Charges updated for man accused of setting house on fire with propane torch

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Charges were updated for a man accused of setting a house on fire last month with a propane torch.

Robert Merritt, 51, of Columbia, was charged on Friday with first-degree arson and three counts of first-degree domestic assault after a grand jury indictment was filed. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. He was previously charged with second-degree arson and three counts of third-degree domestic assault.

According to court documents in previous reporting, Merritt and a victim were involved in an argument for multiple days and Merritt allegedly threatened to burn down the house several times. Police wrote that Merritt allegedly “warned everyone inside the house that he was going to set it on fire multiple times.”

The argument supposedly started around the state of the home, the statement says. The house was set on fire on Feb. 17.