{KXLG – Little Rock, AR} A South Dakota couple who recently moved to Arkansas were identified as the victims of a double homicide in a state park last weekend. Clinton David Brink, 43, and his wife, Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were fatally stabbed while hiking with two of their young daughters at Devil’s Den State Park, according to authorities.
The family had recently relocated from South Dakota to Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Clinton Brink, a former employee of the Prairie Farms Dairy facility in Sioux Falls, was set to begin a new job as a milk delivery driver. Cristen Brink had previously held a nursing license in both South Dakota and Montana.
Police have charged Andrew James McGann, a 28-year-old teacher, with two counts of capital murder in the killings. Arkansas State Police arrested McGann at a barbershop in Springdale on Wednesday, following a five-day search and hundreds of tips from the public. Authorities say McGann, who has no criminal record, has admitted to the killings and that his DNA was matched to blood found at the scene.
According to officials, the killings appear to be random, and a motive has not yet been determined. The husband was reportedly stabbed first, and the mother ushered her two young daughters, ages 7 and 9, to safety before returning to help her husband. She was also stabbed to death. The girls were not physically harmed and are now with family members. A third daughter was not on the hike with her family.
McGann, who graduated from Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, had recently been placed on administrative leave from a teaching position in Texas due to concerns about his classroom management. He passed background checks in two other Oklahoma school districts and was scheduled to start a new job in Arkansas on August 11.
The Washington County prosecutor has indicated that a jury will have the option of sentencing McGann to the death penalty. He is currently being held without bond, and his arraignment is scheduled for August 25. The trails at Devil’s Den State Park have been closed to the public since the attack. The Brink family released a statement saying the couple died as “heroes protecting their little girls.”
Full AP News story below:
A 28-year-old teacher who authorities say admitted to fatally stabbing two hikers he didn’t know in an Arkansas state park bounced between four school districts in three states in recent years…