Teacher charged in fatal stabbing of couple on a hike with their kids is ordered held without bond

LITTLE ROCK Ark AP A -year-old educator who leadership say admitted to fatally stabbing a couple he didn t know who were hiking with two of their children in an Arkansas state park faced a judge for the first time on Friday Andrew James McGann has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the killing Saturday of Clinton David Brink and Cristen Amanda Brink The judge ordered McGann to be held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center assigned him a masses defender and scheduled his arraignment for Aug Arkansas State Police Col Mike Hagar noted Thursday that officers are trying to determine a motive for the attack at Devil s Den a -acre -hectare state park about miles kilometers northwest of Little Rock Its trails have been closed to the constituents since Saturday State Police arrested McGann on Wednesday at a barbershop in Springdale about miles kilometers north of the park disclosed Maj Stacie Rhoads commander of the department s criminal scrutiny division The Associated Press has left messages at numbers listed for McGann who has no criminal record Representatives noted the husband was stabbed first about half a mile kilometers into the park then the mother ushered her children to safety before returning to help her husband She was also stabbed to death Executives have not reported if the girls ages and witnessed both their parents being killed They were not hurt and are being cared for by family members agents disclosed McGann was cooperative during the arrest and admitted to killing the couple soon after Rhoads reported Police also matched his DNA to blood determined at the crime scene The event is distressing even to the police In my years that I ve been with the State Police this is ostensibly one of the preponderance heinous that we ve had especially the aspect of just how random it was Rhoads reported Police flooded with tips McGann was arrested after a five-day search and hundreds of tips The State Police collected photos and videos from other hikers who had been on the trails but didn t witness the attack Police also published a composite sketch and a photo that exhibited a person of interest from behind The police then narrowed down the suspect s car which had tape over the license plate using surveillance footage from homes and businesses near Devil s Den Within an hour of identifying McGann as a suspect police captured him at the barber shop Carter indicated the state would give a jury the option to sentence McGann to the death penalty Suspect taught in other states before Arkansas job McGann has developing teaching licenses in Arkansas Texas and Oklahoma according to each respective regime certification website No infractions or suspensions are noted on his residents state licensures in any of those states The Associated Press has reached out to all three state mentoring agencies McGann was placed on administrative leave in spring while he was employed at Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound Texas following concerns related to classroom management professional judgment and novice favoritism according to a spokesperson for the Lewisville Independent School District Sierra Marcum whose son was in McGann s fourth grade class stated the educator came across as pretty cold and disinterested in his students Marcum noted her son came home from school upset about several of McGann s behavior which she stated to the school s principal McGann resigned from the Lewisville posting in May the district stated in a comment He also taught at a small Oklahoma school district from the summer of until May this year He resigned to take a job in another state according to a message from Sand Springs Society Schools near Tulsa The district mentioned McGann passed all background checks Law enforcement hasn t contacted Sand Springs Masses Schools regarding the research district spokesperson Lissa Chidester revealed McGann had not yet started his new job in Arkansas at Springdale Community Schools revealed Jared Cleveland the district superintendent He reported the district could not provide more information citing the inspection The casualties had just arrived in Arkansas The Brinks and their three daughters had lately moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas Clinton Brink was supposed to start working as a milk delivery driver on Monday according to Hiland Dairy his employer Cristen Brink had been licensed as a nurse in Montana and South Dakota before moving to Arkansas The Brink family has commented the couple died heroes protecting their little girls