LIBERAL ? A mistrial was declared Friday in the trial of a man accused of setting fire to the camper where his two young sons were sleeping.

Robert Fox, of Liberal, has been charged with capital murder and first-degree murder in the deaths of Chance Fox, 6, and Rowdy Fox, 4.

His sons lived in Hooker, Okla., and were visiting their father when they died in the blaze in March 2004.

Testimony in the trial got under way Thursday, but on Thursday night prosecutors realized they didn’t have a report from a fire detective. Defense attorneys said the report would have made a difference in how they prepared.

“These things happen sometimes, and there’s certainly no ill will,” Seward County Atty. Don Scott said.

The prosecution described Robert Fox during opening arguments as a man who was familiar with fire and had even taken Chance to a fire station and requested a tour a week before the deadly blaze.

The defense described Fox as a man who overmedicated, mixing drugs with alcohol, after learning he had stage III colon cancer.

“I hated to see it because we’ve been waiting for it for a long time,” said Claude Burns, the victims’ grandfather. “And having a mistrial means we have to start over.”