Clinton David Brink, 43 & Cristen Amanda Brink, 41 found on trail - Devil's Den State Park, AR- 26 July, 2025 #2 *Arrest*

[arielilane]

*Previous information listed the suspect's name as "James Andrew McGann." It has been corrected to Andrew James McGann.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1950940582919934315

 

[Cedars]

I hear ya. He's been charged with double murder and that should be the focus? I can understand that.

However, I think more info is forthcoming. We'll learn more, perhaps at the presser this afternoon. I do think speculation is fair, considering the adults he killed were with children at the time and he's a teacher. We don't have to ignore the scene around the murder.

Still curious why he would carry a giant bag just to get into a knife fight with adults.

jmopinion

Yes.

I guess the point I'm making is that the clues to what led to this horrible crime have nothing to do with the actions of distant school officials.

 

[Sundog]

"Prosecutors told 5NEWS that McGann, who will be housed at the Washington County Detention Center, will appear in court on Friday morning, after which a probable cause affidavit will be released."

What happens now that Andrew McGann was arrested in connection with the Devil's Den murders

Prosecutors tell 5NEWS McGann could be in court as early as Friday morning.

www.5newsonline.com

Good that the probable cause affadavit will be released tomorrow so we can finally have a better understanding of what happened out there. I wonder if the court hearing tomorrow morning will be available to watch.

 

[Kalanit]

Dbm

 

[Omega Man]

Are steroids known to cause aggro behaviour?

Agree, there is still something that does not add up, like a missing piece of the puzzle

They are. Just look up "roid rage".

 

[AngTxGal]

There was a report and an investigation. The investigation found the vibes were off ("Poor Classroom Management" and "Poor Professional Judgement"), but did not reveal any criminal activity. He resigned and went on to be a creeper teacher elsewhere.

Those words are what admins use when they don’t want to rehire. That isn’t an ‘investigation’. That is Kick the Creep to the next school.

Exactly how do we think the school investigated?
Do we think they called in children and questioned them? What would they say? Are principals trained forensic interviewers of children for cases of sexual assault? No

Or did they call in the parents of children and question them? No way, that would red flag a district for poor hiring practices.

Or did they hear something from a teacher or a student or a parent and tell the they would “handle it internally?” And actually did nothing but ask him to resign?

I think the last one. And they didn’t use the Mandatory Reporter Hotline.

Mandatory reporters call a hotline and report ‘suspicions’ of child abuse or neglect so the proper channels can conduct an investigation.
Those investigative channels are not an elementary principals, they are social workers and law enforcement.

IMO

 

[AngTxGal]

I disagree. That's conspiracy thinking, that there's some type of plot.

Schools are run at the local level and the only power they have is to hire and fire their own teachers.

They cannot take away the teacher's qualifications, they cannot speculate about what is going on with an individual, they cannot tell another school to hire them.

IMO, if it is necessary, teaching could be governored by the kind of oversight organization that lawyers work under, the bar system. But allegations against lawyers have to be proven in a mini court, they can't just be whispers and parents taking personal dislike to people.

JMO

Agree with everything you said except…
A real investigation beyond the school district would take place if they had called the phone number…as a mandatory reporter.

If we find out even one little girl was inappropriately touched above the waist, or below the waist, or was given candy to touch him below the waist, or to watch him pleasure himself…
And that little girl was threatened that he would kill her family if she told anyone…
Then there is no evidence for an elementary school principal to find.
That is why people should call a Mandatory Reporter.

Recently in Texas a situation happened that is similar, a story of a teacher being a creep. The school handled it internally. Two years went by- and then little girls began to come forward.
The guy was free for two years… no one protected all the kids he was in contact with for two years. The number of victims coming forward in lawsuits is over 15, and the number possible is unknown. And people lost their jobs right and left, because they kept it quiet.

IMO

 

[Omega Man]

His mug shot…

Detainee Information

Well, that's a death stare allright.

 

[Possum_AR]

So possibly CNN had it wrong ? Oops.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/30/us/arkansas-hikers-killed-arrest?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc&recs_exp=most-read-article-end&tenant_id=popular.en

His booking photo appears to show McGann still wearing a barber’s cape as he was processed into the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville.


From this link they stated the mug photo was taken with the smock still on.
You explanation is most likely correct & makes sense, though !

My .02 is that the one with straightened hair was taken soon after his apprehension, & immediately after the haircut began, as sometimes the hairdresser will spray hair lightly with water before the cutting starts.
The second curlier one was maybe taken to show what his natural state looks like in case anyone recognizes him from previous crimes ?
Imo.

CNN is almost always wrong, lol

I browse Wash Co mugshots almost daily using their app. Many are wearing those. I noticed an uptick in usage about 1-2 years ago.

 

[The Zookeeper]

I’m not convinced that this man was attempting to kidnap a child. It just seems like an unlikely place and setting to try to take a child. I’m suspecting now that he is a very mentally ill person who became unhinged and went to the park intending to hurt someone. He may be psychotic, as he looks ill in the mug shot. He could possibly have schizophrenia. The moving around in his job could be due to mental illness that hadn’t been diagnosed.

In comparison, in the Brian Koberger case, Brian looks (and his statements indicate), that he is a sociopath, likely with a personality disorder. He lacks empathy or feelings for others.

In this case, Andrew looks mentally ill.

But this is just my opinion only as a RN who worked in a psychiatric hospital for many years.

 

[Omega Man]

Playing devil's advocate , and thinking what if completely un connected to targeting kids, and instead just an anti-social personality (hence the changes in jobs, clashes with management etc., strong opinions on everything etc.) , could it be race hate, as someone earlier alluded to the other couple in New Hampshire targeted potentially as a hate crime against bi racial couples (the mother in this instance appears perhaps Spanish/Mexican/Not sure just guessing)?

Went with this theory for a bit in my mind, but the cat being named Khan then doesn't fit .....

Maybe we will never know re motive if the mum was reportedly heard saying as alluded to on this thread 'why are you doing this' , also do we know the source for the reported quote ?

Khan may be a reference to Star Trek although I'm not sure if this type of guy would be into sci-fi. Or maybe Genghis Khan, who was famous for inter alia, number of wifes and children...

 

[Possum_AR]

You can see a lot of people at this jail wear those smocks. Screenshot from the app, but linking to the same data on their website

Detainee Intake Roster

 

[RedHaus]

I have found older images of him on the web and they don't have that blank stare. What happens to turn someone into a blank stare zombie?

Schizophrenia? May have started to emerge at about age 22, six years ago?

 

[StarryStarryNight]

Yes.

I guess the point I'm making is that the clues to what led to this horrible crime have nothing to do with the actions of distant school officials.

I would have to disagree on that.

 

[PunishThenForgive]

IMO, the point is not his vibes as a teacher in classrooms.

The point is his behaviour in Devil's Den Park, when he arrived with a knife and allegedly stabbed to death Clinten and Cristen.

I agree: What we know for sure is that he murdered two adults. So maybe he has attacked adults in the past—maybe along a forested running trail in Oklahoma or Texas.

However, we also know the following:

• He had a huge duffle on his back
• He attacked a family with two young girls
• Both girls are elementary-school age, and the older is about to start a grade the murderer taught in the past.

Plus, according to Sierra Marcum, whose son was one of McGann’s former students, said this about him:

[He was] the “most standoff teacher" she had ever met.

"Pretty cold. You could ask him a question and he would give you a one word response," she said. "Overall just pretty disinterested in his students."

Over the course of the school year, her son reported inappropriate behavior by McGann toward the girls in his class. It included being "very touchy with the girls and having them on his lap and making comments to them and keeping them back from recess."

Source

So it is possible that McGann has been maligned by Ms. Marcum. Perhaps he actually adores children (especially girls) just as much as he adores cats, but hates parents. Or hates adults in general.

But I can see why people want LE to check out cases involving children in Texas and Oklahoma. An adult won’t fit in that hockey bag.

IMO

 

[AngTxGal]

i don't know the psychology but it seems that predators/killers like this seem to give-in to their dark desires bit by bit... and growing bolder.

it seems very difficult to prevent a creep from becoming a monster.

jmo

YES that is exactly the psychology of pervs, there is no cure.
They escalate and become braver, and move from pictures to videos to actual children.
And the age of the children decreases over the years.

That is why they lose their privacy rights- if convicted they must register as a sex offender.
You can then look up where you live and see where they are- photos, address, employer…
Why? Because we should be kept safe from any sexual predator who has acted on their sick feelings of attraction.
Why the concern? Because their rate of repeated offense is extremely high.

It is a sickening horrific deep dive into a rabbit hole of a pit of depravity
I’ve taken that rabbit hole

IMO

 

[Serononin]

Why didn't he buy a hair clipper and do it himself instead of being out in public. Man he is not the smartest.

Jmo

Especially since he obviously has some kind of shaving equipment at home already, given the lack of a beard

 

[Inthedetails]

Khan may be a reference to Star Trek although I'm not sure if this type of guy would be into sci-fi. Or maybe Genghis Khan, who was famous for inter alia, number of wifes and children...

First thing I thought of was Khan Academy (which I like!).

jmopinion

 

[AngTxGal]

I agree: What we know for sure is that he murdered two adults. So maybe he has attacked adults in the past—maybe along a forested running trail in Oklahoma or Texas.

However, we also know the following:

• He had a huge duffle on his back
• He attacked a family with two young girls
• Both girls are elementary-school age, and the older is about to start a grade the murderer taught in the past.

Plus, according to Sierra Marcum, whose son was one of McGann’s former students, said this about him:




Source

So it is possible that McGann has been maligned by Ms. Marcum. Perhaps he actually adores children (especially girls) just as much as he adores cats, but hates parents. Or hates adults in general.

But I can see why people want LE to check out cases involving children in Texas and Oklahoma. An adult won’t fit in that hockey bag.

IMO

And he has been charged with 2 counts of Capital Murder…not manslaughter
Why? Maybe because he killed two people during the commission of a felony-

an attempted kidnapping?

What was in the child-sized duffle bag? Sedatives? Duct tape? zip ties?

IMO

 

[PunishThenForgive]

I’m not convinced that this man was attempting to kidnap a child. It just seems like an unlikely place and setting to try to take a child. I’m suspecting now that he is a very mentally ill person who became unhinged and went to the park intending to hurt someone. He may be psychotic, as he looks ill in the mug shot. He could possibly have schizophrenia. The moving around in his job could be due to mental illness that hadn’t been diagnosed.

In comparison, in the Brian Koberger case, Brian looks (and his statements indicate), that he is a sociopath, likely with a personality disorder. He lacks empathy or feelings for others.

In this case, Andrew looks mentally ill.

But this is just my opinion only as a RN who worked in a psychiatric hospital for many years.

This is what I thought, too, but why the large duffle bag? That really bothers me. (Plus the accusation of at least one parent.)

Of course, mental illness, especially as serious as schizophrenia, can make it hard to keep a job. And yet he was able to mask well enough to continue getting new jobs. Could it be that McGann is OK while on meds, but decompensates when off?

Hopefully, we’ll know more at today’s press conference.

IMO