Suspect arrested in killings of couple hiking with daughters in Arkansas
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A suspect has been arrested in the killings of a couple who were attacked on an Arkansas hiking trail Saturday, state police said Wednesday.
James Andrew McGann, 28, of Springdale, was arrested at 4:57 p.m. Wednesday at a business in Springdale and is charged with two counts of capital murder, Arkansas State Police said in a statement.
He is accused of killing Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, who were attacked Saturday afternoon in front of their daughters while they were hiking at Devil's Den State Park, police have said.
He was arrestedat a barber shop after a dayslong manhunt, police said.
Col. Mike Hagar, the state police director, thanked state police for working long hours in the search for a suspect, as well as federal agencies for their assistance.
"Because of their hard work and investigative skill, we were able to take a monster off the streets and bring relief to those two precious girls and the rest of our citizens," Hagar said.
Authorities did not mention a suspected motive Wednesday or how the killings occurred.
"We're still exploring and determining exactly what that motive was," Arkansas State Police Maj. Stacie Rhoads told reporters Wednesday night.
McGann had recently moved to Arkansas from Oklahoma and had gotten a job to work at a local school, she said.
The victims' daughters are 7 and 9 years old. They were not injured and are safe with family members, officials said.
Katrina Hutchins, Clinton Brink's sister, said they moved to the state about three weeks ago.
A police sketch of the Devils' Den State Park murder suspect.Arkansas State Police
State police were notified about the killings at Devil's Den shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday. Officials released a sketch of a suspect and asked the public for help. They said witnesses saw a black, four-door sedan with tape partly covering its license plate.
"Clinton and Cristen died heroes, protecting their little girls and they deserve justice. They will forever live on in all of our hearts," the family said in an earlier statement.
Rhoads said police were declining to release much information about what led to McGann's arrest Wednesday.
"We still have a lot of work to do in terms of securing a conviction, because that's our next big focus right now," she said.
It was not immediately clear whether McGann had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. A phone number for any relatives could not be found in online public records Wednesday night.
Devil's Den State Park is around 26 miles south of Springdale, a city of around 84,000 in the northwestern part of the state.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said northwest Arkansas has been "a community that has been absolutely heartbroken."
"Our entire state is grieving for the tragic loss and senseless and horrific crime that's taken place," she said. She asked Arkansans to pray for the victims' family.
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I heard it on the news this morning. Thank gawd! I hope he gets the DP.
What I really want to know is why and how
And those poor little girls.
Yeah, I read it and felt good that he had been caught. Hopefully the evidence is really good for a conviction at trial.
And while I can agree that this guy deserves the DP, personally I'm against the DP as I see it as a tremendous waste of resources. The average time spent on death row is 26 years and comes at a much higher annual cost than anybody serving a life sentence, almost 3 times higher. Add in the public money spent to defend the convict around all the appeals and court cases and it just doesn't make sense to me.
I would rather that instead of the DP the sentence would be life without parole. Odds are the person will spend almost the same amount of time in prison and if it's a true life without any chance of early parole, the person would be removed from the public for the rest of their life at a lower cost.
I do hope the girls can heal and move on from this, this is one hell of a bitter burden to bear for them.
You make a good case against the DP. And now I'm wishy washy on it.
I have been wishy washy about it for years. I do believe the families should have a say in the penalty after the pros and cons are discussed with them. Maybe no minor children but perhaps the parents of the victims. Whatever will help them heal should be strongly connsidered.
The children here are only 7 and 9. The families of the couple who were murdered should be asked
If they demand the death penalty those kids will be required to testify at every appeal for the next 25 years. It's just not worth the damage it would do to those children. They'll never forget what happened but the last thing they need is to be forced to relive those memories over and over in court until this monster's appeals have been exhausted and they finally put him down.
Witnesses don’t testify at Criminal appeals. It’s just lawyers.
However, the kids might have to testify at parole hearings for victim impact.
You're absolutely right. Those poor little girls have enough trauma to deal with right now let alone for the next century
Same here, it's so senseless and I assume in front of their daughters
PS I saw a picture of the suspect, he looks like you imagine a serial killer should look
I read he was a teacher
Sorta he had been hired to teach in the next school year but had not yet actually taught.
He was a teacher in Texas, was placed on Admin leave so he quit and went to Oklahoma for a year, he left on good terms according to the school district, and was scheduled to work in Springdale this upcoming year.
He taught previously:
Thanks
Thanks