Two people charged with first-degree murder in Benton County in a Columbia man’s death appeared in court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty.

Michael Birnbaum, 28, and Kayley Birnbaum, 35, both of Springfield, Missouri, are charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. They are being held at the Benton County Jail without bond. A bond appearance hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, June 3.

Cody Garrett, 28, was reported missing on June 21, 2021. Benton County deputies found Garrett's vehicle and remains off the trails near a bike park outside Warsaw, Missouri. An autopsy showed he had died by homicide.

A probable cause statement says the Birnbaums killed for $50,000 in life insurance money because one of them was the beneficiary.

Garrett had been shot in the hand, arm, body, and head and impaled in the abdomen with a novelty sword, court documents say. Authorities found a bag of novelty weapons, including a sword similar to the one used to impale Garrett, in the Birnbaums' home. The couple burned some evidence and threw the pistol in the Missouri River before they left the murder scene, court documents say.

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