by An arrested 49-year-old man in Texas is said to have killed his wife and hidden her body in their home for more than a month.
Records show that Charles V. Byrd was arrested early Sunday evening and charged with one count of felony tampering with evidence with the intent to impair a human body in the death of Angela Byrd.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation began just after midnight on Sunday. One of Angela Byrd’s relatives called “out of concern” for Charles Byrd’s wife, so deputies went to a house in the 22100 block of Pleasanton Road. The family member said Charles Byrd had said some disturbing things that made it sound like he might have killed his wife.
The family member hadn’t gone into the Byrd house, but they were able to let the police in. When they got there, the police said they “very quickly smelled the smell of decomposition—of a body.” Soon, they found a body inside the house that was probably Angela Byrd’s. It was wrapped in some kind of plastic.
While the police say they think Angela Byrd was killed, they are still waiting for the medical examiner to finish their work before they can say for sure how and why she died.
On Sunday and Monday, Charles Byrd was out in the wind, according to Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. “
The sheriff’s office sent out several units to look for Charles Byrd. He was eventually found hiding in a house in the 21000 block of Pleasanton Road, which Salazar said was about a mile from the crime scene. A search warrant was carried out by a SWAT team on the home where Charles Byrd was being held.
Salazar said that other people were also arrested in connection with the case. He didn’t say much about the other people who were charged, but he did say that more information would be given soon.
When detectives from the sheriff’s homicide unit talked to Byrd, he allegedly told them how he killed his wife.
“He did describe a physical attack that happened on or about June 16, so a little over a month ago,” said Salazar. “He did talk about a fight he had with Angela that he thinks killed her.” Then, for the next 32 days, he lived in that house with Ms. Byrd’s body, sometimes taking steps to hide the smell and trying to tell family members where the smell was coming from. When he talked about this violent encounter with Ms. Byrd, he kept it very simple.
Vasquez said that Byrd allegedly telling the investigator that he had “never been arrested before” and “never committed a crime before” made a “huge impression” on him. Byrd then allegedly said, “Go big or go home.”
“That was pretty shocking to me — to hear that he used that to describe what we believe to be evidence of the murder of his wife, and he made a very flippant comment to the effect of ‘go big or go home’ being his first time committing a crime” said Salazar. “I just find that very shocking.”
Charles Byrd was taken to the Bexar County Jail and is being held there without bond right now. Based on what Salazar said, Byrd will probably be charged with “at least murder” after the autopsy is done.
It wasn’t clear right away when Byrd would go to court for the first time.
