A mistrial was declared as the trial of a Camdenton man charged with killing his next-door neighbors was set to begin.
Judge Kenneth Hayden declared a mistrial after a 94-member jury panel was seated and sworn in and jury selection was conducted in the case of Steven Ray Endsley, 59, according to online court records. The case was moved on a change of venue from Camden County to Laclede County.
The case is scheduled to be back before Hayden on July 6 for trial resetting.
Endsley was arrested Sept. 3, 2016, in the alleged double homicide of Danielle M. Smith, 27, and her mother, Teresa A. Jackson, 61, following a weeklong investigation of two bodies found in the debris of a mobile home fire in Camden County.
Endsley was their next-door neighbor and, according to witnesses, had been in an ongoing disagreement with Smith over her sexual orientation. The FBI assisted the Camden County Sheriff's Office in investigating the possibility of the murders being a hate crime.
Endsley is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of second-degree arson.