Murphy – An Old Ranger Road resident faces first-degree attempted arson charge and possession of a weapon of mass destruction following an incident at his parents’ house Thursday.
Asif Saeed Munshi, 37, faces three charges: attempted first-degree arson, possession of a weapon of mass destruction – both felonies – and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Thursday’s incident was the third time law enforcement responded to cases involving Munshi and domestic violence against his parents.
 |
According to court records, Munshi twice attempted Thursday to burn his mother and father’s house where he also resides, once by trying to light a propane line and once more by trying to light a homemade weapon of mass destruction – six aerosol cans taped together with paper towels used as fuse.
According to court records, Munshi hit his mother as she tried to stop him from burning the house down.
Munshi was being held in lieu of $500,000 at the Cherokee County Detention Center on Monday. In addition to posting bond, a condition of Munshi’s release is that he have no contact with his parents or be in the vicinity of their property.
At the time of Thursday’s incident, he was facing a charge of burning of personal property – a mahogany night stand – at the same address on Oct. 22. He was released on a $5,000 bond from the Oct. 22 incident. A disposition hearing for that charge is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2026.
On Aug. 30, he was arrested and charged with larceny and possession of stolen property – a 2024 Norstar dump trailer belonging to Cherokee County government. Both charges are felonies. He was freed on those charges after posting $10,000 bond.
On Aug. 8, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge
of communicating threats – “to take a baseball bat to smash victim’s vehicles and to burn the victim’s home down,” according to court documents. The victims were, once again, his parents. That charge was dismissed without leave by the district attorney.
Aside from traffic citations, Munshi previously had a clean record.