A Camdenton man has been arrested in the alleged double homicide of his next-door neighbors, a mother and daughter, following a weeklong investigation of two bodies found in debris of a mobile home fire early this past week in Camden County.
According to a news release from the Camden County Sheriff's Office, at approximately 1:30 a.m. Sept. 3, deputies and detectives from the Camden County Sheriff's Office, working closely with the Missouri State Highway Patrol SWAT team and the Jefferson City Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, arrested 54-year-old Steven Ray Endsley, Camdenton. Endsley was arrested for the murders of 27-year-old Danielle M. Smith and her mother, 61-year-old Teresa A Jackson.
Smith's and Jackson's bodies were discovered in the remains of their burned out trailer home south of Camdenton on the morning of Aug. 29. Their identities had not been released until their next of kin were notified, the Camden County Sheriff's Office said.
Endsley was their next-door neighbor and, according to witnesses, had been in an ongoing disagreement with Smith over her sexual orientation, the news release reports. The FBI is assisting the Camden County Sheriff's Office in investigating the possibility of the murders being a hate crime linked to that disagreement.
Endsley is charged with two counts of the class A felony of first degree murder, two counts of felony armed criminal action, one count of the class B felony of first degree burglary and one count of the class C felony of second degree arson. Endsley is being held without bond and will appear Oct. 4 in court.
Earlier coverage, posted at 5:40 p.m.:
A Missouri man has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of a mother and daughter whose bodies were found after a fire destroyed their trailer.
The Camden County Sheriff said 54-year-old Steven Ray Endsley was arrested early Saturday. He is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, burglary and arson in the Aug. 29 deaths of his neighbors, 27-year-old Danielle Smith and her mother, 61-year-old Teresa Jackson.
The sheriff said in a news release that Endsley had an ongoing disagreement with Smith over her sexual orientation. The FBI is helping to investigate whether the killings would be considered a hate crime.
Two other members of Endsley's family were taken into custody for questioning but had not been charged Saturday.
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