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

[muddlehead]

Maybe I missed it
Nothing about his parents / siblings
Adopted - orphaned - hates normal old timey families of mom dad kids because he never had one?

Likely wrong
Just thoughts

 

[CuriousCricket]

Is this meant to imply that cut hair contains nuclear DNA?
To my knowledge it is the hair follicle at the scalp that contains nuclear DNA but not the shaft.

Are you saying they have figured out how to produce a full DNA profile using DNA collected from he shaft? I’ll have to figure out how that could be done, I can’t see that it could.
The hair shaft does not contain cell nuclei, but it does contain mitochondria.
So it makes sense that hair shafts could contain mitochondrial DNA but not nuclear DNA.
Mitochondrial DNA comes from our mother, so it shouldn’t be useless.

Laws deciding what can be used would be limited by what can biologically be present.
But if a sample of hair is taken at a crime scene- it could be with or without follicles.
That seems like a defense attorney’s goldmine, if the DNA is not contained in a cell attached to a hair. Who is to say it didn’t come from some other source?

I get the biology but the details of the tech here are beyond me
Am I missing something?

IMO

I don't know the science, just that the new science is currently under discussion for the Heuermann trial. Nuclear DNA testing at issue in Gilgo Beach murder case. Here's what it is.

 

[Cryptic]

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.[

I would not doubt it. Many sex predators know their prey- whether children or adults.

Knowing the prey means being aware of the habits of the targets as well, as their likes and dislikes, what approaches work, and what approaches do not work.

Thus, they can become pretty popular with the target audience.

 

[gremlin444]

I thought the same thing about the distance of commute to his high school and came up with some reasons.
Maybe his family is Catholic?
Maybe the school has a rugby team and he wanted to get a scholarship to play rugby in college?

He did play rugby at Fenwick and did play in college.

IMO

St. Ignatius is another Catholic high school in the area--it also has a rugby team and is a bit closer to his house depending on car or public transit. It's also much bigger and has a very good reputation in the Chicago area.

So, at the very least, a choice was made in selecting Fenwick as opposed to it being the only Catholic boy's school in the area with a rugby team. Just not sure the reason why.

 

[indicolite22]

Maybe I missed it
Nothing about his parents / siblings
Adopted - orphaned - hates normal old timey families of mom dad kids because he never had one?

Likely wrong
Just thoughts

His family is on SM, but we can't sleuth them here. Not much recent info though and nothing that could help explain his actions.

His old fb account is still active (last post in 2013):

Log into Facebook

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www.facebook.com

 

[AngTxGal]

I don't know the science, just that the new science is currently under discussion for the Heuermann trial. Nuclear DNA testing at issue in Gilgo Beach murder case. Here's what it is.

Interesting argument, seems like a smoke screen to me… but I’m no expert.
Genetics in medicine is vast- so the funding is enormous and research with pharmaceutical applications is growing at lightning speed. That doesn’t mean the forensic applications have caught up.

IMO

 

[RedHaus]

I’m confuzzled for sure- I suppose a person who is bipolar could swing like that
Someone will have to chime in and enlighten us

He could, after all, use a different name. DREW has experience with that, right ANDY?

I am not the someone @AngTxGal is looking for... I only have a BA in Psychology from long ago.

But your two posts, nearly back to back, made me wonder whether AM has a Dissociative (Multiple) Personality Disorder - Jekyll and Hyde plus more?

And last Saturday, could the most evil of his personas have emerged as the dominant player? Pure speculation, IMO.

 

[OneLove]

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

My hypothesis is he's had "intermittent/explosive rage" issues since childhood combined with a bit of "injustice collector" grudges. Factors that lend to this theory are possibly his far far from home catholic high school (was he kicked out of public schools, given this mandate by juvenile court judge, escape from local bad reputation, etc?), reports of his broodiness, inexcusable shortness with students' parents, persistent sour attitude once he knew he'd not be offered another year's contract, and bulging at the seams angry "death stare" at random unknown hikers in the state park that had caused him zero problems. My guess is he thought with school starting next week, he'd never be caught and he needed this *release* before beginning yet another school year wherein e knew from too many past experiences he'd have to "play nice" in order to last the school year. I wouldn't be surprised if his previous several "tours of duty" saw him commit clandestine acts of violent release just before school started, though hopefully w/o being outright murderous.

 

[AngTxGal]

St. Ignatius is another Catholic high school in the area--it also has a rugby team and is a bit closer to his house depending on car or public transit. It's also much bigger and has a very good reputation in the Chicago area.

So, at the very least, a choice was made in selecting Fenwick as opposed to it being the only Catholic boy's school in the area with a rugby team. Just not sure the reason why.

So you are curious if the choice to attend an inconvenient private Catholic school had something to do with behavioral issues, in high school and trying to get him on the straight and narrow??

I worked at a private boarding school when I was in college, and the students were a mix of kids with money and kids with money that had been kicked out of other schools. Little angels… all of them. Oh the stories, resourceful snots.

Well he went to college and graduated, maybe he grew up.

If I have to ignore what I think is a perv motivation, I’m at a loss. Something is quite off
He doesn’t fit any of these categories my brain has explored.
- on the spectrum, high functioning
- spoiled and entitled, never worked a day in his life or accepted consequences
- financial issues and struggling to make ends meet
- incel
- history of physical violence

At this point these, or multiples of these coupled together) seem plausible
- mental illness, meds interactions, or off meds, or new illness
- substance abuse
- traumatic brain injury
- incompetent teacher
- loner, hasn’t quite found his tribe
- suffered too many failures, giving up on life

Does not compute, need more info
IMO

 

[RedHaus]

The fact that the mom took her children to safety and then told them to run as fast and far as they could, makes me realize that she, too, could have run with them and completely escaped the attack.

RSBM
This has been nagging at me too, @SMK777. We will never know why she ran back to the scene of the crime, other than it was presumably driven by love.

But I have been trying to put myself in her terribly awful situation. And if I knew AM had a weapon and had used it on my husband already, in a crazy psycho frenzy, I wonder if I would run back to scene.

I might actually choose - if I was thinking clearly - to run to the Visitor Center with my kids to get LE help for my husband.

Now, one scenario that would change my decision was if I DID NOT know AM was armed and dangerous.

So, what if the Brinks discovered AM doing something unseemly. Maybe Mom immediately got the kids away from this stranger. And when she went back she found Mr. Brinks gravely injured. And by the time she could process the situation, she was run down and attacked by AM.

Sorry for the graphic post. I am just trying to make sense of the senseless.

IMO.

 

[OneLove]

......your two posts, nearly back to back, made me wonder whether AM has a Dissociative (Multiple) Personality Disorder - Jekyll and Hyde plus more? .......

Certainly possible, or psychotic break, but there's several factors that lead me to lean more toward explosive rage and injustice collector. Also, listening to a friend who was an avid rugby player in college, it is def a sport wherein one can act out their aggressive anger. This friend described his games as leaving him feeling pleasantly satiated & drained almost as in a sexual release. Then they all went to bars to drink beer and sing rugby songs together afterward. If AJM used rugby for both release of pent up anger *and* a way of being able to socialize even though otherwise socially awkward but hasn't had that since, he might have suffered. Though an avid runner, it's generally a solo sport and without the aggressiveness and comraderie of rugby.

 

[AngTxGal]

RSBM
This has been nagging at me too, @SMK777. We will never know why she ran back to the scene of the crime, other than it was presumably driven by love.

But I have been trying to put myself in her terribly awful situation. And if I knew AM had a weapon and had used it on my husband already, in a crazy psycho frenzy, I wonder if I would run back to scene.

I might actually choose - if I was thinking clearly - to run to the Visitor Center with my kids to get LE help for my husband.

Now, one scenario that would change my decision was if I DID NOT know AM was armed and dangerous.

So, what if the Brinks discovered AM doing something unseemly. Maybe Mom immediately got the kids away from this stranger. And when she went back she found Mr. Brinks gravely injured. And by the time she could process the situation, she was run down and attacked by AM.

Sorry for the graphic post. I am just trying to make sense of the senseless.

IMO.

Jumping in here
For me the feeling of being torn between kids and husband would unimaginable.
If she ran back, she believed her kids had a chance to get away
She also believed she could help her husband

I suppose how close they are to each other would indicate something, if far apart dad may have passed and he ran the mom down, or she was critically hit defending him nearby

We’ve just come out of Idaho Four, so the possibilities of a stabbing death have reached a new level. No idea what kind of knife, number of stab wounds, how long it took

We have to realize that as they were dying neither parent knew for certain their kids were actually safe. Ouch, that hurts
I hope they comforted each other

Tough
IMO

 

[SMK777]

RSBM
This has been nagging at me too, @SMK777. We will never know why she ran back to the scene of the crime, other than it was presumably driven by love.

But I have been trying to put myself in her terribly awful situation. And if I knew AM had a weapon and had used it on my husband already, in a crazy psycho frenzy, I wonder if I would run back to scene.

I might actually choose - if I was thinking clearly - to run to the Visitor Center with my kids to get LE help for my husband.

Now, one scenario that would change my decision was if I DID NOT know AM was armed and dangerous.

So, what if the Brinks discovered AM doing something unseemly. Maybe Mom immediately got the kids away from this stranger. And when she went back she found Mr. Brinks gravely injured. And by the time she could process the situation, she was run down and attacked by AM.

Sorry for the graphic post. I am just trying to make sense of the senseless.

IMO.

Yes, your scenario would definitely make sense.
Some posters had pointed out that in addition to being a loving wife she was a registered nurse and went back to help him medically. But what tools did she have? Your scenario makes more sense.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

RSBM
This has been nagging at me too, @SMK777. We will never know why she ran back to the scene of the crime, other than it was presumably driven by love.

But I have been trying to put myself in her terribly awful situation. And if I knew AM had a weapon and had used it on my husband already, in a crazy psycho frenzy, I wonder if I would run back to scene.

I might actually choose - if I was thinking clearly - to run to the Visitor Center with my kids to get LE help for my husband.

Now, one scenario that would change my decision was if I DID NOT know AM was armed and dangerous.

So, what if the Brinks discovered AM doing something unseemly. Maybe Mom immediately got the kids away from this stranger. And when she went back she found Mr. Brinks gravely injured. And by the time she could process the situation, she was run down and attacked by AM.

Sorry for the graphic post. I am just trying to make sense of the senseless.

IMO.

I've had this same thought.

I would like to think I would be courageous enough to run back and help a loved one who was being attacked by a knife-wielding stranger, but I can't swear to it. I guess you can't be sure what you would do until you're faced with the terrifying reality of having to make that choice.

From the start a part of me has wondered if Cristen knew what she was going back to.

It's another thing that (creepy "death stare" aside) might play into AM not looking particularly threatening. The more pictures I see of him, the more difficult I'm finding it to describe him. He looks unusual in a way that is difficult to put into words.

 

[indicolite22]

McGann worked at Northwoods Fine Arts Academy as a 5th-grade teacher. Parents'/students' accounts:

"My kids would come home and say he was one of their top three favorite teachers," the mother said. "Like, they just really liked him."

"The first time he came to our school, my friend for some reason said she had a bad feeling about him," one daughter said. "But I was like, he's nice. If he wasn't associated with someone, he would just sit back and stare."

The other daughter added "he just let us play on our computers, and he would stare at us a lot."

'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

 

[Arkay]

Well, he choose a career teaching early grade children sort of unusual for a young male, imo

I didn’t teach in an elementary school, but from life experience it is still unique to have young male teachers in the lower grades. I have a daughter and three grandkids, and even here in liberal NYC, most of the young males I’ve seen at a grade school are either admin., the janitor or a gym teacher. Every now and again there may be one young male teacher who’s usually instructing in Math or Music.

The other daughter added "he just let us play on our computers, and he would stare at us a lot."

Yikes! That’s not teaching! Of course the kids at that age will love a teacher who lets them play, instead of providing rigorous instruction and developing modes of learning that involve all the students.

Staring at the kids. UGH. Detestable right from the start.

JMO and JME.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Throwing this random thing in here. I don't think they wanted the cut hair for HIS DNA. I think they wanted it to see if there was anything (more) to prove it was him. As in any foreign DNA that belonged to the Brinks, or pollen that is only in the park, etc. JMO, but I think they already had plenty of trash diving DNA to get them on their arrest journey.

 

[MollyHarps]

Now that law enforcement has made clear that this was a random attack and that the children were not targets, it leads to the conclusion that an argument between the father and the suspect must have escalated.

The fact that the mom took her children to safety and then told them to run as fast and far as they could, makes me realize that she, too, could have run with them and completely escaped the attack. She was only killed because she went back to help her husband. Tragic all around, as the children would still have their mom had she continued to run with them.

I wish we knew how the initial encounter began.

That part of it’s just so sad.

I feel it must’ve been a scuffle first and the knife got branded later - I just feel if my husband was under attack knife attack and I had two young children with me hed want me to run with them. I wouldn’t return to scene until I knew I was safe

Vice versa if I was under attack and he could get my children to safety I’d want him to run.

 

[RedHaus]

The more pictures I see of him, the more difficult I'm finding it to describe him. He looks unusual in a way that is difficult to put into words.

RSBM
Isn't it odd many of us thought the man 'looks unusual in a way that is difficult to put into words' before we saw his face, by just looking at his back!

 

[Ghostwheel]

RSBM
This has been nagging at me too, @SMK777. We will never know why she ran back to the scene of the crime, other than it was presumably driven by love.

But I have been trying to put myself in her terribly awful situation. And if I knew AM had a weapon and had used it on my husband already, in a crazy psycho frenzy, I wonder if I would run back to scene.

I might actually choose - if I was thinking clearly - to run to the Visitor Center with my kids to get LE help for my husband.

Now, one scenario that would change my decision was if I DID NOT know AM was armed and dangerous.

So, what if the Brinks discovered AM doing something unseemly. Maybe Mom immediately got the kids away from this stranger. And when she went back she found Mr. Brinks gravely injured. And by the time she could process the situation, she was run down and attacked by AM.

Sorry for the graphic post. I am just trying to make sense of the senseless.

IMO.

I keep thinking that the parents or mother simply put them selves in the way so the kids could escape. I know I would have. If the father was being stabbed and she got the kids to a place where she could tell them to run to the visitors center, she might have still been hearing her husband scream and went back to see if she could help him. ETA: Or she might have heard him STOP screaming and expected the killer to be gone and went to see if she could help. OR the killer could have been approaching as she sent the kids off and she just did what she could to make sure he didn't get past her. Again, I would. I'd give everything I had to give my family/kids the best chance of safety. We don't have enough information to know where everyone was, yet.