DPS Secretary Mike Hagar discusses the arrest of Andrew James McGann (Ainsley Platt/Arkansas Advocate)
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing two people at Devil’s Den State Park over the weekend, officials announced Thursday.
Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Brandon Carter said the man arrested and charged in the case, Andrew James McGann, is “innocent until proven guilty.” Still, Carter said it was his “intention to use the full weight of my office to bring this defendant to justice for the Brinks’ family.”
“This case certainly has the aggravators it is my intention to pose that to a jury, so the state will not be waiving the death penalty in this case,” Carter said.
The two victims, Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were visiting the popular state park south of Fayetteville on July 26 with their two daughters, ages 7 and 9, when officials say the parents were stabbed and killed in a “heinous” and “completely random” act of violence.
The girls were not injured and are safe with family, according to an Arkansas State Police news release.
State Police officials said at a press conference Thursday that a motive was still under investigation.
The family had recently moved to the state from North Dakota, and were originally from California, according to officials.
Investigators have not identified any connection between the Brinks and the 28-year-old suspect, officials said.
McGann was arrested Wednesday without resistance by ASP special agents at a barbershop in Springdale.
Officials said “close to ten” videos sent in by members of the public helped them eventually determine that the vehicle seen leaving the park was a Kia Stinger.
Investigators then used descriptions provided by the Brinks’ daughters and another witness who had seen the man leave the park to search through vehicle ownership data and narrow their search to McGann.
The isolation and lack of cell service at the location of the crime also posed a challenge for investigators.
“I want to thank the public for providing images and videos” that “directly resulted in this person being brought into custody,” Department of Public Safety Secretary Mike Hagar said. “It allowed our investigators a starting point to move forward.”
Maj. Stacie Rhoads, commander of ASP’s Criminal Investigation Division, said when investigators interviewed McGann, he made an “admission” that he had committed the murders, but she would not elaborate further on what he specifically said. Investigators believe he acted alone.
State police learned Thursday that DNA collected from blood left at the scene matched McGann’s, Hagar said.
Rhoads said they have not identified any previous “adult” criminal history, nor are they aware of any connections to other “incidents” in Arkansas.
McGann had recently moved to the area and got a job working at a local school district after stints living in Oklahoma and Texas and working in schools in those states, officials said. Springdale Public Schools confirmed it had hired McGann but said he had not yet begun employment, 40/29 News reported.
ASP officials said they were still looking into whether he had a history of mental illness.
Rhoads said the case was one of the most disturbing of her 27-year career.
“This is, it was every agent’s worst nightmare,” Rhoads said. “In a typical investigation you can typically narrow down your suspect pool. We had no way to do that in this case, so it made it particularly difficult.”
She also said the suspect was “very sloppy.”
Once investigators determined McGann was their suspect, he was taken into custody “within the hour,” Rhoads said.
Rhoads said investigators found unspecified evidence at McGann’s home consistent with an image police previously released of the suspect. Rhoads said investigators have not yet identified if any of the knives they collected from McGann’s home match the one used to kill the Brinks.
Hagar emphasized that state parks are safe for the public despite the violence of the deaths. Violence of this magnitude is quite rare at state parks, according to reporting from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Rhoads also criticized “keyboard warriors” for social media posts that “absolutely hindered” their investigation into the killings and caused “hurt” and “emotional toil” to the victims’ family.
“Misinformation hurts,” Hagar said, adding that the family expressed to him that the ensuing social media discussion has resulted in people speculating and saying things that “simply aren’t true.”
“They don’t deserve to be victimized any further than they already are,” Hagar said.
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