OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:22 AM – Thursday, July 31, 2025
A 28-year-old schoolteacher has been charged in connection to the murder of a couple at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas.
On Wednesday, Arkansas State Police announced the arrest of James Andrew McGann who was charged with two counts of capital murder in the killings of 43-year-old Clinton David Brink and his wife, 41-year-old Cristen Amanda Brink.
According to authorities, Clinton and Cristen were found dead on Saturday afternoon on a walking trail in the park. Their young daughters, ages 9 and 7, who were with them on the hike, were left uninjured despite being in the vicinity of the killings. They are safe with family members.
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Police stated that after a dayslong manhunt, McGann was arrested shortly before 5 p.m. local time at a barbershop in Springdale.
District Superintendent Jared Cleveland stated that the suspect had been hired to teach in the Springdale Public School district this upcoming school year but had not yet begun his employment.
“This individual has not at any time come into contact with Springdale students or the families we serve,” Cleveland said in a statement, adding that no additional information is available at this time due to the ongoing investigation.
“Our entire team extends our deepest condolences to the Brink family. Their children are especially in our thoughts and prayers,” he said.
According to the school district, McGann was a fifth grade teacher in Broken Arrows, Oklahoma, during the 2023-2024 school year.
A Broken Arrow Public Schools spokesperson also stated that the suspect had passed the required background checks.
Previous to his arrest, authorities had described the suspect as a “White male with a medium build, who was seen wearing a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants, a dark ballcap, sunglasses and fingerless gloves who was also carrying a black backpack.”
They also had released a composite sketch depicting a man wearing a baseball hat, noting that he had been seen “driving toward a park exit in a black, four-door sedan” – possibly a Mazda with tape covering the license plate.
Police have not yet revealed how the Brinks were killed or a motive for the attack.
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