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 community defender and scheduled his arraignment for Aug Arkansas State Police Col Mike Hagar mentioned Thursday that leadership 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 community 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 scrutiny division The Associated Press has left messages at numbers listed for McGann who has no criminal record Personnel disclosed 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 Bureaucrats have not revealed if the girls ages and witnessed both their parents being killed They were not hurt and are being cared for by family members personnel revealed McGann was cooperative during the arrest and admitted to killing the couple soon after Rhoads reported Police also matched his DNA to blood detected at the crime scene The scenario 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 noted 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 indicated a person of interest from behind The police then narrowed down the suspect s van 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 evolving teaching licenses in Arkansas Texas and Oklahoma according to each respective regime certification website No infractions or suspensions are noted on his masses state licensures in any of those states The Associated Press has reached out to all three state instruction 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 apprentice favoritism according to a spokesperson for the Lewisville Independent School District Sierra Marcum whose son was in McGann s fourth grade class declared the educator came across as pretty cold and disinterested in his students Marcum commented her son came home from school upset about particular of McGann s behavior which she broadcasted to the school s principal McGann resigned from the Lewisville posting in May the district stated in a announcement 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 comment from Sand Springs Population Schools near Tulsa The district reported McGann passed all background checks Law enforcement hasn t contacted Sand Springs Residents Schools regarding the scrutiny district spokesperson Lissa Chidester disclosed McGann had not yet started his new job in Arkansas at Springdale General Schools explained Jared Cleveland the district superintendent He disclosed the district could not provide more information citing the analysis The casualties had just arrived in Arkansas The Brinks and their three daughters had in recent weeks 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 reported the couple died heroes protecting their little girls