San Antonio Man Strangles Wife to Death After Coming Home to find ‘Cues’ that She Was Cheating on Him

New details have emerged in the case of a 49-year-old San Antonio man who strangled his wife to death and hid her body in their home, living with her remains for over a month before his arrest.

Charles V. Byrd was arrested 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.

Charles Told Investigators He Came Home to Find ‘Cues’ That His Wife was ‘Expecting Another Man to Come Over’

According to court documents, 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’s “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, according to police.

When asked to explain why he “believed Angela [Byrd] was cheating,” Charles told investigators that they needed to go through his wife’s phone, which he said was in their bedroom.

Relative Called 911 After Charles Made Disturbing Comments Indicating He Had Killed Angela

Deputies responded to a home in the 22100 block of Pleasanton Road just after midnight on Sunday morning after one of Angela’s relative called 911 “out of concern” for her after Charles made some disturbing comments that led them to believe that he may have killed Angela.

When deputies arrived at the scene, 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.

Charles Tried to Mask the Odor of Angela’s Decomposing Remains

“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.”

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.