The case of a 49-year-old Texas man who allegedly confessed to killing his wife and concealing her body in their house—living with the remains for almost a month prior to his arrest—has new details.
After being arrested last week, Charles V. Byrd was charged with one count of felony tampering with evidence with intent to harm a human body in connection with Angela Byrd’s murder.
Byrd told Bexar County Sheriff’s Office detectives that he surprised his wife by coming home early on June 16, according to court filings. He asserted, however, that upon his arrival at the home, he “perceived cues that Angela [Byrd] was expecting another man to come over.”
After it was allegedly discovered that Angela Byrd was “cheating,” the two got into a verbal fight that ended with Byrd repeatedly biting his wife’s face and choking her with his hands, according to the police.
Investigators were asked why Charles Byrd “believed Angela [Byrd] was cheating,” and Byrd allegedly told them that they had to check his wife’s phone, which he claimed was in their bedroom.
Deputies were called to a residence in the 22100 block of Pleasanton Road shortly after midnight on Sunday morning when one of Angela Byrd’s family members called “out of concern” for her. According to the relative, Charles Byrd had made unsettling remarks that suggested he might have murdered his wife.
Although the relative had not entered the Byrd residence, they were able to grant deputies access. Authorities claimed that after arriving, they “very quickly smelled the odor of decomposition — of a body.” Soon after, they discovered a body, thought to be that of Angela Byrd, bound with ratchet straps and covered in blankets, rugs, and plastic.
After an autopsy, the medical examiner will verify the identify of the body as well as the cause and manner of death, even though police suspect the body was that of Angela Byrd.
Charles Byrd is currently facing charges of tampering with evidence with the intention of damaging a human corpse. He allegedly gave detectives information concerning his wife’s death at the hands of the sheriff’s homicide unit.
“He did describe a physical confrontation between himself and Angela which he believes led to her death,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar stated. “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.”
Charles Byrd, who had worked as a janitor for a San Antonio school district, was let go after being arrested. During his tenure at the school, Charles Byrd did not have direct contact with the pupils, according to a district official.
Charles Byrd is being jailed on a $200,000 bail at the Bexar County Jail. He will probably be charged with “at least a murder charge” if the autopsy results are made public, according to Salazar.
