Editor\u2019s note: This article contains graphic details that may be considered disturbing.<\/p>\n
A 49-year-old Somerset man has been charged with murder in the death of his wife after authorities say he lived with her decomposing body for more than a month.<\/p>\n
Charles Vandoil Byrd was initially arrested by Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office on Sunday when deputies discovered the body of his wife, Angela Byrd, wrapped in plastic inside their Somerset-area home on charges of tampering with evidence.<\/p>\n
A relative had contacted law enforcement after not having seen Angela in weeks and concern about a foul odor at the residence. When questioned about the smell, Byrd blamed the odor on septic issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sheriff Javier Salazar said Byrd later confessed to investigators that he strangled his wife during an argument on June 16, accusing her of infidelity. Byrd told detectives he used one hand to choke Angela while biting her face several times, drawing blood \u2014 while watching her take her last breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was his first arrest. He actually used the term \u2018go big or go home\u2019\u201d Salazar said. \u201c Even for those of us that have been in law enforcement for decades, that\u2019s shocking to hear somebody say about a spouse that they murdered and spent 32 days in the home with that decomposing body.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Murder charges were delayed until the Bexar County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office could positively identify the decomposing remains.<\/p>\n
Byrd now faces two counts of tampering with evidence \u2014 one related to his wife\u2019s body, the other for allegedly destroying a truck and cell phone \u2014 in addition to the murder charge. His bond is set at $650,000.<\/p>\n
Salazar emphasized that the killing was part of a growing trend of domestic violence-related homicides in Bexar County. Of the 19 homicides the sheriff\u2019s office handled in 2024, 10 were linked to domestic violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you know somebody that\u2019s involved in a domestic violence or dating violence type situation, urge them to get out because it doesn\u2019t go away, it escalates to the point where someone usually dies,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a preventable crime. If you want to prevent it and you want to get out of it, there are resources available to you. If you don\u2019t take steps to prevent it, namely get out of that situation, it\u2019s not going to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Investigation is ongoing, and Salazar said additional charges are possible for others if authorities find out they intentionally helped Byrd avoid arrest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: This article contains graphic details that may be considered disturbing. A 49-year-old Somerset man has been…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":88164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,58384,24545,8174,58383,9620,5292,7202,7203,358,3187,7815,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,11887],"class_list":{"0":"post-88163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-angela-byrd","10":"tag-bcso","11":"tag-bexar-county-sheriffs-office","12":"tag-charles-byrd","13":"tag-murder","14":"tag-public-safety","15":"tag-san-antonio","16":"tag-sanantonio","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-tx","19":"tag-typedaily","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa","26":"tag-wc-less-than-500"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114907262846046043","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}