Bexar County Sheriff’s Office arrested Charles Byrd for tampering with evidence, suspecting his wife’s death, as they await a medical examiner’s report.
SAN ANTONIO — After a manhunt that lasted just over one day, Bexar County investigators have arrested and accused a man with tampering with evidence with intent to impair a human corpse.
A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office said 49-year-old Charles Byrd gave up without incident when he saw a large group of specialty officers approach the vacant house where he had been taking refuge after his own home became a crime scene.
The disturbing incident began Saturday morning when investigators said someone called the Sheriff’s office and alleged that Byrd had said he had killed his wife, identified by BCSO as 44-year-old Angela Byrd.
Deputies who went to the home on Pleasanton Road reported discovering a decomposed body wrapped in plastic in Byrd’s residence on the property. BCSO believes this body belongs to Angela, but the medical examiner’s office has not confirmed that information as of Sunday night.
It also hasn’t been determined if the body’s cause of death was a homicide.
When they didn’t find Charles at the home, investigators took to social media to share his picture and description, as well as a likeness of his black pickup truck.
A neighbor who lives less than one mile from Byrd’s home said he was a long-time, well-known person in the area because for years he has done plumbing jobs for almost everyone.
They said Byrd knew of a vacant home nearby because he had done work on the house years ago and he knew that the owners were not present.
When SWAT personnel showed up with a battering ram equipped vehicle and a large contingent of officers, they said Byrd didn’t bother to resist.
The initial charge offered by BCSO is a second-degree felony with potential penalties upon conviction including up to 20 years in prison and fines.
The Thelma Gospel Christian Church is immediately next door to the Byrd home.
Members of the church said neither Byrd, nor his wife, nor his mother who owned the property were church members, but they knew them from their years as neighbors.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a news conference that there are still many unanswered questions regarding this situation, but Byrd was very cooperative with the investigation when it came to answering questions.
Byrd described to BCSO of a physical fight he and Angela had around June 16, more than a month before his arrest. He believes the injuries Angela sustained in this brutal fight resulted in her death.
Byrd then said he lived the next month in the residence with the decomposing corpse, using what officials believe was blankets, carpet, plastic bags and household substances to mask the odor.
Byrd told officials he believed he was eventually going to get caught, but he was trying to prolong the process.
Sheriff Salazar said the most “shocking” thing Byrd said was that he had never committed a crime before, followed by the phrase: “go big or go home.”
Byrd has been booked for tampering with evidence with intent to impair a human corpse. Sheriff Salazar says that the department is not at the point where they’re ready to charge him with murder as they await Angela’s cause of death from the M.E.’s office. They say that if the M.E. determines her death to be a homicide, murder is likely to be added to Byrd’s list of charges.
In addition to waiting on the M.E.’s determination, a mental evaluation also awaits Byrd.
BCSO also says that there are several people they would like to speak to regarding this case. If you know anything, please call BCSO.