Mother killed in Arkansas stabbings went back to help husband after getting her children to safety, police say

CNN

2 days ago

Cristen Brink witnessed the unthinkable. Then she did the unimaginable.
While on a family hike at Devil's Den State Park on Saturday, Cristen's husband Clinton was ambushed and stabbed by an attacker, according to Arkansas State Police. First, investigators say, she ran away with their young daughters to get them out of danger. Then Cristen Brink went back to try to save Clinton.
'The mother did not return all the way to the car with the kids,' said state police Maj. Stacie Rhoads in a news conference Thursday. 'We believe that the mother took them to safety and then returned to help her husband.'
Investigators say the suspected attacker – identified as 28-year-old Andrew McGann – killed the parents as their girls, ages 9 and 7, told other adults at the park what happened. McGann faces two counts of capital murder.
'They 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.'
A hiker on the trail saw the Brink children and took them to safety, then found the bodies of their parents, according to a probable cause document filed by prosecutors. More time passed before the hiker was able to call 911 and report the deaths because that part of the park has no cell service.
Four days after the murders, an intense manhunt ended 30 miles from where it started, with McGann quietly taken into custody at a hair salon. State police say he admitted to the crimes during police questioning.
McGann, who has no known adult criminal history, made his first court appearance Friday morning in Fayetteville. He wore a striped jail uniform and did not speak except to acknowledge his name. A judge granted McGann a public defender and ordered him to remain jailed without bond pending his arraignment on August 25.
While investigators are releasing more details about the circumstances of the grisly crime, they are still trying to determine why the killings happened.
'We have no reason to believe that there was any known association between our suspect and our victims,' said Carter. 'There's nothing to indicate that at all. It appears to be a completely random event.'
At first, the only description of the suspect police had was provided by the children who had just seen their parents attacked.
'All the information that we're working off of started with two little girls that witnessed the most horrific thing that you could ever imagine,' Carter said.
But another witness, who saw a man leaving the trail with blood on his face, was able to identify the suspected killer's car, a Kia Stinger, despite tape on the vehicle that investigators believe was designed to obscure the model. Searching Arkansas registration records ultimately led them to make McGann their chief suspect, according to Rhoads.
'Everyone speculates that there was a lot of thought that went into this to conceal his identity,' she said. 'I will say that, on the other side of that, he was also very sloppy.'
The same car described in public advisories as the suspect's vehicle was parked in front of Lupita's Beauty Salon & Barber Shop, where a lanky man with stringy blonde hair walked in and asked for a fade.
'Something felt off about him. He looked pretty scary,' stylist Adriana Ruiz told CNN affiliate KFSM Thursday. 'He didn't look like he was okay. He was very timid. His eyes just looked sunken. Kind of like, soulless.'
When officers arrived, McGann acknowledged the car was his, according to police. 'Investigators noticed in speaking with McGann that there were several cuts on his hands,' a court document states.
Surveillance video shared with CNN by the salon showed McGann did not put up a fight as he was handcuffed.
'He was completely cooperative,' Rhoads said.
McGann's car was searched, and blood was found inside, according to the probable cause statement.
'After being provided his Miranda warnings, he made statements indicating that he had committed the two homicides,' the document states.
The motive in the killings of Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, remains a mystery, investigators say. McGann had moved to Arkansas earlier this year and was set to become an elementary teacher in the Springdale Public Schools, the district told CNN.
Statements from school districts in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas indicate McGann had been hired to be a teacher in at least five different districts in those states since 2022: Sand Springs Public Schools, Broken Arrow Public Schools, Lewisville Independent School District, Springdale Public Schools and Plano Independent School District. He did not log any classroom time with students in the Springdale and Plano school districts.
At Donald Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas, McGann 'was placed on administrative leave in the spring of 2023 following concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favoritism,' the Lewisville Independent School District said in a statement to CNN.
'An internal investigation found no evidence of inappropriate behavior with students,' the district said. 'The teacher resigned from the district in May 2023.'
Later, McGann worked at Plano Independent School District for four days in August 2024. He resigned before the first day of school, the district told CNN.
'All district employees must undergo strict hiring processes and procedures as prescribed by law, including background checks and fingerprinting, to which there were no findings upon the time of his hire,' the district said.
Despite understandable concern being raised by McGann's proximity to young students, the prosecutor said they had no evidence of any intention to physically harm the Brinks' daughters. 'From what we know right now, we have no indications that suggest the girls were his target,' Carter said.
In addition to McGann's admission of killing the Brinks, state police say his DNA matches blood evidence they collected.
'The defendant in this case is innocent until he's proven guilty, but I am confident that we have the right defendant in this case and that the public need not worry going forward,' said Carter.
'We have absolutely no reason to believe there was anyone else involved,' added Col. Mike Hagar, director of the Arkansas State Police.
The lead prosecutor says he will not shy away from pursuing the death penalty if McGann is convicted.
'This case certainly has the aggravators that exist where a jury should get to decide what the punishment for this defendant is. It is my intention to pose that to a jury,' Carter said. 'The state will not be waiving the death penalty in this case.'
As the wheels of justice begin their slow turn in the case, officials say their immediate thoughts are to make sure the daughters who witnessed the attack – along with a third daughter who was not at the park on Saturday – get what they need as they move forward without their mom and dad.
'They have very, very strong family support in place,' Hagar said. 'I have no doubt that those three girls are going to be well taken care of.'
CNN's Dianne Gallagher, Caroll Alvarado and Stephen Watts contributed to this report.