Inset: Charles Vandoil Byrd (Bexar County Sheriff's Office). Background: Authorities outside the home where Byrd killed his wife last year (KSAT).
A 50-year-old man in Texas will spend decades behind bars for killing his wife, strangling the 44-year-old woman and living with her corpse for more than a month — even wrapping her body in plastic and using chemicals to conceal the smell.
State District Judge Benjamin Robertson on Tuesday ordered Charles Vandoil Byrd to serve 35 years in a state correctional facility for the 2025 slaying of Angela Byrd, court records show.
Robertson handed down the sentence after Charles Byrd reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to one count of murder just days before his trial was scheduled to begin. In exchange for Byrd's plea, prosecutors dropped additional charges of aggravated assault and tampering.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Charles Byrd killed his wife on Father's Day, June 16, 2025.
Byrd told investigators that he had come home early to surprise his wife, but instead discovered "cues that Angela [Byrd] was expecting another man to come over." The alleged discovery of Angela Byrd "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.
Byrd later told investigators that he had been having a "mental break" when he killed Angela, saying he was "so sorry" and "I loved my wife."
After the killing, Byrd wrapped Angela's body in plastic and rugs, securing the covers with ratchet straps. He also used chemicals, including lye and baking soda, in an attempt to mask the odor as her remains decomposed inside the home.
The body remained inside the couple's mobile home for more than a month.
Authorities became involved after Charles Byrd finally told his oldest son what he had done. The son contacted law enforcement and led investigators to the residence, where they discovered the remains. Byrd was not there when deputies arrived. He was later found hiding in a nearby home and arrested by a SWAT team on July 20, 2025.
"Over the course of the next 32 days, he 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," Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference. "He was very matter-of-fact as he described this violent encounter with Ms. Byrd."
Salazar added that one thing that made a "huge impression" on him was Charles Byrd explaining that he had "never been arrested before" and never "committed a crime before" and then "blurted out to our investigator, 'Go big or go home.'"
An autopsy determined that Angela Byrd's manner of death was a homicide and that her cause of death was strangulation.
During Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Angela Byrd's mother, Melodie Hearn, delivered a victim impact statement as members of the family filled two rows in the courtroom. Charles Byrd, dressed in an orange jail uniform, cried as Hearn spoke, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
"My daughter was your wife. She truly loved her family. She trusted you to love her," Hearn said.
"You are an evil person," she told Charles Byrd. "I hope every day you have to think about leaving your ill mother alone, crying for her only son, and your children alone."
Despite approving the agreement, the judge made clear that he was disheartened by the deal prosecutors cut with Charles Byrd.
"I don't think 35 years is enough," Robertson said during the hearing, according to the Express-News. "I know the Bexar County way is 35 to 40 years. I am not happy with it."
Robertson added, "There is no certainty or closure."
The judgment includes an affirmative finding of family violence and use of a deadly weapon. Under the terms of the judgment, Byrd must serve at least half his 35-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole and will be prohibited from possessing firearms after his release, the Express-News reported.
"Angela deserved to live her life free from violence, and her family deserved to have her home with them," Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said in a statement. "Charles Byrd made the choice to take his wife's life and then went to great lengths to conceal what he had done. Today's sentence holds him accountable for that horrific act and ensures that he will spend decades in prison."