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A teacher who admitted to killing a couple he didn’t know in a brutal stabbing attack at an Arkansas state park was denied bond Friday as authorities try to figure out the suspect’s motive for what they describe as “one of the most heinous” crimes they’ve worked.
Andrew James McGann, 28, of Springdale, is charged with two counts of capital murder in the July 26 killings of 43-year-old Clinton David Brink and 41-year-old Cristen Amanda Brink. He was arrested on Wednesday after a five-day manhunt and a flood of tips.
The Brinks, who had just moved to the area from North Dakota, were hiking with their daughters, ages 7 and 9, at Devil's Den State Park on Saturday when they were killed in what police are calling a “completely random” attack. The children were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, police said.
At a brief court appearance on Friday morning, McGann was denied bond and appointed a public defender. Prosecutors said the state will not be waiving the death penalty in the case.
Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar said authorities are trying to determine a motive for the killings and said Thursday in a press conference that they have no reason to believe McGann knew the family.
McGann was taken into custody at Lupita’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop in Springdale just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. Investigators were able to track him down based on a description of the suspect's vehicle, police said. Police also matched his DNA to blood found at the crime scene, Hager said.
The dramatic arrest happened right as the hairdresser had just started doing a fade on McGann’s hair. The hairdresser later posted on social media that the ordeal left her “shaking.”
Shortly after his arrest, McGann admitted to the killings in an interview with police, according to Maj. Stacie Rhoads, commander of the department’s criminal investigation division.
“He did indicate that he committed the murders,” Rhoads said. When asked to elaborate, she said: “I would call it an admission.”
“In my 27 years that I’ve been with the State Police, this is probably one of the most heinous that we’ve had, especially the aspect of just how random it was,” Rhoads added.
Officials said the father was stabbed first, approximately half a mile into the park. The mother ushered her children to safety before returning to help her husband. She was also stabbed to death.
Authorities have not said if the girls witnessed both their parents being killed.
McGann had recently moved to the area from Oklahoma and had been hired to work at a local school though he had not yet started, officials said. He had previously worked in school districts in Oklahoma and Texas.
The Brinks had recently moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas. Their water was connected less than two weeks ago, Mayor David Faulk said.
Clinton Brink was supposed to start working as a milk delivery driver on Monday in the Fayetteville area, according to Hiland Dairy, his employer. Cristen Brink had been licensed as a nurse in Montana and South Dakota before moving to Arkansas.
Rhoads said the couple’s children were not harmed in the attack thanks to the actions of their mother.
“We believe that the mother took them to safety, and then returned to help her husband,” she said.
The Brink family said the couple died “heroes protecting their little girls.”
