A suspect has been arrested in the killings of a pair who had been attacked on an Arkansas mountaineering path Saturday, state police mentioned Wednesday.
James Andrew McGann, 28, of Springdale, was arrested at 4:57 p.m. Wednesday at a enterprise in Springdale and is charged with two counts of capital homicide, Arkansas State Police mentioned in a press release.
He’s accused of killing Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, who had been attacked Saturday afternoon in entrance of their daughters whereas they had been mountaineering at Satan’s Den State Park, police have mentioned.
He was arrested at a barber store after a dayslong manhunt, police mentioned.
Col. Mike Hagar, the state police director, thanked state police for working lengthy hours within the seek for a suspect, in addition to federal businesses for his or her help.
“Due to their exhausting work and investigative talent, we had been in a position to take a monster off the streets and convey aid to these two treasured women and the remainder of our residents,” Hagar mentioned.
Authorities didn’t point out a suspected motive Wednesday or how the killings occurred.
“We’re nonetheless exploring and figuring out precisely what that motive was,” Arkansas State Police Maj. Stacie Rhoads informed reporters Wednesday evening.
McGann had lately moved to Arkansas from Oklahoma and had gotten a job to work at a neighborhood faculty, she mentioned.
The victims’ daughters are 7 and 9 years previous. They weren’t injured and are secure with members of the family, officers mentioned.
Katrina Hutchins, Clinton Brink’s sister, mentioned they moved to the state about three weeks in the past.
State police had been notified in regards to the killings at Satan’s Den shortly earlier than 3 p.m. Saturday. Officers launched a sketch of a suspect and requested the general public for assist. They mentioned witnesses noticed a black, four-door sedan with tape partly protecting its license plate.
“Clinton and Cristen died heroes, defending their little women they usually deserve justice. They are going to endlessly stay on in all of our hearts,” the household mentioned in an earlier assertion.
Rhoads mentioned police had been declining to launch a lot details about what led to McGann’s arrest Wednesday.
“We nonetheless have loads of work to do by way of securing a conviction, as a result of that’s our subsequent large focus proper now,” she mentioned.
It was not instantly clear whether or not McGann had an legal professional who might communicate on his behalf. A cellphone quantity for any relations couldn’t be present in on-line public data Wednesday evening.
Satan’s Den State Park is round 26 miles south of Springdale, a metropolis of round 84,000 within the northwestern a part of the state.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders mentioned northwest Arkansas has been “a group that has been completely heartbroken.”
“Our whole state is grieving for the tragic loss and mindless and horrific crime that’s taken place,” she mentioned. She requested Arkansans to wish for the victims’ household.
