theft of a Kubota lawnmower and trailer.

A deputy responded, and the same deputy received a call on his cell phone Monday from Howard reporting the killing and “cremation.”

MacDonough says 20-year-old son Mark had Down syndrome but functioned well and had a job.

Howard owns several tracts of land. The property on which the lake house is located covers 2,533 acres.

District Attorney Paul Robbins says they have not yet decided whether to file murder charges.

He expects to take the case to a grand jury early next year.

Howard is a practicing attorney with an office in the Heights neighborhood of Houston.