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 instructor who agents 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 residents defender and scheduled his arraignment for Aug Arkansas State Police Col Mike Hagar reported Thursday that agents 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 residents since Saturday State Police arrested McGann on Wednesday at a barbershop in Springdale about miles kilometers north of the park mentioned Maj Stacie Rhoads commander of the department s criminal research division The Associated Press has left messages at numbers listed for McGann who has no criminal record Administrators explained 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 commented if the girls ages and witnessed both their parents being killed They were not hurt and are being cared for by family members executives reported McGann was cooperative during the arrest and admitted to killing the couple soon after Rhoads commented Police also matched his DNA to blood detected at the crime scene The development is distressing even to the police In my years that I ve been with the State Police this is ostensibly one of the majority heinous that we ve had especially the aspect of just how random it was Rhoads commented 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 distributed a composite sketch and a photo that evidenced a person of interest from behind The police then narrowed down the suspect s conveyance 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 functioning teaching licenses in Arkansas Texas and Oklahoma according to each respective authorities certification website No infractions or suspensions are noted on his constituents state licensures in any of those states The Associated Press has reached out to all three state coaching 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 explained the guide came across as pretty cold and disinterested in his students Marcum stated her son came home from school upset about selected of McGann s behavior which she published to the school s principal McGann resigned from the Lewisville posting in May the district disclosed in a message 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 announcement from Sand Springs Residents Schools near Tulsa The district stated McGann passed all background checks Law enforcement hasn t contacted Sand Springs Community Schools regarding the study district spokesperson Lissa Chidester disclosed McGann had not yet started his new job in Arkansas at Springdale Residents Schools declared Jared Cleveland the district superintendent He stated the district could not provide more information citing the review The casualties had just arrived in Arkansas The Brinks and their three daughters had in recent days 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 explained the couple died heroes protecting their little girls