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

[Cedars]

An ambush suggests premeditation. He came to the park with the intent to kill. Judging from his eyes he was full of hate and resentment, but why?

Imo, it's not rational, so there's not going to be a rational explanation.

Closest thing I can think of is thrill. Guy had a long held secret desire/fantasy to act this out. Finally decided to do it for real.

JMO

 

[indicolite22]

An account from his last position (5th grade teacher at Sand Springs, OK):
They say that all kids loved Mr. McGann but were creeped out at times. To some students he was one of their favorite teachers.

'Our teacher last year': Sand Springs family reacts to Devil's Den arrest

The man arrested for the double murder at an Arkansas state park taught at Sand Springs last school year. 2 News Oklahoma's TJ Eckert visited with a family shocked to see the news.

www.kjrh.com

 

[Possum_AR]

My mother is a teacher and has to get fingerprinted as part of the her licensing process. Is it possible that the perp was not actually a licensed teacher? He moved around and taught in states with less stringent qualifications for educations. Oklahoma loosened their requirements and qualifications for teachers recently, teachers no longer need a degree and in some cases can teach without a license. Not sure if this means a background check is not done. MOO.

He was licensed in Oklahoma in Oct 2024 and that license is recognized in Arkansas as they allow reciprocity between states.

 

[acutename]

That is most likely why they could easily catch it. I bet he has a criminal history, nothing that could get him hired in Texas to work at a school, but then again, if it's from when he was a minor, it could be a sealed record that wasn't available.



I mean they did that with Rex Huberman, the Gilgo Beach Killer, they saw him drop a pizza box into the trash along with the soda he was drinking, grabbed it as soon as he was out of sight, then collected the DNA! That is how they caught him.

article above said the car was 30 miles from the crime scene and registered in AK

 

[justtrish]

I'm not sure whether that blood was from being punched, or just the consequences of the extremely messy business of stabbing people.

I'm amazed forensic examiners were able to detect 3 different types of blood in a crime scene located in the woods 1/2 mile from a parking lot. Those people are unsung heroes, too.

I do wonder if he dripped blood on the victim in a location that was not near the victim's stab wounds or if he dripped blood as he exited the area or touched a tree or something that left blood in a location that could not be the victims.

 

[indicolite22]

He was a 5th-grade teacher at Spring Creek Elementary during the 23/24 school year and left of his own accord to work out of state.

Man accused of killing Arkansas parents on trail taught at BA, Sand Springs

A man accused of killing two parents on an Arkansas hiking trail is tied to at least two Oklahoma school districts. Broken Arrow Public Schools and Sand Springs Public Schools released statements.

www.kjrh.com

But he didn't move out of state in 2024. He stayed in Oklahoma for another year at a different school. Why did he resign?

 

[justtrish]

An account from his last position (5th grade teacher at Sand Springs, OK):
They say that all kids loved Mr. McGann but were creeped out at times. To some students he was one of their favorite teachers.

'Our teacher last year': Sand Springs family reacts to Devil's Den arrest

The man arrested for the double murder at an Arkansas state park taught at Sand Springs last school year. 2 News Oklahoma's TJ Eckert visited with a family shocked to see the news.

www.kjrh.com

Kids are really good at picking up energy. What in the world was going on with this guy? Bipolar and off meds? Highs and lows.. sometimes best teacher ever, other times kids are creeped out. Happy and making jokes sometimes other times staring at parents and one word answers. Was he having serious mood swings from day to day or week to week? Was he on drugs or an alocholic and trying to self ween at times? I've seen some mention steroids, but recent photos don't really seem to suggest he was a weight lifter of any serious nature. I don't know, it's baffling. Usually with these killers everyone loved them and so they hid all their dirty secrets well or everyone had something bad to say or didn't really know the person at all. This one is all over the place.

IMO

 

[ForensicPatterns]

I do wonder if he dripped blood on the victim in a location that was not near the victim's stab wounds or if he dripped blood as he exited the area or touched a tree or something that left blood in a location that could not be the victims.

Wouldn't be surprised if someone fought back, he got hurt (psychopaths have a very high pain tolerance!), and he just kept on attacking whomever was fighting back. More often than not, there will be skin evidence under the victims nails is he strangled anyone and scratches on his arms/hand area from the attack. He probably resorted to stabbing immediately once someone fought back to get it over faster the killing. That is definitely the impulsivity of psychopaths when they pivot to adapt to their plans for killing and that's when they get messy with their crime scene, like blood trails to lots of their DNA suddenly easy to collect.

 

[Cedars]

I do wonder if he dripped blood on the victim in a location that was not near the victim's stab wounds or if he dripped blood as he exited the area or touched a tree or something that left blood in a location that could not be the victims.

Good point...maybe they found blood in the parking lot near where his car had been, since he was bleeding enough to leave visible blood in his car.

 

[OneLove]

Are you just saying here that his lawyer may decide to use TBI (ie the Richard Allen kind with quotes included) as a strategy or are you saying there's actually reason to believe he has TBI?

Both

 

[indicolite22]

Imo, it's not rational, so there's not going to be a rational explanation.

Closest thing I can think of is thrill. Guy had a long held secret desire/fantasy to act this out. Finally decided to do it for real.

JMO

He enacted his sick fantasy, so why the menacing look? Whatever was bugging him before the murders is still there.

 

[fred&edna]

any interviews with his friends yet. i'm curious what they thought of him... his personality away from work, have they noticed changes, etc.

did he have hobbies, or a partner.

 

[Charlot123]

Drug use after the hire wouldn't be detected, ykwim?

Some drugs make a person feel like a super power, which might have been happening on the trail. And, some drugs fill the body with rage.

I'm not saying the guy was on drugs, but not ruling it out.

jmopinion

Eta: if he was on drugs, it will show up in his hair.

Some drugs they don’t check for. This guy could be using kratom daily and none the wiser. It is not available for sale in AL or AR but not controlled at the federal level which means, people use it. There are so many odd things in the smoke shops, and one simply can’t control everything.

 

[SMK777]

I'm not sure where people were getting that the dad must've had a confrontation or interaction with McGann prior to the attack.

The mother's "Why are you doing this?" question aligns with it being a sudden, random ambush style of attack

I had figured it was a more or less known type of escalating rage argument, but of course I could easily be mistaken.

If someone begins stabbing during what had been a verbal argument, you would still be inclined to say, Why are you doing this?

 

[cckp72]

He enacted his sick fantasy, so why the menacing look? Whatever was bugging him before the murders is still there.

True, but I'm equally as glad that we haven't seen a thumbs up selfie

 

[Jade]

An ambush suggests premeditation. He came to the park with the intent to kill. Judging from his eyes he was full of hate and resentment, but why?

Well, he choose a career teaching early grade children sort of unusual for a young male, imo, it started out all fun and games but in reality getting the girls alone and interacting wasn’t unnoticeable, was in fact noted as improper and reported, and that totally put him in a bad mood about the whole thing.

Now he was stuck with jobs he really didn’t want or care about because they were onto him but he probably needed the pay to sustain himself so he slogged through hating everyone and everything for it not working out as he imagined.

Imo, he planned a deadly attack with a parent as the "target" in a secluded area and seeing the Brinks figured he would kill them both in front of the kids who he might have envisioned as stunned in horror by the act deep in the woods where he then would collect at least one of them to tote off.

He enacted his sick fantasy, so why the menacing look? Whatever was bugging him before the murders is still there.

He's still mad because his plan did not work out at all.

All imo

 

[bajaflash]

Then he was applying to states for work who didn't do thorough background checks let alone police who didn't communicate with neighboring states as often, kind of like they did back before the 80's, Ted Bundy was the first time in US history where neighboring states were sharing info of matching patterns in cases, that's how they put together it was him!

So I bet you if anything states with loose background checks was the most likely reason why this happened.

There was nothing to find on a background check. He has no criminal record.

 

[cottonweaver]

favoritism to certain girls
but no evidence of inappropriate behavior thus given the option to resign

 

[ForensicPatterns]

There was nothing to find on a background check. He has no criminal record.

You'd be surprised to learn unless you get a court order and approval from a judge, if someone has a SEALED record from when they were a minor or sponged it from their record, a school wouldn't know anything criminal about a person. I guarantee you he has a criminal record, we'll just have to wait for the FBI who are consulting and helping the local police in Arkansas, what they pull up about on this.

 

[Jade]

There was nothing to find on a background check. He has no criminal record.

Backing up with a msm link quote:

McGann, who has no known adult criminal history, made his first court appearance Friday morning in Fayetteville.

Mother killed in Arkansas stabbings went back to help husband after getting her children to safety, police say - WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale