John Byrd: Ex-MCAO detective sentenced after pleading guilty to murdering his wife
PHOENIX - A former detective with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has been sentenced, almost two months after he pleaded guilty to murdering his wife in 2024.
What we know:
We learned on June 19 that John C. Byrd III was handed a 19-year prison sentence for his wife's murder.
While initial court documents for Byrd did not list his employer, a 2023 news release from MCAO identified him as a detective with the agency.
The backstory:
The incident, per court documents, happened at a home in the area of Baseline and Crismon. Officers were called to the area on July 31, 2024 for a report of a possible missing person.
"The Reporting Party (RP) stated that [the victim] had not been seen or heard from for most of the day, and the victim had failed to show up to a gym class that they always attend together," read a portion of the court documents.
Officers at the scene eventually did a welfare check, and found the victim dead on the bedroom floor.
Detectives say they later found Byrd driving a car that was registered to the victim in the area of Warner and Power Roads. During an interview that was conducted after Byrd was given his Miranda warning, Byrd "stated he has had some mental issues lately and has been very stressed about his home and work life."
"The defendant stated he and the victim were in a heated argument on [July 31] at about 6:00 a.m. The defendant stated that during that argument ‘a switch just flipped’ in him, and he put his hands around the victim's neck and strangled her to death," investigators wrote.