Officials in Bexar County, Texas say they expect to file murder charges against a husband who allegedly confessed to killing his wife and concealing her body inside their San Antonio home. 

On Sunday, July 20, 2025, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar hosted a live press conference to announce the weekend arrest of Charles Vandoil Byrd, 49, for concealing the body of his wife, Angela Byrd. Byrd’s apprehension came one day after authorities named him “a person of interest” and charged him with tampering with evidence with intent to impair [a] human corpse.

Byrd confessed to killing his wife to reporters. However, jail records reviewed by show he has not been charged with murder. 

Foul odor tipped off Charles Byrd’s son

Salazar said authorities were called to the Byrds’ Pleasanton Road trailer home after a relative reported troubling comments by the suspect. According to charging documents obtained by San Antonio’s NBC affiliate, WOAI-TV, that caller was Charles Byrd’s son and Angela Byrd’s stepson, Jared Byrd.

“Once deputies got into the home, they very quickly smelled the distinct odor of decomposition of a body,” Salazar said, adding that officials found a body “wrapped up in materials.” 

The affidavit noted Angela Byrd’s body had been covered in plastic and surrounded by flies, according to WOAI-TV. Preliminary findings uncovered a carpet and rolled blankets with the body. 

At Sunday’s press conference, the sheriff said investigators strongly believed it was the body of Angela Byrd, though a medical examiner must make an official identification. Salazar stated Mrs. Byrd died following a “violent encounter,” though a cause and manner of death had not been determined. 

Jared Byrd allegedly reported that he had not seen his stepmother since Father’s Day weekend, around June 15, and was staying elsewhere with his girlfriend, per the NBC affiliate. During a July 18 visit to his father’s home, Charles Byrd reportedly attributed the foul odor to problems with the home’s septic system. 

Later that night, Charles Byrd allegedly told his son, “I killed her.”

Jared and his girlfriend allegedly left the property and called authorities from a fast-food restaurant. 

The search for Charles Byrd

By the time officials found the body, Salazar said Charles Byrd and his 2025 black Dodge Ram pickup truck were “in the wind,” as stated in Sunday’s announcement.

After appealing to the public, searchers found Byrd “hiding” at a Pleasanton Road address about one mile from his home. Salazar said the arrest team, which included S.W.A.T., made “several other arrests,” though the sheriff chose to keep the focus of the press conference on Byrd alone. 

One of the detained individuals, according to Salazar, was not arrested in connection with Angela Byrd’s death but for an outstanding federal warrant in connection with an escape from a correctional facility. 

While in custody, Byrd “did describe a physical attack that happened on or about June 16” between him and his wife, “which he believes led to her death,” Salazar said. 

“He then, over the course of 30 days, 33 days, if my math is correct, spent that entire time living at this residence with the corpse of Miss Byrd, at times, taking certain steps to mask the odor, trying to explain away the source of that odor to family members,” the sheriff continued. 

Salazar called Byrd’s confession “matter-of-fact.”

“One of the things that left a huge impression on me was when he detailed to the investigator that he had not been arrested before; he had not ever committed a crime before,” Salazar said. “Then, he blurted out the comment to our investigator, ‘Go big or go home.’ And 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.”

Salazar repeated that he was shocked by the “flippant” comment and expected murder charges in the coming days upon the completion of the medical examiner’s findings. 

Charles Byrd confesses to his wife’s death

Video of Byrd’s arrest, as published by the sheriff’s office, showed officers escorting the suspect. When asked if he had anything to say to the victim’s family, Byrd told reporters he was “so sorry,” adding that he “loved [his] wife.”

When asked why he did it, he said it was because of a “mental break.” Although he admitted to killing Mrs. Byrd to reporters, he claimed it was an “accident.”

Byrd did not appear to have a lawyer with him as authorities moved him into an armored vehicle. 

More news is expected to follow.