Investigators believe that Andrew James McGann, a 28-year-old man from Springdale who was arrested in relation to Saturday’s double homicide at Devil’s Den State Park, was the murderer.
During a press conference on Thursday, Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar made the announcement and said that McGann was connected to the crime scene by DNA evidence.
When the attack occurred, Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, were hiking a route with their two daughters, ages 7 and 9. “All children are safe with family,” Hagar added, adding that the couple’s third daughter was not at the park.
Officials stated they don’t think there is any connection between the suspect and the victims, but they did not disclose any possible motives.
According to Hagar, it seems like an entirely random occurrence. It was a knife, as far as the weapon in question was concerned. Our victims were stabbed to death.
According to Hagar, McGann’s DNA matches that of the crime site. Additional test findings from the state crime lab are also pending.
According to ASP Maj. Stacie Rhodes, “We have information that the husband was attacked first.” We think the woman carried the children to safety and then went back to assist her husband, rather than carrying them all the way back to the car.
At a press conference later that evening, state police said that McGann had been taken into custody at 4:57 p.m. on Wednesday in Springdale.
According to Northwest Arkansas television station KHBS 40/29, McGann was arrested inside a Springdale salon while receiving a haircut. McGann still looks to be wearing a barber cape in his mugshots.
According to Rhodes, McGann was fully cooperative at the time of his arrest. Although officials acknowledged that McGann claimed he was guilty, they would not disclose what he said following his arrest.
Following the arrest, police searched McGann’s Springdale home and car and discovered multiple knives in addition to objects that matched the image provided by state police on Tuesday, according to Rhodes.
We did gather some knives from the house, but we are unsure if that is the weapon. According to Rhodes, we won’t know until we try it.
Rhodes outlined the general chronology of the multi-agency inquiry, starting at around 2:40 p.m. on Saturday when Arkansas State Police received the service request. The two girls were located by officers and gave a description of the offender. Additional information and a description of the suspect’s car, which investigators eventually identified as a KIA Stinger, were provided by another park witness.
According to Rhodes, the more than 500 public tips that detectives got on the killings assisted them in identifying the suspect’s vehicle.
As we focused on the car, it became evident that it was a KIA Stinger. We used that information to investigate other owners and found our suspect, Rhodes said. After that, we went looking for him and found him in a neighborhood barbershop in Springdale. We then arrested him after speaking with him and getting statements from him that showed he had committed these horrible crimes.
Rhodes refused to go into detail about how investigators determined McGann’s precise location, claiming that his arrest was the result of straightforward, traditional police work.
Rhodes responded, “I’ll just say this: There’s rarely a case that we work that doesn’t include those types of things,” when asked if technology such as license plate readers or other surveillance was utilized to find McGann. Thus, we made use of everything. All of those technological elements were engaged when I say that everyone was working together and that nothing was overlooked.
State, local, and federal law enforcement authorities, including the FBI, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and the sheriff’s offices of multiple counties in Northwest Arkansas, are working together on the ongoing investigation.
I don’t know how they discovered this so quickly, but as soon as it was made public, my phone began ringing nonstop from our special agent in charge of the FBI in Little Rock, from the sheriffs in the northwest region of Arkansas, from the local police chiefs, from HSI [Homeland Security Investigations], you name it, Hagar said. Almost every organization you can imagine got in touch with us right away to ask for any assistance we could require. I can tell you that they had important responsibilities, but I can’t tell you exactly what those duties were.
The public shouldn’t worry about this case continuing ahead, according to Washington County prosecutor Brandon Carter, who expressed his confidence that we have the proper person.
For the sake of the Brink family, Carter stated, “I intend to use the full weight of my office to bring this defendant to justice.”
Carter responded that it would be up to a jury to decide whether to pursue the death sentence.
According to Carter, there are aggravators in this case that could allow a jury to determine the defendant’s penalty. I plan to ask a jury that question. In this instance, the death sentence will not be waived by the state.
For now, Devil’s Den State Park is still closed.
Note: Before making the adjustment, police first reported McGann’s full name as James Andrew McGann.
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