Suspect in Devil’s Den murders arrested
Share
Suspect in Devil’s Den murders arrested
A 28-year-old schoolteacher has been arrested in connection with the stabbing death of a married couple.
Lupita’s Beauty Salon in Springdale, Arkansas, was the scene of an arrest late last month when Arkansas State Police entered the establishment and took a client, who was mid-way through his haircut, into custody on the afternoon of July 30, 2025.
Hairdresser, Adriana Ruiz Avalos, later expressed how she froze during her clients arrest.
At the time he sat in her chair, it had been several days since the murder, and his hair was dry and matted.
She said of the suspect: “As soon as I saw him, as I was telling him to come into my chair, I had an eerie feeling about him."
“Something kind of didn’t feel right,” she said, adding: “He looked soulless."
Andrew James McGann was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the killings of Cristen Amanda Brink, 41 and Clinton David Brink, 43.
The suspect was booked at the Washington County Detention Center, where he is being held without bond.
The husband and wife were found dead along a hiking trail at around 2:30pm, four days earlier, on July 26, 2025. They both had stab wounds to their body, and it appeared Cinton Brink had been stabbed first.
Their children, two daughters, 7 and 9, were found, physically unharmed, nearby.
The victims had only recently moved to Prairie Grove, Arkansas from South Dakota.
After watching their parents be attacked, the girls had run for help, and although they had tragically witnessed the scene, they had also seen the attacker, and were able to provide law enforcement with a detailed description of the man.
It would later be determined that their mother had ushered them to safety after a knifeman attacked their father. Their mother then went to help their father fend off the attacker but was killed in the process.
Family of the victim's made a public statement asking for privacy, saying: "Clinton and Cristen died heroes, protecting their little girls and they deserve justice. They will forever live on in all of our hearts."
The following day, a composite sketch, as well as a photograph of the back of the suspect along the trail, was released to the public. The sketch depicted a white male in his mid to late twenties, wearing a baseball cap, with a scowl on his face.
A description accompanying the sketch added that the suspect was wearing a backpack and dark clothes, including fingerless gloves.
His vehicle was described as “possibly a Mazda”; the licence plate covered with duct tape.
Police worked to obtain footage from surveillance cameras, as well as from anyone on the trail that day with GoPros or phone footage that may have captured the attackers likeness.
More than 500 calls were made to the tipline, leading to his arrest.
McGann reportedly confessed to police while in questioning and evidence reportedly found in the suspect’s car and home linked him to the scene.
Arizona State Police Col. Mike Hagar said of the evidence: "Although everyone is innocent until proven guilty, we did confirm this morning that the suspect's DNA is a positive match to the DNA recovered at the crime scene. During an interview with investigators, the suspect admitted to committing the murders. We also executed a search warrant at his residence and recovered items consistent with the crime."
McGann worked as a teacher in a small school district in Oklahoma, teaching fourth grade class for one school year at Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound, Texas.
His employers said that his background checks were clean at the time he applied for the position. He worked as a teacher there until resigning in May, where he went on to be employed in another state- a position he had yet to start at the time of the double homicide.
According to media outlets, the mother of a male student at the school where McGan worked, said she filed a complaint against McGann, after her son said he had seen the teacher "behaving inappropriately" to younger female students at the school.
The mother said she was told McGann was placed on administrative leave as a result.
Internal investigation into the matter did not turn up evidence enough to back the claim, however, McGann's "professional judgement" and "classroom management" were brought into question and he resigned.
Other outlets have reported that students in McGann's classes said the female students were treated differently to male students, they were favoured.
One students mother said her son told her he played iPad in class and watched soccer games, while McGann gave the girls candy and tickled them.
He also was reported to allegedly have one on one lunches with the girls in his classroom when they should have been at the school cafeteria.
Police have been unable to determine McGann's motivation for the murders at this point in time, but have stated that there is no known connection between the suspect and victims.
The attack is considered to be “random.”