(WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ark.) — A teacher arrested in the murder of a married couple found stabbed to death on a trail in an Arkansas park was held without bond after a brief court appearance on Friday.
Andrew James McGann, 28, of Springdale, Arkansas, was appointed a public defender, according to ABC affiliate KHBS.
McGann is charged with two counts of capital murder in the killings of 43-year-old Clinton David Brink and his wife, 41-year-old Cristen Amanda Brink, Arkansas State Police said.
The Brinks were “fatally attacked” while out hiking with their two daughters at Devil’s Den State Park on July 26, police said.
Following a dayslong manhunt for the suspect, McGann was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a barbershop in Springdale, about 30 miles north of the park, police said. Investigators were able to track him down based on a description of the suspect’s vehicle, police said.
The state will not be waiving the death penalty in the case, according to Brandon Carter, the prosecuting attorney for Washington County.
During an interview with police following his arrest, McGann admitted to killing the couple, Arkansas State Police Director Col. Mike Hagar said during a press briefing on Thursday.
DNA from blood recovered from the crime scene also matched McGann’s DNA, Hagar said. The suspect had sustained cuts on his hands during a struggle with the victims, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.
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 to Prairie Grove from North Dakota, police said.
Their children, ages 7 and 9, were not harmed in the incident thanks to the actions of their mother, police said.
“We believe that the mother took them to safety, and then returned to help her husband,” Maj. Stacie Rhoads with the Arkansas State Police said during Thursday’s press briefing.
The couple has a third daughter who wasn’t at the trail that day, Hagar said.
Their children are safe and in the custody of relatives, according to police.
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