Columbia man accused of leaving corpse in room ‘for weeks’ indicted by grand jury

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man who was accused of leaving his roommate's body in an apartment for weeks was indicted by a Boone County grand jury on Friday.

Ira C. Baldwin is charged with abandoning a corpse. He posted a $1,500 bond on March 26. An arraignment for the charge is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21 at the Boone County Courthouse.

Court documents in previous reporting say police were called on March 24 to Baldwin’s apartment in the 2000 block of West Ash Street for a welfare check and ended up finding the roommate’s body severely decomposed.

Baldwin’s roommate allegedly shot himself to death 10 days prior, court documents in previous reporting say.

Baldwin allegedly told police he last saw his roommate in late January. He said he was scared to go into the room and felt "relief" when police came to the door, according court documents in previous reporting.