Background: News footage of the home in San Antonio, Texas where the body of Angela Byrd was found (KSAT). Inset: Charles Vandoil Byrd (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office).
New information has emerged in the case of a 49-year-old Texas man who allegedly admitted to killing his wife and hiding her body in their home, living with the remains for more than a month before he was arrested.
Charles V. Byrd was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of felony tampering with evidence with the intent to impair a human body in the death of Angela Byrd, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to court documents obtained by San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT, Byrd told investigators with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office that he came home early on June 16 to surprise his wife. However, he claimed that when he arrived at the residence, he “perceived cues that Angela [Byrd] was expecting another man to come over.” The alleged discovery of Angela Byrd “cheating” led to a verbal altercation between the two that escalated into Byrd choking his wife with his hands and biting her face multiple times, police say.
Asked to explain why he “believed Angela [Byrd] was cheating,” Charles Byrd allegedly told investigators that they needed to look at his wife’s phone, which he said was in their bedroom.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the case began just after midnight on Sunday morning when deputies responded to a home in the in the 22100 block of Pleasanton Road after one of Angela Byrd’s relatives called “out of concern” for her. The relative said Charles Byrd had made disturbing comments indicating that he may have killed his wife.
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The relative had not gone into the Byrd home, but was able to let deputies in. Once there, authorities said they “very quickly smelled the odor of decomposition — of a body.” They soon found a body — presumed to be Angela Byrd — wrapped in plastic, carpet, and blankets and secured with ratchet straps.
While police believe the body was Angela Byrd, the medical examiner will confirm the body’s identity and cause and manner of death following an autopsy.
At this point, Charles Byrd has been charged with tampering with evidence with intent to impair a human corpse. He allegedly provided detectives with the sheriff’s homicide unit details about fatally attacking his wife.
“He did describe a physical confrontation between himself and Angela which he believes led to her death,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference. “He then, over the course of the next 32 days, spent that entire time living in that residence with the corpse of Ms. Byrd, at times taking certain steps to mask the odor and trying to explain away the source of that odor to family members. He was very matter-of-fact as he described this violent encounter with Ms. Byrd.”
KSAT reported that Charles Byrd, who had been employed as a janitor at a school district in San Antonio, was fired following his arrest. A spokesperson from the school district said that Charles Byrd did not have direct contact with the students while he worked there.
Charles Byrd is being held at the Bexar County Jail on $200,000 bond. Salazar said that he will likely face “at least a murder charge” once the autopsy results are released.
Jamie Frevele contributed to this report.
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