MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ — Former Maricopa County Attorney's Office Detective John Byrd has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for the 2024 death of his wife, Elizabeth.
Byrd was also ordered to pay restitution and has a lifetime no-contact order for the children involved and other family members of the victim.
Byrd was originally arrested in August 2024 following an investigation conducted by Mesa Police.
According to court documents, on July 31, 2024, a woman called police after she hadn't heard from Elizabeth all day.
The friend reached out to Elizabeth's 11-year-old son. He told her that he and his younger siblings hadn't seen her all day and that she was locked in the bedroom.
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Elizabeth's friend learned that her husband, Byrd, had left the house and hadn't returned.
Police arrived at Elizabeth's house and performed a wellness check. Officers found her dead in the bedroom.
Police later found Byrd driving his wife's car. Byrd was detained and questioned at Mesa PD headquarters.
Following the arrest, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office announced they were ending Byrd's employment, and the Pinal County Attorney's Office would handle the investigation.
BYRD'S INTERROGATION
Court documents show Byrd told investigators he had some physical and mental issues lately and had been very stressed about his home and work life.
During an interview with Mesa Police, Byrd told detectives he and the victim were in an argument the night before and that morning. Byrd is seen on camera saying, "a switch just flipped" in him, and he put his hands around the victim's neck.
ABC15 obtained a portion of the hours-long interrogation with Byrd.
"I think the stress the anxiety of not being able to work also added," said Byrd to investigators in the early morning hours of August 1, 2024.
Court documents said Byrd never used the words "strangled" or "choked" while describing his actions.
"It's just frustration built up from trying to do the right thing, trying to make things better," said Byrd. "But just not being able to do that the way that I wanted to."
Court documents said the Maricopa County Medical Examiner ruled Elizabeth's death a homicide, and the cause was asphyxiation from manual strangulation.
FAMILY SPEAKS OUT
Elizabeth's family spoke to ABC15 a day before Byrd's original sentencing date of Friday, June 13.
Her brother, Rob Pecharich, shared how special his sister made holidays. He sat and went through photos and memories of his sister.
Pecharich also described how much Elizabeth loved to play with her three kids.
But he said the Byrd family children have lost both their parents.
"They know they're surrounded by love," said Pecharich. "Those, those are the good parts. The ugly parts are. They cry at night for their mom and dad."
During court on Friday, June 13, the sentencing was pushed back to Thursday, June 19, when Byrd was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
In April, Byrd pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
