Echoes of Devil’s Den: A Family Shattered

A summer day at Devil’s Den State Park should have been filled with laughter, love, and the simple joy of family. Instead, it became the site of a devastating crime. Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were brutally stabbed to death while their two young daughters stood only steps away. It was the girls’ quick actions—alerting nearby adults—that brought help, but not before unimaginable loss had already unfolded.

The manhunt that followed gripped Arkansas. Investigators traced a trail of evidence—security footage, DNA, and witness accounts—that led to the arrest of 28-year-old elementary school teacher Andrew James McGann. He now stands charged with two counts of capital murder and has entered a plea of not guilty.

As prosecutors weigh the possibility of the death penalty, questions remain: what led to this horrific attack, and why were the Brinks targeted? In the Season 2 finale of Chillworthy, we focus on the lives of Clinton and Cristen Brink, their love, and the family they built—while also unraveling the investigation that shocked a community and turned a state park into a crime scene.


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DISCLAIMER The content presented on Chillworthy, including all episodes, transcripts, social media posts, and associated materials, is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The podcast does not offer legal, medical, psychological, or professional advice of any kind. While the hosts—Brent and Talia—make a good faith effort to ensure that the information shared is based on publicly available sources and is as accurate as possible at the time of recording, Chillworthy does not guarantee the completeness, timeliness, or reliability of any statements made. Listeners should be aware that cases may involve ongoing legal proceedings or developments that evolve over time. The hosts are not licensed attorneys, journalists, law enforcement professionals, or forensic experts. Opinions expressed in the podcast reflect the personal views of the hosts and do not represent factual determinations or official findings. All individuals named or discussed are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Any resemblance to real individuals or entities, outside of those explicitly named, is purely coincidental. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by any legal authority, news outlet, or investigative body. By listening to Chillworthy, you acknowledge and accept these terms and agree not to hold the hosts or producers liable for any inaccuracies, misstatements, or interpretations derived from the content.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/chillworthy--6229613/support.

DISCLAIMER The content presented on Chillworthy, including all episodes, transcripts, social media posts, and associated materials, is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The podcast does not offer legal, medical, psychological, or professional advice of any kind. While the hosts—Brent and Talia—make a good faith effort to ensure that the information shared is based on publicly available sources and is as accurate as possible at the time of recording, Chillworthy does not guarantee the completeness, timeliness, or reliability of any statements made. Listeners should be aware that cases may involve ongoing legal proceedings or developments that evolve over time. The hosts are not licensed attorneys, journalists, law enforcement professionals, or forensic experts. Opinions expressed in the podcast reflect the personal views of the hosts and do not represent factual determinations or official findings. All individuals named or discussed are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Any resemblance to real individuals or entities, outside of tho

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're listening to Chilworthy.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
A podcast we're two best friends discuss mysteries, murders, and
anything in between for your enjoyment.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
So if you're ready to hear some chilling and unsettling cases,
you're in the right place, happy listening. Hello, Hello, everybody,
Welcome back to another episode of Chilworthy with Brent and Talia.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hi everybody, how.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Are you doing today?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm doing great?

Speaker 1 (00:36):
How are you peachy? Keene?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, you're camping this week?

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Right?

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Goes it?

Speaker 1 (00:45):
It goes?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
You said it was chilly.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
It was chilly and nice. Yes, I mean I'm tired.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
You look at sound.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Ye, But I did meet you know.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
I just burn my tongue with peppermint tea battle. I'm sorry.
I keep going, you did?

Speaker 1 (01:05):
You gotta be careful out there. I did meet a
very loyal listener, Yeah, while I was up there. So
shall we say hello to him? Yes, Matt from Boston.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Hello Matt.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
You know so that was very very nice and a
lovely interaction had by.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
All sounds delightful.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
We appreciate him and everyone else listen. Yes, what books
have you been getting into getting out of?

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Did you read any? So? I only finished since we
met last. Actually that's not true. Two of them I finished.
So I finished The Very Pickers by Amanda Peters, which
I don't even think I was reading that yet when.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
We Met Girl Goes Missing.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Oh okay, yes, yes, yes, I read it. It was
very good, very very sad, like that was sort of
the least sad of everything. But there was so much
like trauma that happens in this family throughout the book.
It kind of goes back and forth between two families.

(02:30):
It was interesting though. I thought it was very good,
very well written. I gave it four stars. Did I
say the author?

Speaker 1 (02:38):
You did? I don't remember who it was.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
Amanda Peters, Yes, yes, okay. Then I read and finished
Instructions for a heat Wave by Maggie O'Farrell, So that
takes place in July and the seventies, and I didn't
do a deep dive to see if this was like
legit historical fiction that that happened in England back in
the seventies, but like this insane heat wave was going on.

(03:00):
So the book spans four days, like two things or
two days. It highlights what happens in those two days,
then there's like a skip and then it's the third day,
which is definitely the fourth day and interesting. A father
goes missing and you just kind of get to know

(03:21):
the family while they're trying to figure out what happened
to him. It was interesting. I gave that four stars.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Good.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Did I say the author of that? I don't think so,
Maggie O'Farrell.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
You actually I think you did?

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Okay, alright, sorry about that?

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Oh that's all right.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah. So now I started Something in the Water by
Catherine Steadman. You did read that way back? I did
read that, all right, well, not very far at all.
It's good so far. It's not what I was expecting.
But it's basically this man and woman and they're engaged

(03:59):
and they're going to go on their honeymoon soon. He
just lost his job. She is like doing a documentary
on these three inmates. I forget if I said, I'm
literally forgetting everything as soon as I say it takes
place in England?

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Did I say that the heat wave one?

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Oh? No, okay? Good? All right? So this one as well? Okay,
and I like, you know, the care the woman is
like essentially narrating this and right out of the gate,
as soon as the book starts, she's burying or she's
digging a hole. I'm sorry to bury a body, so
right out of that. But then like so right out

(04:35):
of the gate. It starts with that, but then it
goes into like, okay, so like we're engaged and this
is what's happening, and like this is day to day whatever.
So it's you know, good, too soon kind of to
make anything of it yet kind of, but I like
her tone. She's funny. And then I started and right,

(04:56):
and then I started What kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown.
That one is heavy, Like I have had to take
a break from reading that, and I'm gonna have to
keep going back. It's so disturbing and strange. It takes
place in Montana. I forget when this is supposed to
be the nineties, late nineties, I think. And it starts

(05:22):
with this woman and she's like, you know, somebody knocks
on her door and it's a reporter and they want
to talk to her about her childhood, which I guess
has like recently made the news. And then you find
out like when the story, So that's like the prologue,
and then chapter one starts with like her as a child,
like she and her father lived out in like the

(05:44):
wilderness in Montana, off the grid, just the two of them,
and she's kind of never been told really what happened.
Like she was told her mother died in a car accident,
they moved she was four years old, but like things
kind of never fully added up, but she just believed

(06:04):
her father, like trusted him. She felt safe. But now
she's like seventeen years old and realizing, like this isn't
quite making sense and like what are we doing here?
And she has like one friend in town, the bookstore
owner's daughter, and they're close in age, and she saw
her the other day and she's like, what are you

(06:25):
going to do? You're about to be eighteen? Like are
you just gonna stay with him forever? Like don't you
want to like live in the world and come into civilization,
And you know, you talk to him, and it's like
not on the table, like of course she's going to
stay with him, and of course they're not going to
come into town and live there. And he's just coming
out with some contradictions. He sounds extremely.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
Unstable, but wait, why do you need to take a break?

Speaker 2 (06:49):
It's bothering me, Like it's it's like an unsettled a book,
Like it's just these chapters that are you're like hearing
about him, and he's you know, front and center, very
disturbing to me. I just I need little bits of it,
little doses.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah, all right, Well, don't hurt yourself now, I write.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
And I was thinking, I don't know for sure that
I'm going to do this or not. I think I
should probably like stop along the head, but I thought
I could start to Kill a Mockingbird do my annual
summer read of that, because that's such it's my favorite book.
It's so like heartwarming to me. It's soothing. I thought
I could dabble in and out with dad as I'm
reading this one. But it's excellent. I mean this, it

(07:35):
is an excellent book. What kind of Paradise the one
I was just talking about with the father and daughter? Yeah,
I mean excellent, very well written, and very easy to
get through. Like I just started it, and I think
I'm already at like twenty five percent. I'm pretty sure,
so you know I can speed right along.

Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah yeah, yeah, right.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Real quick. And other news. So my mom sends me
this article the other day, thinking, you know, who who
is this? Like I the name sounded familiar, but you
know it's about Morgan Geyser. Does that name Ringabelle to you? Yes,
so like you know who she is?

Speaker 1 (08:13):
I think I did not. I'm like who that she
was already involved in one of our cases.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, yeah, okay, yes, and Stickman slender Man, Yes, come on,
what's the real name?

Speaker 1 (08:24):
Right?

Speaker 2 (08:25):
So my mom sends me this article. It came out
on August first, that she's getting released to a group
home and the town is in like an uproar about this,
and they are putting in all these safety measures to
basically prepare the town for if I guess something similar

(08:45):
happens again while she's out. But like a lot of
people in the community are not happy about this. And
I don't know, she's gonna have a GPS tracker on her.
They're going to know, you know, where she is at
all the time. Yeah, and she has like several conditions
that she has to adhere to when she gets out.
They're not disclosing the exact time or location of her move,

(09:08):
citing safety and privacy concerns because people are so upset
about this. So yeah, I thought that was interesting and
that like it came across I don't know where my
mom saw it, but I thought that was cool that
she even came across it, so very nice of her
to send.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
So yes, I mean, I can see why people would
be trepidacious at this.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
Oh my gosh, absolutely like I feel that. I mean,
that case was super unsettling, and even I can't remember
what the victim's name was, but for her knowing, I
don't even know if she still lives in that area.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, off the top of my head, I don't remember
her name either.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Yeah, Peyton, No.

Speaker 1 (09:48):
That does actually sound familiar.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
I feel like it started with a P, but I'm
not sure.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
So just quickly my nice oh yeah, you know, I guess, yeah,
I just I've seen this like all over Facebook recently,
but I guess scientists are documenting this has to do
with sea life again, but they're documenting that humpback whales
seem to be intervening and saving seals from orcas on

(10:19):
a very regular basis.

Speaker 2 (10:21):
I want to say, Erica just sent me that article.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
So I couldn't say.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Yeah, I'm almost certain she sent that to me the
other day, now that you just said that, because I
was gonna say, this sounds very familiar. To me, but
I don't remember like the specifics of what it said.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Just yeah, that they are.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Getting killed by trying to help.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
The humpback whales. No, no, I guess they orca's when
they're hunting, they make a specific sound and humpbacks hear
the sound, and then they they swim over wow, to intervene.
And I guess people are theorizing that it's because orc
has also killed their babies, like humpback whale babies, and

(11:05):
so now they're just starting to basically interrupt like any
of their hunting patterns. And it's been sighted where they've
had literal seals on them, like grazing them out of
the water. So wow, gentle giants, gentle giants.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
Ye wow. Which dare I say? Do you think this
is going to do something to the orca population?

Speaker 1 (11:35):
Well? I think that would involve them stopping every single
hunt that they're doing. The ocean is a big place,
so I mean, I don't know for sure, but.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
Okay, well that's incredible news.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
I should have asked the sea captain I.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Met, Oh my god, I was going to bring that up,
and that I didn't know if you'd want me to
or not. Brent met a celebrity.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
This weekend, and I wouldn't say that.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Well, to me, it's celebrity, and I would have loved
to interview this man.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Go ahead till I just at camp with. He was
up there with one of the huge fans he is. Uh.
I asked him what he did and he said he
was a captain, and I was like, on a yacht
he said, no, not that fancy, but on a whale
watching boat. So I was certainly asking questions about the wildlife.

(12:22):
What do you see? What don't you see? You pun intended, right,
but anyway, I mean yeah, So I didn't, you know,
talk his ear off, but I was certainly interested in
things of that nature. So all right, oh, what's yours?

(12:43):
Do you have one? I don't perfect? All right, here
we go.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well, let me think it was a full moon yesterday.

Speaker 1 (12:54):
I know I made moonwater?

Speaker 2 (12:56):
You did while you were camping?

Speaker 1 (12:58):
We all did?

Speaker 2 (12:59):
Yeah, everybody did well.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
The three people I was camping.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
With, Yes, did you make like a jug?

Speaker 1 (13:06):
We all had mason jars?

Speaker 2 (13:07):
Mason jars? Where's yours? Now? Did you consider I.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Drank it all?

Speaker 2 (13:11):
You drank it all?

Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Wow? Did you have any crystals with you? To like
cleanse charge any no.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
No, no, no, no, good for you.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
So you're thankful about the moon, wonderful.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
The full Well, I'm thankful, yes, of the moon in
general all days and nights, but I'm particularly grateful that
we have full moons that we can witness and observe.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Absolute Yes, right, please, I agree with that horror you
would wholeheartedly. Now I have the case today. Also, everyone,
it is episode twenty five, So this is officially, unofficially
the end of season two conclusion. Right, we went to

(14:02):
twenty five episodes last season, and why would we change
that now? And like Talia said, it's up to us.
As revolutionary as that statement was, We're not just going
to be in syndication. We make the determination on whether
or not we're done. So you know that only means

(14:22):
a brief break, but a break nonetheless. So this is
the final case of season two. And this case is
the murder in Devil's Den, which is the Brink family tragedy.

(14:43):
So this starts out with Clinton, David Brink forty three
and Kristin with a c Amanda Brink. So David Clinton,
David Brink, Kristin, Amanda Brink and she was forty one,
so they were a married couple and they were pretty

(15:05):
much embarking on this fresh chapter in their life. They
were going to Northwest Arkansas.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
I just read about this article earlier in the week, Right,
this is insane, and that's the case you're doing.

Speaker 1 (15:18):
I don't think it's insane because Ashley sent me this
case to do.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
Ashley saying, I know you.

Speaker 1 (15:24):
Say you didn't know that, and I'm saying, I know you, Sarah.
You're saying you didn't know that. I did not know that, right,
So I'm saying, but it's not that insane if you
read about it, and she read about it and sent
it to me, but.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
I didn't know she read about it, and I didn't
know she sent it to you.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
And that's what I just said. Well look at that
now that we are moved past all of that, right, Yeah,
Well I'm.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
Very interested in this because when I read the article,
I didn't keep going back to check, like I won't
spoil it for everybody, But no, I saw I saw
some things, but I haven't looked again. So this is
let's take a look interesting, right to then find out more.
I'm very excited about it. This is a terrible case.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
All right, So obviously we know that there was a
murder that took place.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
So three weeks before this tragedy happened, they had just
relocated to this small town named Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
Sounds adorable, right.

Speaker 1 (16:29):
That reminds me of what was where do they live on?
Little house in the prairie Walnut Grove.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
I never knew that show well enough to know the
answer to that.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Fine, did you like that show? I don't know if
I liked it, but it was always on in the morning, so, like,
you know, I think my mom was like she would
have it on. Yeah, so it was fine.

Speaker 2 (16:53):
Yeah, but four star, three stars.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
Just growing up on the prairie, I guess you have
an eggs and have an eggs buying yarn buying yarn.
I guess I'm sure they were doing that too, So
all right, So both Clinton and Kristen were originally from
California's Central Valley, and they were high school sweethearts, and

(17:23):
I guess they were both very like you know, they
were both known as being like good people, like from
you know, in their hometown communities. So Kristin, who I
guess went by Trent before marriage, had been a standout
volleyball player at Liberty High School in Bakersfield and later

(17:45):
an All American player at cal State in San Bernardino.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (17:52):
So one of her coaches said that she said everyone
knows Trent, they know what she meant to the program,
basically saying that like she she like left a legacy
in terms of her sports ball stuff. Right. Yeah, So
then Clinton he attended a neighboring high school, Foothill High

(18:14):
sounds like the name of a book, and.

Speaker 2 (18:19):
They were high school sweethearts, but didn't go to the
same school.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
Well, I mean, yeah, but I think dated in high school.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
No, No, I know what you meant. I just I
think that's you know, even more just fascinating.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
Well, I'm glad you're fascinated. And Clinton he's remembered as
a devoted family man and a good friend. So now
this is obviously very recent, right, So this is yeah,
summer twenty twenty five. Where are we summer twenty twenty five?
So the Brinks were eager to settle into Arkansas. Clinton

(18:54):
had experience, I guess in the dairy industry, like he
worked for prairie farms in South Dakota before and he
had applied for a job delivering milk for Highland No hit, Yeah,
Highland Dairy in Fayetteville. So I'm like thinking a milkman,
but obviously not you know, he's not taken it to

(19:17):
missus Henderson but rather Giant that anyway, right, Yes, So
he was supposed to be starting work the monday after
the move, and this job, you know, was going to
be a good a good move for them, and it
was going to help support their three daughters. Now, Kristen

(19:37):
was a licensed nurse and she had credentials in Montana
and South Dakota, so she planned to continue her nursing
degree in Arkansas once they just kind of like settled
down and got established. So now the couple, they had daughters,
a seven year old, a nine year old, and an
older teen. So, and they were very like devoted parents.

(19:58):
So family and friends had described Clinton and Kristen as
loving parents to their three precious daughters, devoted to one another,
devoted to the girls, and devoted to God. They were
active in their faith, and they were eager to contribute
to their new community in Prairie Grove. So neighbors and
the town's mayor, David Falk later had said, how excited that,

(20:21):
like the Brinxes seemed about this new start, and you know,
people were just kind of noting that, like they showed
up very like lovingly and supportive, like in this new community,
which sounds very nice, right, So basically that kind of
sets the scene like they were hopeful, they were, you know,

(20:43):
ready to build this new life in Arkansas, and they
said that they were excited to show their children the
natural beauty of the Ozarks.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
So real quick, yes, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yes, you have watched The Ozarks, some of them.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
It's not all right, Like how many seasons?

Speaker 1 (21:04):
Two?

Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah? And why did you stop?

Speaker 1 (21:07):
Just lost interest?

Speaker 2 (21:09):
You lost interest?

Speaker 1 (21:09):
I guess.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah. I loved that show and I would love to
rewatch it. I thought it was excellent. You don't think
I should stop yourself from doing it right exactly? And
I would love to go to the Ozarks. I mean,
it's freaking wild up there, man. And the other thing too,
like the Ozarks. I don't know how many states they
spread through, but it's like Missouri is where I would

(21:31):
like to go to experience the Ozarks because that's where
the show happened. And like, I'm just very sucked into
that all of that. That show was fantastic. Oh it was.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
Fantastic, all right, Well it was fine, three stars.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Fine, well, maybe even two because you didn't finish.

Speaker 1 (21:54):
Right right, maybe one? Oh my gosh, i'll say that anyway.
Back to the case, Yes, that's all right. So basically,
of course, this family did not know that this would
be the last state that they ever lived in, yea.
So part of their plan was to explore the area,
and they decided to take their two younger girls on

(22:15):
a weekend hike at a popular nearby spot called Devil's
Den State Park. So they were all packed up, excited
to go. They set out on Saturday, July twenty sixth,
twenty twenty five, and they thought it would be, you know,
a fun little hike, and it was obviously anything but that.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, so oldest then did not accompany them.

Speaker 1 (22:44):
Okay, all right, So, like I said, this was a
warm Saturday afternoon the Ozark National Forest, Devil's Den State
Park to be exact, which is roughly two five hundred
acres of limestone cliffs, dense woods, and cascading waterfalls. So lovely. Yeah,

(23:05):
So the Brinks they only lived about a half an
hour away, and you know, So they chose Devil's Den
Trail because it was like this moderate one and a
half mile loop and it was known for all of
these caves and creeks that were around it. So they
get there with their seven and nine year old daughters
and they're ready to like take this hike. So for

(23:27):
a while the hike was going, well, the girls were,
you know, running up and down the path, just playing,
exploring both the parents pointing out like talking about rock
formations and just looking at these different waterfalls and blah
blah blah.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
Can I interrupt you? Yes, you know what dawned on
me when I was reading that first article and then
like it's hitting me now with what you're saying, you know,
with the parents no longer being with us, The every
detail of this is strictly from the seven to nine
year old, and I don't know if anyone else has.

Speaker 1 (24:04):
Wiged in, but like that, you're right, But they also
did take pictures, so I mean there are some other
evidence just say like that they were interested in the waterfalls,
like they have pictures. You're saying, so, but yeah, no,
I mean what you're saying is, yeah, like.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
The account of the day, I mean it's just that's
so sad to me, and I don't know, like very powerful, you.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
Know, just like it right, Well, yeah, I mean it
said that there were some photographs later recovered that like people,
you know, they were taking pictures of like the sunlight
through the leaves, the family on a wooden footbridge, all
four of them just ordinary moments of what should have
been a very nice day.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:48):
So now we're at two thirty and this is when
the hike does take a pretty bad turn. So the
family's walking, they're roughly like half a mile into the trail,
and this unknown man emerges from the woods and just
launches this like random, sudden brutal attack. So investigators determined

(25:17):
that the assailant's first target was the father, forty three
year old at Clinton. So without warning, this guy just
stabs Clinton and he was giving him like some major wounds.
So Kristin she reacts immediately, and she manages to push

(25:40):
or pull her young daughters off the path, and she's
like urging them to run and hide and basically to
stay safe.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
Very smart and like taking such quick action, not freezing,
you know.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
I know I would free Well, I guess you can
never actually know what you do, but I really think
I'm a freezer but who knows. Yeah, So, in that
very panic filled moment, you know, Kristen's maternal instincts overpowered
any thought of her own safety, so she gets the
girls to a secure spot away from the attacker, which

(26:15):
basically did save their lives, and then she turns back
to help her husband. Yeah, so Kristin races towards Clinton
and she confronts this knife wielding stranger in an effort
to protect her family, but tragically, the attacker he turns
on Kristin then as she tried to aid her husband,

(26:37):
and the assailant stabs Kristin as well, and he also
inflicted horrible injuries on her that were fatal as well. So,
by the time this attack had stopped, both Clinton and
Kristen were They weren't dead, but they were mortally wounded,
and they're just laying out on this trail.

Speaker 2 (26:56):
Were they conscious, like, were they able to talk to
the girls? Did they?

Speaker 1 (27:01):
I don't think so. So the two girls, you know,
thanks to their mother's quick action, they were unharmed, but
now they're finding themselves alone in the forest and their
parents are just literally laying their dying on the ground. Yeah,
so this killer man, he just he disappears as quickly

(27:21):
as he had appeared, which is just crazy in general
that somebody just pops out of the woods, does that,
and then popped back in or vice versa whatever. So,
according to later statements, this man vanished into the trees
and he headed towards the trailhead parking area. So now
the Brink children, which you know are very brave for

(27:44):
seven to nine year olds, they did exactly what their
mom had told them and they ran for help, which
does give me the chills worthy absolutely, it just.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
Breaks my heart. And the trauma that these girls went through,
like seeing that happen to their father or hopefully they
weren't watching once the mom got them into hiding, but
like hearing who knows what they were hearing what they
were Yeah, it just I can't even begin to imagine
how you recover from that.

Speaker 1 (28:13):
So the girls, like I said, they ran for help.
They they navigate roughly half a mile of this trail
on their own, and they get back towards the trail
entrance looking for anybody who could help. So that's, like
I said, that's just absolutely crazy. At approximately two forty
now nine to one one reaches local authorities from the

(28:36):
Devil's Den State Park. So and again, you know, cell
service is like non existent in that area of course,
so the call was likely relayed by like a park
official or a visitor who just happened to find these girls.
So over emergency radio, the dispatcher's voice said, you know,

(28:58):
be advised, this just occurred at Devil's Den. Units still
en route attacked a male and a female on the
Devil's Den hiking trail and then took off in a
small black sports car with tape over the plates. Oh
my gosh, which so obviously makes me feel like, I mean,
he intended to do something not good if he was

(29:20):
covering his car.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
It's just you know, yeah, sitting there waiting for someone
having the knife, which I mean, I guess you could
have had the knife on you for protection. I don't
know what kind of knife it was, but I just yeah,
that tape over the license plate clearly was a premeditated
move on his part.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
So first responders rushed to the state park, but it
was sadly already too late for Clinton and Kristen. Both
of them were pronounced dead for multiple stab wounds by
the time park rangers and medics arrived. So the officers,
you know, as gen as possible, escorted the two very

(30:02):
traumatized young girls out of the woods, and like I
had mentioned, miraculously, neither of them had actually been physically
harmed at all, you know, by the attacker. Yeah, so
the girls were taken into protective care and then soon after,
you know, they were given to other family members because
they had to come to Arkansas the family.

Speaker 2 (30:26):
Yeah, you're right, the call.

Speaker 1 (30:29):
So news of the double murder spread very quickly that weekend,
and it was like stunning to these park goers and
residents across Arkansas, which, of course, so one of the
campers was quoted in saying it's kind of a messed
up situation, which just a bit, I would say. So
a couple of people just out there enjoying the same
element we're in got disturbed the way they did. Well, yes,

(30:55):
so I would call it more than disturbed, to be honest.
But whatever, what a nightmare.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
What an absolute nightmare.

Speaker 1 (31:04):
So park officials evacuated the hiking areas and closed all
trails as an active crime scene. So while the police
began searching. This is while the police were searching for
the killer in the vicinity. Visitors recall seeing multiple patrol
cars and officers. They were like swarming the area by

(31:26):
that late afternoon. They were combing the park's roadways. They're
stopping drivers as they left the park. Basically, it was
just a major, big crime scene, which was a very
different setting than a normal state park would be exactly.
So law enforcement they wasted no time holding a press

(31:49):
briefing that weekend to reassure the public and enlist help.
So Arkansas State Police asp as they go by, that's
what I call you, right, So Mike Hager he delivered,
you know, this awful news that this couple had been
hiking with their children and they had been killed in

(32:12):
what appeared to be a heinous, completely random act of violence.
Those were his words. So the investigators had no reason
to believe that the assailant knew the Brink family at all,
because I mean, they did just move there.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Exactly, and who would have planning that that day to
go Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:29):
Right, So it wasn't a domestic incident or I mean,
it wasn't a robbery. It was just, by all indications,
a extremely chance encounter with a killer on a hiking trail,
and I guess from their reports here like this guy
was fighting back like tears as he was kind of
reporting this to the press. So so the extended family

(32:53):
of the Brinks later affirmed that they said, you know,
Clinton and Kristen died heroes protecting their little girl roles,
and they deserve justice, which of course they do. Absolutely so.
Even the Arkansas Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, weighed in. She

(33:14):
called the murders senseless and horrific, and she vowed that
she said, we do not tolerate violent crime in Arkansas.
If you target innocent people, law enforcement will hunt you
down and bring you to justice. Well, I think that
that sounds lovely.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
It does.

Speaker 1 (33:31):
So the stage is now set for an intensive like
multi agency man hunt basically so because this killer is
obviously out there somewhere he could be injured, like we
didn't know that. They didn't know, you know, but there
was like they were thinking that he might have accidentally

(33:51):
cut himself because there was a bit of a trail
of blood like leading away. Oh and obviously neither one
of them left. So now getting into like the investigation,
So from the moment that the Brink girls reached safety,
and to my knowledge, because this is such a recent case,
like I don't think they actually gave the names of

(34:14):
the girls. That's why I just keep saying the girls
right now, not that I saw. So, like I said,
from the moment that the girls reached safety and the
alarm was sounded, there was this massive investigation. The remote
location of the crime posed some immediate challenges because Devil's
Den is nestled in this thick woods and very steep terrain,

(34:35):
and like I told you, there's no cell reception, so
investigators couldn't really rely on like the quick nine to
one one calls. There were certainly no security cameras, so
they had to do this sort of like more like
rudimentary police work. So first Trooper's lockdown, the state park exits,

(34:56):
even though he was already gone. But whatever witnesses at
Devil's Den that day were interviewed on the spot. One
key early lead came from an eyewitness account for the
from the suspects getaway and like I told you, he
was seen leaving in a black four door sedan, possibly
a Mazda, and as we said, crucially, the car's license

(35:19):
plate was taped over with duct tape, So that detail
broadcast in the initial be on the lookout suggested a
level of planning by the killer. He had deliberately covered
up his plate to avoid identification, so police immediately alerted
surrounding counties and states to watch for any black car

(35:39):
with tape plates on the highways. Now I kind of
wonder though, like if you were to do that and
then you you get away, I wonder how soon would
you stop and untape your car so then you wouldn't
be right right, That's what I mean, Like, would you
be doing that like five minutes away or would you?
Would you just because I feel like you should do

(36:00):
it as soon as possible if you want to get away.
I agree, because even if you're not, even if you're
not speeding, you didn't run a traffic lighter. But if
a cop sees a duct taped license plate, like that's
gonna draw way more attention.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
Absolutely, was the entire plate covered, like you couldn't even
tell what state or just the numbers just out of curious.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
I don't have that information. I would probably say the
whole thing, yeah, but I don't know. So you know
at least that they they had that description of the car,
which was good, but so they were able to put
this like sort of like a profile together. So they

(36:42):
were describing this guy as an adult, white male of
medium build, dressed entirely in black. He had on a
long sleeved black shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants,
a dark baseball cap, sunglasses, and unusual fingerless gloves.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
Which in the sketch that I saw of him, that
also in my mind, like it caused me to go
to the girls where they would have been the closest
to him before they you know, went into the host
to hide. So it's like a lot of that sketch
and those descriptors came from them right like, which I
just think is so unbelievably brave.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
It was also sorry even.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
That what he was wearing, like how you were talking
about with the license plate, like obviously he drove there
premeditating all of this, yea, and with the intention of,
you know, causing harm to someone, And that whole get
up sounds super suspicious. Who was dressing like that out
vampire in July right to go for a hike?

Speaker 1 (37:48):
So he carried a large black backpack. It was a
backpack or a duffel bag, but that obviously stood out
on a summer day hike. So this description was released
by the public Sunday afternoon, July twenty seventh. So the
Arkansas Police their public appeal urged anybody who had been

(38:09):
at Devil's Den on Saturday to check their phone photos,
go pro footage, or trail cams for images of any
man matching this description. So another important thing was the
police asked people to not post any such images on
social media, but to send them directly to investigators. So

(38:30):
the area where the murders happened was so remote and
thick with foliage that obtaining visual evidence was extremely difficult.
So like any snapshot from a hiker's camera, that could
be a potential breakthrough in the case. So now tips
begin flooding in almost immediately. By the middle of the week,
authorities had received over five hundred tips from the public. Yikes,

(38:55):
some coming from as far away as Washington State. I
don't know what they were saying.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
But maybe they had been there at.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
The time, yeah maybe yeah, or thought.

Speaker 2 (39:07):
They saw someone then in Washington, like if he had
fled there, or they thought that he fled there.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
So among these tips, there were multiple independent eyewitness accounts
that corroborated the suspects description. In one report, a couple
hiking at Devil's Den that day recalled and quote unquote
unsettling encounter just minutes before the Brinxs were attacked.

Speaker 2 (39:33):
Wow. Wow.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
So somebody by the name of Tony Bruski, he is
a host of another podcast called Hidden Killers. I'd never
heard of it before, but go check it out, everybody.
He later relayed that those witnesses had told him that
they saw a man dressed in black carrying a large

(39:56):
mesh athletic bag coming down the trail. They immediately found
him to be quote unquote odd, which, of course in
that get up.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
I mean there are also people that you pass out
on the trail that it has definitely crossed my mind before,
Like you know, the common.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
What do you say, like the common man?

Speaker 2 (40:23):
Just like manners like behavior? What am I trying to say?

Speaker 1 (40:28):
What's the word I behavior? Sounds like it to me.

Speaker 2 (40:32):
It's the word etiquette, trail etiquette. Like you make eye contact,
you say hello, at a minimum, you acknowledge the human
that is walking by you. People who do not do that,
something's not quite right. That immediately gets my attention. Those
are the people that I also continuously look back at

(40:54):
them after we've passed them, like what are they up to?
What's going on here? And people I don't know, Like,
you can obviously wear whatever you want out on the trail,
but there are some outfits that like also stand out.
There's just some odd behavioral cues sometimes where I am
a little unsettled walking by certain people sometimes and just

(41:16):
very curious what brought them out there that day?

Speaker 1 (41:19):
Well, right, so they also these people were also saying
that he was just giving off bad energy in general,
and he had an aggressive death stare stare they called
us stare when he passed by.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Well, I will say, which, I'm sure you're getting to this.
Well maybe I shouldn't say this.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
Okay, then don't going ahead?

Speaker 2 (41:41):
Yeah wait, but I want to go back to the
death stare.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
Now, if somebody was looking at you like that, you
would still say.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Hello, oh even more so I would, okay, all right,
just mat and I The other thing that this occurred
to me, not like recently, this was farther back, but
like I want them to make a contact with me,
Like I want them to want to be seen, but
I want them to know I saw them, like, I
know what your face looks like. I took you right in.

(42:12):
You didn't get past me. I know, I know what's what. Wow,
I have a whole thing in mind.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
But wouldn't that only inspire them to make sure you
don't get out either?

Speaker 2 (42:23):
Maybe I don't know, but if I live to tell
about it, I'm freaking giving every last detail I can
think of.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
I don't doubt it.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
I had a professor in college. I will never forget this,
and he told us in class it is your duty
to help basically, like humankind, if you're getting assaulted in
some way, if you're getting killed, to get as much
DNA evidence, like, do as much as you can, even

(42:52):
when it's hitting you, like I am not going to
survive this to help other people and for this person
to be caught, so like your fingernails, get the DNA
in your nails, like obviously fight to try to survive
as well, but when like you kind of know that's
not going to be happening, like you still have work
to do basically.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
And what class was this? Did you say?

Speaker 2 (43:12):
One of my criminal justice classes?

Speaker 1 (43:14):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Okay, but I loved that professor. I loved how like
blunt he was about that, and I thought it was inspiring.

Speaker 1 (43:22):
Well shout out to him. Yes, okay, So anyway, yeah,
death stare, you'd still say hello, you would memorize his face.
You want him to know, you know who he is.
Got it. So the couple did notice that he was
alone and he appeared very focused, focused, almost predatory. So
they also noticed, as some other people did, that the

(43:45):
man's car in the parking lot had this duct tape
over it. Now to me, would that raise any alarm
bells to you? Like, maybe I shouldn't go in here.
I and I'm not saying it necessarily should, but it's
odd and why would somebody be doing that?

Speaker 2 (44:01):
I think it's excellent point. I think it's an excellent
point you bring up. I hate to admit this, but
I don't think I would say we better not go
in there. I'm pretty sure we'd be going in all right.
Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe like after hearing the store,
maybe this is like a like a message from the

(44:23):
universe slash. I'm not being funny when I say this,
Like Kristen and Clinton, where you know, like when something
happens and it comes across like your radar, it's like
for a reason, and like I'm not saying that one
day we're going to go hiking and like we're going
to see a license plate like that, But it's just
like being brought to our attention is like a safety
per card, Like but I think, don't go.

Speaker 1 (44:44):
In, but I think anywhere like a bank, I did
not think of that, you know, just saying like any
time you see that, right, Like, there's obviously a reason
somebody is covering up a license plate, and I can't
think of a good one. No, there is none, Okay,
So anyway, you know, like I said, they saw this,

(45:04):
So at the time, the hikers didn't know what to
make of it, But when the police released the suspects
image days later, these witnesses recognized him as the same
man who had glared at them on the trail.

Speaker 2 (45:15):
Okay, So that's what I wanted to say without giving
it away. The image of him, and I'm pretty sure
what I saw was his driver's license photo. Holy moly,
his eyes are about to bug out of the picture
and assault you. They he does not look well. His
intensity from that picture it's like he wants to frighten

(45:36):
the person at the DMV. I mean, it's very very jarring,
and back to the car parking lot situation, and great
point what you said about just like you know, bank,
grocery store, whatever, if you see that on a car,
but specifically at trailheads, you know, you see a lot
of weird shit in those parking lots because you also,

(45:57):
like depending on if they're through hikers, if they're starting
an intent to be gone for a while, if who
knows what the circumstances are of who's out on these trails,
So like, there are cars in varying conditions and weird
shit in them and look rough granted, all of that
is not the same as a freaking covered yes, thank you,

(46:19):
but yeah, I feel like that My point in saying
that is, I feel like that would be that would
cause me to be more dismissive almost because you see
some weird shit in these parking lots as it is.

Speaker 1 (46:29):
So yeah yeah. So now the forensic evidence from the
crime scene was also like giving some clues. There was
blood found at the scene that did not belong to
either of the victims. Investigators believe that the killer himself
had probably been wounded, likely during Clinton's Clinton's like desperate

(46:51):
fight for his life, leaving behind the suspects DNA and
blood droplets on the trail. This was a major break
because if they could get a DNA profile, they might
later match it to one of the suspects and then
they could just like conclusively tie him to the crime.
So the detectives, which we do not hear this, often

(47:13):
fast tracked the blood.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
Evidence goodness gracious to the.

Speaker 1 (47:16):
State crime lab for analysis. So good for you Arkansas
people doing their good for you, Arkin saw. They also
collected any trace evidence from the scene, footprints, some clothing fibers.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
You know.

Speaker 1 (47:30):
However, early on police could not locate the knife that
was used, so they weren't sure if the killer took
it with him, like they just didn't know. By Monday,
July twenty eighth, Arkansas State Police took the unusual step
of releasing two critical images to the public. So there
was a still photo which you saw, and there was

(47:53):
a composite sketch of a person of interest. So the
photo provided by an anonymous trailer goer showed, which I
would be anonymous too, I'll tell you that showed a
man from behind standing in the woods with a backpack.
So it was basically like a candid shot of the
suspect in the park. The accompanying sketch, drawn from eyewitness descriptions,

(48:18):
which were also from the girl's descriptions, depicted a generic
male face with sunglasses in a cap. These images didn't
reveal the suspect's identity outright, the photo conveniently showed only
his back. But they but it was like enough for people,
like if it was going to jog somebody's memory or not,

(48:40):
because maybe it would generate more leads. So the police
carefully termed the unidentified man as a person of interest
rather than an accused suspect, and they were emphasizing that
they simply needed to identify and question him. But in truth,
the investigators strongly suspected that he he was their killer,

(49:01):
but they were trying to be cautious and methodical. So
once again, good for them, I have to say, agreed.
So the authorities were very aware of the rumor mill
that was going to start, like with all this stuff happening.
So as the case gripped the region, social media exploded
with theories. So some people were some were posting like

(49:24):
the killer that he was already a known local vagrant,
or that the brinks had been targeted for some for
some unknown reason, the police later vented frustration about these
quote unquote keyboard warriors, whose unfounded speculation was actually hindering

(49:44):
the investigation and caused the Brink family further pain. Which, Yeah,
if you're going to start throwing out crazy theories that
you have nothing to back it up with, I wouldn't
say that's too good now, But I mean.

Speaker 2 (49:58):
It's the world we live in. You can't control people,
well know what social media? Like, how can you not
expect that to happen? Especially this is such like a
high profile case. And speaking of just the details of
the case, I also wanted to say, what I find
odd about this is who he chose to attack. Like,
in my head, if it's a group of people, they're

(50:20):
less likely to be targets. If it's somebody by themselves,
they're a higher target, right or not higher target? But
like what would you say more likely to be a
target I guess or targeted. And when people have kids,
I always think like, oh, well they're the safest and
who's going to touch them, Who's going to do anything
to them? Who's going you know, like which in a way,

(50:42):
you're like a weak link. I guess because you have children,
like it almost makes you more vulnerable. But I just
wouldn't have guessed that's who he would have chosen to attack.

Speaker 1 (50:53):
Yeah. Well, but and I kind of want I feel
like if it was as random as they're saying, I mean,
part of me just wonders, is it, like was he
hiding in the brush and maybe he didn't even see
that there were kids there yet maybe you know, Like
I'm just saying, depending on how like dense the woods
were and who was in front, who was because I

(51:15):
did say in the beginning that these girls were running
up and down the trail, Well I was.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
Just gonna say, I feel like you would have heard them.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Though, Like, well, I just mean if this was one
of the times where they were behind their parents instead
of in front of them, like I don't know, but yeah. So,
But the point of that was just the police were
saying that this misinformation was actually hurting the case because
people are just saying things that aren't true. But it's
just slowing down the investigation and it's just making the

(51:41):
family suffer more so. But despite the noise, the investigators
tried to stay as focused as they could on this
hard evidence and any of the credible leads, so they
processed nearly ten different trail videos submitted by park visitors.
They looked through each clip frame by frame. Those videos
yielded a pivotal discovery, I guess. Multiple clips captured glimpses

(52:06):
of the suspects vehicle and from various angles, the team
was able to determine that the car was, in fact
a Kia Stinger.

Speaker 2 (52:14):
Oh so it was not a Maza No, I've never.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
Heard of me either. So this is a sporty black Kia.
It has a very distinctive shape, and it had been
caught on camera by tourists who didn't even realize that
they had like caught something. So that's important. I want
to see what this car looks like now. Obviously, the
correction from a Mazda to a specific Kia Stinger helped

(52:41):
incredibly like with the search, because you know that now
they're not just looking for a random sports car but
a special type of you know, like they know exactly
what kind of car they're looking for exactly. So with
the vehicle identified, the Gators turned to vehicle registration of

(53:04):
these types of cars, so they filtered for black Kia
Stingers in the region, and they crossed referenced those with
any ties to the area or abnormal recent activity. So
while they're doing this, tips are still coming in. So
some people giving tips even provided names of individuals they

(53:25):
thought resembled the composite sketch or had been exhibiting strange behavior.
So by Wednesday, July thirtieth, which was only four days
after the murders, the investigation had zeroed in on a
very promising lead, somebody by the name of Andrew James McGann,

(53:46):
a twenty eight year old man residing in Springdale, Arkansas,
which is a city about thirty miles north of Devil's Den.
So McGan owned a black Kia Stinger matching the vehicle
in question, and he fit the general profile of the
subject or the suspect. Sorry crucially, descriptions from the Brince

(54:08):
girls and the other eyewitnesses aligned with his general appearance.
In fact, investigators later revealed that the children, the seven
and the nine year old daughters, they provided this information.
That was like they said that the girls gave them
this information that started them down the path, and that
was that they were able to make the arrest. So

(54:30):
basically they played a very big role in appointing them
to where you know where they got at the end,
basically because the children had noted details like the man's clothing,
the bag, which were all accurate. So then with the name,
a car, a residence, obviously they had a place to go.

(54:54):
So the police moved rapidly to confirm McGann's identity as
their suspect. They they got a pretty quick warrant to
track the Kia's license because again, obviously they needed to
move as fast as they could because they didn't want
this guy to slip away because he is in the
news and I'm sure he's watching, like.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
You know, and how to straw those girls I can't
even imagine were but we're still able to articulate, especially
at their ages, information that was so solid that it
could help the investigation, that crucially is just insane to me.

Speaker 1 (55:34):
So I guess once they actually had this guy's name
on their radar, they took him into custody within the hour.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
Oh wow, So where did they find him? Do you know?

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Put a pin in that, I do know, but we'll
get to that in the summer, all right, Yeah, okay,
So now we're on Wednesday, July thirtieth, twenty twenty five.
It's roughly five pm. So the Arkansas State Police basically
tracked down Andrew James McGannon. They find his black Kia

(56:11):
Stinger like they track it to a weird location. The
location is Loopida's Beauty Salon and barber Shop on Huntsville
Avenue in Springdale, a berber.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
So is he getting freshened up or was he visiting
somebody there?

Speaker 1 (56:34):
Well, so Andrew, it turned out he had gone to
a local barbershop that afternoon, maybe just for you know,
an ordinary haircut, or to get his appearance changing dramatically changed.

Speaker 2 (56:50):
Well, in that picture of him that I saw, I mean,
if I'm not mistaken, he had beautiful hair, but like
curly distinctive looking hair, So that would certainly make make sense.
Again though, back with what you were asking with the
license plate, and like how soon would you take that
tape off? He's waiting this long to chop his hair off,
you know what I mean? Like, that's an interesting time

(57:12):
to wait. But who am I?

Speaker 1 (57:15):
Who were we? So you know he's there doing this.
But either way, he had no idea that law enforcement
was minutes away from capturing him. So the agents moved
in quickly, they entered the barber shop and found him
mid haircut.

Speaker 2 (57:27):
Oh, I was hoping you were going to say that.
I hope that was nice and embarrassing for him.

Speaker 1 (57:32):
Embarrassing, what a jack.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
I was really hoping you were going to say that, Well,
mid haircut.

Speaker 1 (57:38):
I'm happy to make your day.

Speaker 2 (57:40):
I hope he was humiliated.

Speaker 1 (57:45):
Okay, mid haircut. He's sitting in the chair, he's got
his berber's cape on. So it's a pretty damn surreal scene.
I was safe for that barber.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
Can you imagine like telling stories? Then the next week
listen to this shit that happened.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
Soltly crazy, but they placed him directly under arrest for
a suspicion of murdering Clinton and Kristen So outside of
Lupita Salon. Investigators immediately secure his Kia Stinger, which was
parked out front. Photos taken by witnesses at the crime
scene show crime scene tape around the shiny sedan and

(58:23):
evidence markers on the ground. The car was later loaded
into a flatbed tow truck to be impounded for forensic examination. Notably,
the license plate on the Kia was covered with tape
when found.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
He still had it covered.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
Still exactly as the witnesses at Devil's Den had described.
That is bonkers.

Speaker 2 (58:45):
He wasn't the sharpest.

Speaker 1 (58:48):
They're saying here. This was a strong indication that they
had the right man. Yes, I would say, so, that's
a pretty good indication. So invest gators at the barber's
shop though, and again here we go. I have to
say this again, good for you, Arkansas. They were not
taking chances. So they even photographed the hair clippings that

(59:10):
had fallen around his chair in case he had gone
there in you know, and again in like a reason
to change his appearance. I hope they can not getting
away with anything. So even though if he didn't even
take that freaking license plate tape off, I doubt he
gave a damn about you know, changing up his appearance.
But whatever, So, like I said, he was taken into

(59:33):
custody within the hour. So now back at the police barracks,
he was, you know, he was subjected to an obviously
very intense interrogation. So and because there was now evidence
like the taped up key of the eyewitness descriptions, the
knowledge that his DNA might very well tie him to

(59:54):
that scene, so he decided he was going to talk WHOA.

Speaker 2 (01:00:00):
I did not expect that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
So in a press briefing the next day, Mike Hager
revealed that during the interview, McGann confessed to killing the couple.
He said, quote, during an interview with investigators, the suspect
admitted to committing the murders, which I mean, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
Did he give any indication as to why.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
I don't think he had any actual reason. So it
said that you know that he gave this admission, but
he didn't so that. But the like the police chief
didn't elaborate on his exact words or motives, so which

(01:00:43):
again this is so recent, like this probably will potentially
come out later. Good point, but as of right now,
it said that his motives remained painfully unclear when he
was asked, and which is why they're still thinking this
was a completely random event, like he didn't know them

(01:01:06):
or anything like that, which I feel like the randomness
is one of the scariest things about it, because it's
like just again, like I said, just popping out of
the woods and you know, doing what he did. The
police also think that he had no reason, like they
had no reason to believe that the daughters were being targeted.

(01:01:26):
It was just a monstrous act of violence with no rationale.
So they were quoted in saying this is every agent's
worst nightmare just because of how random. You know, it's
like no rhyme or reason basically, and if you remember,
he was the one that was getting emotional just talking

(01:01:47):
about it in the press briefing. So so forensic science
provided the final nail, I guess in this case because
on Thursday, July thirty, first they received the expedited lab results,
which didn't get lost everybody. They actually got it back
and DNA from the blood at the crime scene matched

(01:02:08):
Andrew McGann's.

Speaker 2 (01:02:09):
DNA BA boom bye bye.

Speaker 1 (01:02:13):
So basically they said, you know, we confirmed this morning
that the suspects DNA is a positive match to the
DNA recovered at the crime scene. And like I said,
I mean, he already had admitted doing it, so obviously
that was just you know, would I say, not a
not a justification? Uh, not an encouragement? What am I saying?

Speaker 2 (01:02:34):
I was going to say, another nail macoffin, but that's
not what you're looking at.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
No, But we'll just go with that like a reinforcement
of like, yes, this is happening. This is true. Whatever,
And he did say that you know, he cut himself
during the struggle, that's how the blood got on the trail.

Speaker 2 (01:02:51):
He was very forthcoming and helpful.

Speaker 1 (01:02:54):
Yeah, dare I say so? Police also got a warrant
for his house and they seized several items of interest,
So they recovered items consistent with being involved in this
particular crime. But they did not publicly list any of
these items. So I'm assuming it was like some of
the clothes or the backpack, I don't know, the knife maybe,

(01:03:17):
who knows the duct tapey used. So multiple knives were
found at the home and in the car. However, as
of Thursday, it wasn't determined yet if those were murder weapon,
like if those were used as a murder weapon. Like
I said, I mean, we're so fresh into this, so

(01:03:39):
you know, that's just the way it is. So you know,
I mean, I think this makes sense that the public
kind of relaxed a little bit because they caught the guy.
So that's good. You know, this guy's off the streets now.
At a press conference, you know, the governor praised the

(01:04:02):
men and women in law enforcement all of that stuff,
and it was just I guess like in reality it
was it's like nice to report. I mean, it's a
horrible situation, but it's nice to report that. Actually, the police,
local agencies, park rangers, everybody was like working together. Nobody

(01:04:24):
was losing stuff. Nobody was like, no, this is me, No,
this is me, that's my jurisdiction. Did you take the boot? No?
Did you No? I threw it in the river. That
kind of thing. None of that happened. Refreshing, It's very refreshing.

Speaker 2 (01:04:37):
People doing their jobs.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
Yes, So the police chief again just kind of like
reiterated to the public how much that he was in
awe of the girls and their resilience. And he just said, like,
you know this, all of this investigation started with these
two little girls. And it's absolutely incredible that those were
his words. So mcghann was, you know, put in a

(01:04:59):
squad car and handcuffs on Wednesday and then taken to
the taken to the police station and so like now
he's behind bars. So a little bit about him, like,
who the hell is this guy? So he is twenty
eight years old, he's unmarried, and he had only recently

(01:05:20):
moved to Arkansas. Wow, just like them. Yeah, he grew
up elsewhere. I'm not sure. Some people were saying Texas,
others were saying Oklahoma. So somewhere between twenty twenty three
and twenty twenty five, he was kind of like a drifter.
But he was in the public education system.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
That's frightening.

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
So he was a teacher as his profession. He held
an active teaching license in at least three states, Arkansas, Texas,
and Oklahoma. None of my none of those state licenses
show any official infractions or suspensions for him ever, So

(01:06:05):
he was a teacher in good standing.

Speaker 2 (01:06:07):
How nice.

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
But there was when they looked a little closer, there
was some patterns of short like breaks and concerns at
some previous schools. I bet so.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
Yeah, but we don't know the details of those.

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
Well what a specific. So in August twenty twenty two,
he took a job as a fourth grade teacher at
Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound, Texas, And at that
time he introduced himself in a Facebook post to the
school community, and he mentioned that his favorite hobby was exercise,
especially running. So very by all accounts, he started that

(01:06:52):
year as a as any normal teacher would. But in
the spring of twenty twenty three, he was placed on
administrative leave after multiple complaints about his conduct in the classroom.
According to a letter the district later shared, the investigation
found issues with his classroom management and professional judgment, including

(01:07:17):
allegations of favoritism towards certain students. So one parent whose
student was in the school, she went on records saying
that he had come across as quote unquote pretty cold
and quote unquote disinterested in his students. Her son often

(01:07:37):
came home upset about how McGann treated, like how his
behavior was in the classroom. So I guess then this mother,
with these concerns coming from her son, she told the
principal during that school year, and then they did an inquiry,
but they didn't find any evidence that he was abusive

(01:07:58):
or inappropriate with the kids, but it did conclude that
his overall conduct fell below expectations for a teacher. So
in May twenty twenty three, he was facing a non
renewal of his contract, so he decided to resign from
the Texas job, thankfully. So then that's when he went

(01:08:21):
to Oklahoma. Then he taught fifth grade in Oklahoma, and
it was said here that he did pass the legally
required background checks and so then he was a fifth
grade teacher from twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four.
Can you imagine what these parents are thinking? No, I
mean because again how recent this is.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
And within a year or two for all hell breaks loose.

Speaker 1 (01:08:47):
So I guess part way through that academic year he
once again left his position, but this time the district
did not disclose why.

Speaker 2 (01:08:56):
But it was his choice.

Speaker 1 (01:08:58):
Yes, Ok, we get to Arkansas. So Springdale Public Schools
one of the largest districts in northwest Arkansas. They had
hired him as a as a teacher candidate for the
upcoming twenty twenty five twenty twenty six school year. So

(01:09:19):
Jared Cleveland, who is the Springdale superintendent, later explained that
McGann went through the normal hiring process and was set
to begin teaching in August twenty twenty five. So I guess.
A superintendent stressed that McGann had not at any time

(01:09:42):
come into contact with any Springdale students or the families.
So like he was hired, but he nothing. You know,
he didn't teach anybody.

Speaker 2 (01:09:52):
He didn't well, because if it was twenty five to
twenty six, that would.

Speaker 1 (01:09:55):
Have been right, like he would have been starting now.

Speaker 2 (01:09:57):
Right rightly, yeah, August.

Speaker 1 (01:10:01):
Yeah, So that's just a few other things, like he
had no prior adult criminal history, no arrest, no convictions,
His teaching licenses, like I said, didn't have any infractions
on them. None of his co workers reported any violent
tendencies that he had. I mean, some people said he
was like a little odd and standoffish, but you know,

(01:10:22):
crime exactly certainly not so the latest updates that we
have right now, there have not been any reported diagnosed
mental health issues because they were looking into That doesn't
mean there weren't any, but they weren't diagnosed, and of
course he could have hid those struggles.

Speaker 2 (01:10:41):
They'll probably order evaluations though now that he's arrested. Usually
that doesn't happen right away, so I wonder if more
will come out.

Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
So, like, immediately after his arrest, he was booked into
the Washington County Detention Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Apparently from
the jail records, he's six feet tall, one hundred and
eighty pounds, and as I said, twenty eight years old.
So because of the nature of the offense, the judge
order that McGann be held without bond, which is typical

(01:11:08):
in Arkansas for capital murder. The state moved very quickly
to formally charge McGann, and he faces two counts of
capital murder, one for Clinton one for Kristen. And in Arkansas,
capital murder is the most serious homicide charge. It opens
the door to the possibility of a death penalty upon conviction. Basically,

(01:11:32):
if Andrew McGann is found guilty the person, the prosecutor
is going to ask the jury to consider sentencing him
to death. This case certainly has its aggravators. The state
will not be waiving the death penalty, the prosecutor said,
referencing the factors like multiple victims, killing in the presence

(01:11:54):
of kids, like a lot of stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:11:56):
Is this even going to go to trial?

Speaker 1 (01:11:58):
Though?

Speaker 2 (01:11:59):
The fact that he admitted, like did he initially plead guilty?
Like did the like what stage are we at for? Well,
it's the arrest because I'm just thinking, why are like
why would he take it to trial?

Speaker 1 (01:12:14):
So it's saying here that on August first, he made
his first initial appearance in court, a hearing where the
charges were were read and a judge addressed his custody status.
He did not enter a plea at that first appearance,
though the judge ordered McGann to be held without bond.

(01:12:35):
Like I said, a public defender would be appointed to
represent him if he couldn't afford the attorney. Of course
we know that, so it says. Originally an arraignment was
scheduled for later in August, and reports suggested that the
arraignment could be about two weeks out. Oh, so it's

(01:12:57):
coming up August fourteenth. Like I said, the prosecutor acknowledge
that they were going to pursue the death penalty. So
the case is officially titled something like State of Arkansas
versus Andrew James McGann. It's going to move through the
Washington County Circuit Court, and the judge may impose a

(01:13:18):
gag order or other measures down the line, given the
high profile nature of the case. So that is what
is is coming up. And you know, just overall a
very very unsettling, scary and crazy case. There is a

(01:13:42):
there is a gofund me that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:44):
Was set up for the girls.

Speaker 1 (01:13:46):
So well this is for so it was set up
by the cousin to help with funeral expenses. But yes,
and then to establish a trust for the daughters. YEA.
The nice thing is it did quickly surpass its goal
because donations came in from all across the country.

Speaker 2 (01:14:03):
Yeah, what a nightmare for this family. Just the emotional
course wrecking them, losing both parents for these kids like
at the same time in such a horribly tragic way.
It's just so senseless.

Speaker 1 (01:14:22):
The state park has now reopened, if anybody'd like to go.

Speaker 2 (01:14:26):
Yeah, very sad.

Speaker 1 (01:14:31):
And the last thing I guess I want to say
here is something that was very touching the community. They
did something for like for Clinton's what would have been
his first day on the job. So the employees at
that dairy he was supposed to work at, they held
a moment of silence during that morning and they basically

(01:14:55):
like stood by all of the trucks that, you know,
one of the trucks he would have obviously had. They
bowed their heads. Some of them saluted in memory in
memory of there would be colleague.

Speaker 2 (01:15:05):
How touching is that.

Speaker 1 (01:15:07):
And then they proceeded to load up a truck full
of dairy products and drove it to a local food bank,
donating it in Clinton's name to help families in need.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
So that's incredible, very very nice way to go Arkansas.
In so many ways, I am extremely impressed with that state. Yeah, wow,
you don't hear any of this often.

Speaker 1 (01:15:31):
No, No, I really don't, none of it. I know
you do not, you do not, So that's the case.
And yeah, you know, sad and totally reckless.

Speaker 2 (01:15:47):
Oh yeah, so tragic and just like I said, what
an absolute nightmare. And I mean, rest in peace Clinton
and Kristen obviously, And my heart just goes out to
these girls and like they're just the strength that they
have is just mind blowing to me. And the bravery.
But it's going to be, I think, a very rough

(01:16:09):
road for them.

Speaker 1 (01:16:13):
So I think that wraps us up. Yeah, so everyone,
I guess we'll see you in season three if you'll
have us.

Speaker 2 (01:16:28):
Which is absolutely wild.

Speaker 1 (01:16:31):
Oh I agree, it's wild. Agree, it's wild, baby. So
all right, well until season.

Speaker 2 (01:16:38):
Three, stay safe.

Speaker 1 (01:16:40):
And stay chill.

Speaker 2 (01:16:41):
Bye everybody, Bye.

Speaker 1 (01:16:46):
You've just listened to Chilworthy. Thank you for joining us
on this latest episode. While we strive to keep our
discussions engaging and lighthearted, we also wanted to take a
moment to acknowledge the real lives and events that are
at the heart of these stories.

Speaker 2 (01:17:01):
We try to approach each topic with a sense of
curiosity and respect fully. Aware of the impact these events
have had on the individuals and their loved ones, our
goal is to honor their memories by keeping their stories
alive and shedding light on the mysteries that surround them.

Speaker 1 (01:17:16):
If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe, rate,
and leave a review, and don't forget to join us
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