Body burnt

Father “accidentally” shoots his own son (20)

For the Texas police, it is a "bizarre crime", the likes of which even hardened criminologists rarely see. A man is said to have shot his own son with a shotgun because he mistook him for a burglar. He then allegedly burned his body on a wood fire.

The police accuse the father (68) of having "particularly nefarious intentions", who himself describes his act as a "terrible crime". He had only "accidentally" shot his adult son Mark (20) last Sunday at the family's secondary residence in Sabine County. He had mistaken him for a burglar. 

Body removed with excavator
After the crime, Michael H., a lawyer by profession, proceeded very deliberately. He used an excavator to take his son's body to an area almost four kilometers away from his home and burned the body on a wood fire. Deputies found burned fragments of a lower jaw and some teeth, bones and clothing at the alleged burn site, according to "abcNEWS".

Michael H.(Bild: Sabine County Sheriff‘s Office via AP)

Ten million dollars bail
Mark had always wanted "a cremation", he argued to police a day later. In the days leading up to the tragedy, various items had been stolen from the yard, including a lawnmower.

According to Sabine County District Attorney Paul Robbins, Michael Howard is charged with multiple felonies, specifically murder, desecration of a corpse and tampering with a crime scene. Bail for Michael H. has been set at ten million dollars.