Clinton David Brink, 43 & Cristen Amanda Brink, 41 found on trail - Devil's Den State Park, AR- 26 July, 2025 #3 *Arrest*

[Hexe]

And why did he carry that huge duffle bag?

Looking at that pic... There is no way he would be able to stuff seven or nine years old kid into that. This bag is way too small.

This guy—this whole case—baffles me. I was shocked when we found out he is an elementary school teacher! How could someone who was just about to start the new school year be so unhinged?

Teachers are humans like the rest of the world. Not all of them choose this profession out of love for education, unfortunately, and they can be creeps like anyone else. They can have mental health problems too. If the system worked properly and unfit teachers were kicked out of the profession instead of just being tossed from school to school like a hot potato McGann likes would be sifted off very early. But it is what it is right now...

 

[Charlot123]

Looking at that pic... There is no way he would be able to stuff seven or nine years old kid into that. This bag is way too small.

Teachers are humans like the rest of the world. Not all of them choose this profession out of love for education, unfortunately, and they can be creeps like anyone else. They can have mental health problems too. If the system worked properly and unfit teachers were kicked out of the profession instead of just being tossed from school to school like a hot potato McGann likes would be sifted off very early. But it is what it is right now...

Sifting him off would not prevent the killings. Maybe not here and on another trail.
The truth is, even if we were not a teacher, he’d still be the same person and eventually, would do the same.

 

[Dotta]

Sifting him off would not prevent the killings. Maybe not here and on another trail.
The truth is, even if we were not a teacher, he’d still be the same person and eventually, would do the same.

Sure.
But at least,
he wouldn't have freaked innocent children at school.
School should be a SAFE place for kids.
Freaks should NOT have access to school.

JMteacher'sOpinion

 

[SMK777]

This guy—this whole case—baffles me. I was shocked when we found out he is an elementary school teacher! How could someone who was just about to start the new school year be so unhinged?

View attachment 608606
Source for this photo and the next: New Shocking Evidence

I agree, @Hexe, that he did dress like a flasher the day of the murders. He acted like a hunter, though, as he stood on the trail, looking down below.

View attachment 608608

And why did he carry that huge duffle bag?

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Source

The one he carried looks so old and worn. IIRC he used it as a coach, and likely when he was an athlete. Perhaps he didn’t have a backpack, and this was conveniently on hand.

Did he plan to murder a parent that day and simply needed something big enough to stuff his bloody clothes into? Or did he, as @AngTxGal and others suspect, plan to grab a small child?

Finally, why did he “admit” to the crimes, but then plead guilty? According to Frontline:

View attachment 608603

Arkansas has an insanity defense. Do his attorneys plan to use it?

IMO

They well might try.

 

[Betty P]

Looking at that pic... There is no way he would be able to stuff seven or nine years old kid into that. This bag is way too small.

Teachers are humans like the rest of the world. Not all of them choose this profession out of love for education, unfortunately, and they can be creeps like anyone else. They can have mental health problems too. If the system worked properly and unfit teachers were kicked out of the profession instead of just being tossed from school to school like a hot potato McGann likes would be sifted off very early. But it is what it is right now...

I attended a university with a very large education/psych department. They matriculated hundreds if not a thousand teachers a year. Most were very good, but some were not. Being smart enough to get through 4 years of college and earning a teaching certificate doesn't guarantee you'll be a good person.

<Mod snipped- OT>

 

[PunishThenForgive]

Looking at that pic... There is no way he would be able to stuff seven or nine years old kid into that. This bag is way too small.

(Snipped and bolded by me)

Perhaps, but duffles can expand (somewhat) and, more importantly, people can bend.

Spoiler: Speculation about child kidnapping

Source

Think of the sad case in which Sarah Boone suffocated Jorge Torres by zipping him into a suitcase:

[Prosecutor Jay argued that] “This defendant zipped Jorge Torres shut in a suitcase. She was able to do this because at the time of his death, he weighed 103 pounds.”

Source

The average weight range of a ten-year old girl is 54 to 106 pounds, according to Cincinnati Children’s.

The suitcase used by Sarah Boone:

Source

looks to me to be X-Large, so let’s say its volume is 130 liters.

Source

If a 103-pound man can fit into a 130-liter suitcase, I imagine a ten year old girl can fit into a 186-liter duffle.

Nonetheless, I think it more likely that AM killed who he wanted to kill and didn’t intend to kidnap a child. He didn’t run after the girls after he murdered their poor parents, after all.

IMO

 

[AngTxGal]

The LE very clearly stated Mr Brink was ambushed by McGann lying in wait.

We’ve been through this, that isn’t the wording LE used.

How could Clinton Brinks have been ambushed unaware and stabbed in the chest and also have died while protecting his daughters?

That doesn’t work

IMO

 

[AngTxGal]

It's possible that the structure of working a job full time helped him keep the monsters at bay, so to speak. With the lack of structure or connections over the summer months, perhaps his mental health deteriorated to the point of no return and his desire to kill took over. He could no longer hold it together. So tragic for the Brink family.

Perhaps he was a pedo, attracted to little girls and when the school year was over it was a lot tougher to be find little girls to sit on his lap and being around them for six hours five days a week?

To me- that explains it

IMO

 

[teeby]

(Snipped and bolded by me)

Perhaps, but duffles can expand (somewhat) and, more importantly, people can bend.

Spoiler: Speculation about child kidnapping

View attachment 608679
Source

Think of the sad case in which Sarah Boone suffocated Jorge Torres by zipping him into a suitcase:


Source

The average weight range of a ten-year old girl is 54 to 106 pounds, according to Cincinnati Children’s.

The suitcase used by Sarah Boone:

View attachment 608694
Source

looks to me to be X-Large, so let’s say its volume is 130 liters.

View attachment 608689
Source

If a 103-pound man can fit into a 130 liter suitcase, I imagine a ten year old girl can fit into a 186 liter duffle.

Nonetheless, I think it more likely that AM killed who he wanted to kill and didn’t intend to kidnap a child. He didn’t run after the girls after he murdered their poor parents.

IMO

My 10yo is tall for his age and could easily fit into an 18*18*35 duffle bag. Frankly, *I* would easily fit in there, if I were incapacitated and could be folded up.

 

[AngTxGal]

Looking at that pic... There is no way he would be able to stuff seven or nine years old kid into that. This bag is way too small.

Teachers are humans like the rest of the world. Not all of them choose this profession out of love for education, unfortunately, and they can be creeps like anyone else. They can have mental health problems too. If the system worked properly and unfit teachers were kicked out of the profession instead of just being tossed from school to school like a hot potato McGann likes would be sifted off very early. But it is what it is right now...

We have no idea how big the Brinks girls were, and little girls can range from size 5 to size 10, 40-70 pounds. Maybe it was their size that was important? Who knows?

I cannot tell how tall the Brinks parents were. We cannot say if one of those girls could fit or not- without knowing their size.
Pretty confident this is the duffle- Athleticogear.com it is a large hockey duffle.
3 feet long, 18 inches wide, and 18 inches tall

In addition- I”m not sure it matters if a child could fit? It only matters if he thought they could.
He is not a smart guy, he drove the get-away car with blood in it to get a hair cut during a manhunt, 30 min way from the a double murder.
Evidently he kept the bag- another bright move.
And blood was still in the car.

Not a smart guy

IMO

 

[Teche]

Thank you for the reminder that those pictures were people

Cristen doesn’t strike me as being tall from the pictures. I’m guessing a setter or libero
Clinton not so tall either- maybe 5’7” and 5’10” tops?? Just thinking if we played together what position would she be?

So sad when anyone loses their life in such a violent traumatic and senseless way
Heartbreaking for those little girls

IMO

My daughter played middle and high school volleyball as well as travel ball. Through her sophomore year, she held the setter position. She was moved to the outside hitter position even as only being 5’3”.

 

[SMK777]

DBM

 

[Ghostwheel]

Rsbm

Finally, why did he “admit” to the crimes, but then plead guilty?

I assume you mean Not Guilty. One thing to consider, the original report said he made statements that indicate he committed the crime. That isn't the same as saying "I did it". So the insanity plea is a possibility depending on what he originally said.

 

[bajaflash]

Even when you give a whole detailed yes I did it confession you still plead not guilty lol

 

[AngTxGal]

He butchered two people in broad daylight and managed to escape.

The question I thought we were pursuing is this one…
Did AJM have anger issues that have led to murder in the past?

If the above statement is true then these two must also be true
1- history of intense unprovoked anger
2- history of anger leading to violence against others
3- history of committing murder undetected

ONE- Unprovoked/ controlled anger in past
A statement from sports teammate- overreact in sports and with peers, overreactions make people uncomfortable.
Moved through elem ed, teaching- No lost temper reports peer, parent, child, or boss.

TWO- Anger leading to violence
No incidents of anger violence to another person

THREE- Undetected murder in past
Did he act as a skilled murderer who had gone undetected in the past? No
- blend with other guests?
- hide in the park?
- leave the park quietly?
- clean up the evidence in his car?
- take evidence and leave town?
- stay out of sight?
- destroy evidence in residence linking to crime?

Do I think he has experience and knowledge that support he has murdered in the past?
- in planning out a murder
- in carrying out a murder
- in covering up a murder
No

Maybe he went into the park for a reason other than murder?
Maybe murder was not his intention?
Maybe this was his first murder?

IMO

 

[Hexe]

We’ve been through this, that isn’t the wording LE used.

How could Clinton Brinks have been ambushed unaware and stabbed in the chest and also have died while protecting his daughters?

That doesn’t work

IMO

We don't know all the injuries sustained by Mr Brink so it is hard to speculate what is possible and what is not. I do not see though much point in discussion that starts with throwing the LE statements outta window.

 

[Hexe]

Did he do any of these things that would make sense for a well planned murder, of a murderer who had gone undetected in the past? No
- blend with other guests?
- hide in the park?
- leave the park quietly?
- clean up the evidence in his car?
- take evidence and leave town?
- stay out of sight?
- destroy evidence in residence linking to crime?

Murderers can and do panic. Especially in situation like this, when there are living witnesses left behind and the pictures of the murderer made on the crime scene hit the media.

Murderers do fail quite often, actually. Jeffrey Dahmer had one victim, Konerak Sinthasomphone, run away basically mid torture to the street, naked and handcuffed and avoided getting arrested then and there only because the policemen who caught this poor boy were racist, homophobic and ragingly incompetent. One serial killer in my country, Paweł Tuchlin, got caught after killing multiple women walking in the parks and other desolate spaces, because he left on the crime scene a hammer he got in his workplace, with all the markings of said workplace on it. Ted Bundy got arrested first time because he was driving erratically which caught the attention of the patroling policemen, who then found full murder kit in his car. David Berkovitz got arrested after a string of murders because he parked his car illegally preparing to commit yet another homicide (and got a ticket). Shall I continue?

The fact that McGann was after the crime running like a headless chicken is not a proof he never murdered before.

 

[AngTxGal]

Murderers can and do panic. Especially in situation like this, when there are living witnesses left behind and the pictures of the murderer made on the crime scene hit the media.

Murderers do fail quite often, actually. Jeffrey Dahmer had one victim, Konerak Sinthasomphone, run away basically mid torture to the street, naked and handcuffed and avoided getting arrested then and there only because the policemen who caught this poor boy were racist, homophobic and ragingly incompetent. One serial killer in my country, Paweł Tuchlin, got caught after killing multiple women walking in the parks and other desolate spaces, because he left on the crime scene a hammer he got in his workplace, with all the markings of said workplace on it. Ted Bundy got arrested first time because he was driving erratically which caught the attention of the patroling policemen, who then found full murder kit in his car. David Berkovitz got arrested after a string of murders because he parked his car illegally preparing to commit yet another homicide (and got a ticket). Shall I continue?

The fact that McGann was after the crime running like a headless chicken is not a proof he never murdered before.

If we begin with the belief that a person’s past will guide us in understanding their present…
- begin with patterns present.
- don’t begin with patterns absent.

Is anyone saying a skilled murdered can’t make a mistake? No
In order to be a skilled murdered you have to have skills. Skills would mean you did something right.

So let’s flip it and ask this question… Other than killing two people…
What did AJM do right, correct, successfully that supports he has a murderous past?

IMO

 

[Hexe]

In order to be a skilled murdered you have to have skills. Skills would mean you did something right.

So let’s flip it and ask this question… Other than killing two people…
What did AJM do right, correct, successfully that supports he has a murderous past?

Who said he is skilled?

And I could ask the same questions about him as a kidnapper.

 

[AngTxGal]

Who said he is skilled?

And I could ask the same questions about him as a kidnapper.

Absolutely, then we would agree, based on the patterns we see currently-

- he most likely has no successful murderous history
- he most likely has no successful kidnapping history

IMO