Even as Andrew James McGann sits in jail accused of the ghastly double murder of parents on a hike at a state park in the Ozark Mountains, key questions linger about the motive.
McGann, 28, pleaded not guilty Thursday to two charges of capital murder, Prosecuting Attorney Brandon Carter told reporters following an arraignment.
McGann’s attorneys have declined to comment on the case. He is next due in court November 14, Carter said.
The former teacher was arrested after a days-long manhunt as he got his hair cut at a salon in Springdale, Arkansas, about 30 miles north of Devil’s Den State Park. He is being held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, according to police and jail records.
Here are some of the key questions about the July 26 fatal stabbing that remain unanswered:
Was the attack targeted or random?
While McGann admitted to killing Cristen Brink, 41, and her husband Clinton Brink, 43, during an interview with investigators, why he allegedly did it remains a mystery.
Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar previously said the killings appeared to be “a completely random event” because there’s “absolutely no indication, no reason whatsoever to believe there was any connection at all” between the Brinks and McGann.
McGann had recently been hired as a “teacher candidate” by Springdale Public Schools, according to a district spokesperson, but had not yet started working there. State records show he is currently licensed to teach elementary and middle school grades in at least three states: Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Most recently, he was a fifth-grade teacher in the Sand Springs Public Schools in Oklahoma, just west of Tulsa, according to the district.
What happened during the attack?
The couple and two of their daughters were hiking at the 2,500-acre Devil’s Den State Park in northwest Arkansas when McGann approached them, police said. The park has thick vegetation and little to no cell phone service.
Clinton Brink was first ambushed by McGann, police said, and after witnessing the attack, Cristen Brink ran away with her daughters, ages 7 and 9.
The mother returned to help her husband, Arkansas State Police Maj. Stacie Rhoads said during a news conference, but she lost her life, too.
“They (the Brinks) absolutely protected those girls to their fullest extent, to the point that it cost them their lives,” Washington County Prosecuting Attorney Brandon Carter said. “We’re in awe of this mom and dad. We’re also in awe of these girls.”
Andrew McGann, 28, was arrested in connection with the July killings of hikers Clinton and Cristen Brink at a state park in the Ozark Mountains. – Washington County Sheriff’s Office
At some point, a hiker on the trail saw the Brink children and found the bodies of their parents, according to a probable cause document filed by prosecutors. It’s unclear how much time passed before the hiker was able to call 911 and report the deaths due to the lack of cell phone service in that area of the park.
The couple’s bodies were found on the Devil’s Den Trail, audio from first responders indicated. While searching the trail, first responders heard shouts, scanner audio indicates, though it’s not clear from whom.
Authorities obtained a photo of a suspect and later, items seen in that photo were found during a search of McGann’s home, along with knives, Rhoads said.
However, it is unclear if the weapon used in the crime was among the collected items, Rhoads added. Officials have also not said what weapon they believe McGann used in the stabbing.
How did investigators track the suspect down?
Authorities launched an intense manhunt for McGann that ended four days after the murders when he was quietly apprehended at a hair salon.
But it’s unclear what may have led authorities to the hair salon.
The information needed to track down the suspect “all started with those two little girls,” said Hagar, the police chief.
At first, the only description of the suspect police had was provided by the children who bore witness to the gruesome attack. But McGann was injured in the ordeal, resulting in blood loss, which allowed investigators to establish a DNA profile, officials said.
Where are the victims’ children?
The Brinks’ daughters were not harmed and are safe with relatives, police have said. The Brinks also have a third daughter who was not on the trail with them that day, authorities said.
The family had recently moved from another state to Prairie Grove, a small town in northwest Arkansas near the Oklahoma state line, according to police.
Their relatives asked for privacy in a statement before McGann was arrested.
“Clinton and Cristen died heroes, protecting their little girls and they deserve justice. They will forever live on in all of our hearts,” their relatives said.
Next month the Prairie Grove community is slated to host a community fundraiser to support the Brink family, Prairie Grove Mayor David Faulk told CNN affiliate KTHV.
The money raised from the event will go directly to the Brink children in an effort to give them “a breath of fresh air” and can be “one less thing they have to worry about,” he said.
“No matter what, there’s going to be a stigma in the back of their mind that they will remember this is the place that they’ve lost their parents,” Faulk said, adding he hopes the Brink girls also remember Prairie Grove was a place where the community came together and supported them.
CNN’s Dianne Gallagher, Andy Rose, Dalia Faheid, Rebekah Riess and Hanna Park contributed to this report.
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