New details in a double homicide at Devil Den’s State Park in Arkansas are emerging. Authorities announced on Thursday that the wife who was killed in the murders had rushed back to “help her husband” before they were both fatally stabbed.
According to law enforcement, Clinton David Brink, 43, was initially attacked, and his wife, Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, led her two kids to safety before heading back to the scene to help her husband fend off the attacker.
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New details
“The mother did not return all the way to the car with the kids,” Maj. Stacie Rhoads of the Arkansas State Police said during a press conference. “We believe that the mother took them to safety and then returned to help her husband.” Police said that the couple’s children were found roughly half a mile into the park.
Police have charged Andrew James McGann, 28, a former school teacher, with two counts of capital murder. McGann has been taken into police custody after being arrested at a barbershop in Springdale following a five-day manhunt and hundreds of tips from citizens.
Authorities said that McGann admitted to killing the couple.
Motive remains unclear
Investigators said that it doesn’t appear McGann knew the victims or their kids, and a motive for the attack has yet to be revealed. McGann is being held without bond, and it’s unclear if he has any legal representative, according to the Associated Press.
DNA evidence linked suspect to crime
Law enforcement reports that McGann’s DNA matched DNA at the scene. Police note that he appeared to have suffered a wound that led to blood loss at the location of the attack, which authorities used as part of DNA evidence to link him to the murders.
Investigators searched McGann’s house in Springfield, which is about 30 miles north of Devil’s Den, as part of a search warrant. Police said that items were discovered at the home “that are consistent with being involved in this particular crime.”
McGann was a teacher in Oklahoma until spring of this year. He left that role to take a job in another state, according to CBS News. Authorities said he had no prior criminal history and no indication of prior mental health problems.
Victims died ‘heroes’ protecting little girls
The double homicide victims’ bodies were found on Saturday at Devil Den’s State Park in Washington County, roughly 140 miles from the state capital of Little Rock.
Their family called the couple “heroes protecting their little girls.”
The couple had three children, two of whom were with them at the time of the attack, while a third child did not accompany them on the trip.
