Police arrested Arkansas teacher Andrew McGann over a double killing at Devil’s Den State Park. Photo / Getty Images
Police in Arkansas have arrested a school teacher over the killing of a married couple hiking with their two children at Devil’s Den State Park.
State police arrested Andrew James McGann, 28, at a barbershop in Springdale on Wednesday afternoon (local time), Arkansas State Police said on Wednesday, following a days-long search and an “overwhelming” response from the public, who sent in tips from across the country.
Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were “fatally attacked” while hiking with their 7- and 9-year-old daughters in the 1011-ha park, police said, adding that the children were not injured and were being looked after by relatives.
The media gathered on Thursday outside Lupita’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop, where the suspect was arrested shortly after sitting down for a haircut. The establishment’s owners said in a Spanish-language Facebook video that McGann was silent when he arrived at their business, and chose a haircut from the options presented to him without speaking.
The stylist had begun cutting the sides of his hair when police entered the property, asking McGann if he was the owner of a vehicle outside. After McGann confirmed, the salon’s owners said, police handcuffed him and took him away – in the salon’s haircutting cape. Police also collected McGann’s hair samples, the owners said.
State police received reports of a double homicide at Devil’s Den State Park at around 2.40pm on Saturday and found the couple’s bodies on a walking trail.
“The park is located in a remote and rural area, where the terrain is rugged, vegetation is thick and there is no cellphone service,” police said at the time. All trails have been closed since.
Authorities asked park visitors and local residents to check their photos and videos, including from phones, GoPros and security cameras, for images of anyone who might have been the killer. They later released a composite sketch and then a photo, taken from behind, of a man dressed in black.
Arkansas State Police Major Stacie Rhoads said video footage the public sent in had been “instrumental” in helping them identify the suspect. She added that police were still investigating the motive but confirmed that McGann had recently moved to the area and gotten a job with a local school.
Springdale Public Schools Superintendent Jared Cleveland confirmed in an email on Thursday that McGann had been hired as a teacher candidate for the coming school year but had not yet begun work. “This individual has not at any time come into contact with Springdale students or the families we serve,” Cleveland wrote.
McGann was previously a teacher in Oklahoma, the Associated Press reported, citing a statement from Sand Springs Public Schools. McGann was listed as a fifth-grade teacher on the website of a fine arts school in the district. He previously taught in the Broken Arrow Public Schools district, local media reported.
McGann is charged with two counts of capital murder, a crime that Arkansas law says is punishable by the death penalty or life in prison without parole if he is convicted. It is unclear whether McGann has a lawyer.
Authorities don’t know if McGann knew the Brink family before their paths crossed at the state park. McGann lived in Springdale, and the Brink family had recently moved to Prairie Grove, according to the city’s mayor, David Faulk, who said their water service had just been connected 10 days before the killings.
The cities are about 30 minutes apart, and Prairie Grove has its own school district. The killings happened south of both cities.
“Clinton and Cristen died heroes, protecting their little girls, and they deserve justice,” the couple’s family said in a statement. “They will forever live on in all of our hearts.”
Clinton Brink was due to start working as a milk delivery driver Monday in Fayetteville, his employer, Hiland Dairy, told the AP. Cristen Brink was a licensed nurse in South Dakota.
Arkansas State Police Director Colonel Mike Hagar thanked local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for their work in the case. “Because of their hard work and investigative skill, we were able to take a monster off the streets, and bring relief to Clinton and Cristen’s precious girls and to the rest of the citizens of Arkansas,” he said at the news conference on Wednesday.
“No news can heal the enormous harm done to the Brink family in last weekend’s crime, but this announcement is a comfort and reassurance for our state,” Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.