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THE teacher accused of killing two parents in an Arkansas state park is being investigated in connection with two eerily similar cold cases.
An unsolved stabbing in 2020 and a mysterious 2023 shooting death are now being revisited in the wake of the double murder at Devil’s Den State Park.
After a five-day search last week, officials arrested 28-year-old Andrew James McGann. He faces charges for allegedly stabbing Clinton and Cristen Brink to death while they were hiking with their two daughters on July 26.
Police said McGann confessed to the killings after he was dramatically arrested at a salon mid-haircut, and he was a match to DNA from the scene.
The terrifying attack, which cops said was random, has sparked a second look at two unsolved murders at opposite ends of the country.
If McGann were to be considered a suspect in more murders, it could prompt an investigation into the possibility of his being a serial killer.
A serial killer is someone who murders three or more people over time, with cool-off periods in between the killings.
McGann’s name has now been brought up in three separate cases.
However, he hasn’t been found guilty of anything yet — plus, cops have already cleared him from at least one of the investigations.
While police quickly ruled out one of the cases as unrelated, the other murder occurred at a park with a similarly satanic name to Devil’s Den State Park.
MURDER OF JOHN SCHMUTZER
Wisconsin police are re-examining the murder of John Schmutzer, 24, after McGann’s arrest, according to the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office.
Schmutzer was stabbed to death while hiking alone at Devil’s Lake State Park on October 14, 2020.
No arrest was ever made in the case, although DNA collected at the scene ruled out other suspects.
Now, police have received multiple tips about the case regarding McGann, SCSO detective sergeant Drew Bulin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Wisconsin cops have requested DNA analysis from Arkansas to try to see if he’s connected to Schmutzer’s killing.
The suspect in the 2020 attack was described as a white man about 5’10” to 6 feet tall and dressed in all black, police said at the time.
Timeline of the murders
Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 43, were killed while hiking at Devil’s Den State Park with their daughters. Below is a timeline of the case:
July 16 – The Brink family has their water service turned on after recently moving to Prairie Grove, Arkansas, according to Mayor David Falk.
July 26 – Clinton and Cristen are found dead on Devil’s Den trail at around 2:30 pm after their two daughters ran to the visitor’s center and said their parents were attacked.
July 27 – Police release the identities of the slain couple. Cops ask park visitors to check their pictures and footage from Saturday for possible images of the suspect.
July 28 – Autopsy results reveal the Brinks died from stab wounds. Arkansas State Police releases a sketch of a person of interest in the case.
July 29 – ASP releases a picture from a witness of the person of interest in the case.
July 30 – Andrew James McGann is arrested mid-haircut at Lupita’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop just before 5 pm.
August 1 – McGann appears in his first court appearance. His arraignment is scheduled for August 25.
After McGann fled the scene in Arkansas, witnesses described him as a white male with a medium build and dressed in all black.
Evidence will be exchanged between Wisconsin and Arkansas crime labs, according to Fox affiliate KNWA-TV.
MURDER OF HONOREE FLEMING
An unsolved murder on a Vermont hiking trail also re-emerged as McGann’s case garnered national attention.
In October 2023, retired Vermont State University professor Honoree Fleming, 77, was shot to death on the Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail, her favorite hiking trail near campus.
No one was ever arrested for the murder on the Delaware and Hudson Rail Trail, but police released a sketch of a person of interest after receiving hundreds of tips following Fleming’s death.
At the time, cops said the person of interest was a white man in his 20s and standing at about 5’10” with red hair.
He was last spotted wearing a dark gray T-shirt and a black backpack.
After McGann was arrested last week, Vermont State Police troopers contacted Arkansas investigators about the case, according to ABC affiliate WTEN.
However, police announced on August 7 that they determined there was no link between McGann and Fleming or Vermont.
Troopers are still investigating Fleming’s murder, which devastated the community in her small college town of Castleton, about seven miles east of the New York and Vermont border.
Vermont State Police’s full statement
On August 7, the Vermont State Police issued the following statement about Honoree Fleming’s murder investigation:
The Vermont State Police investigation into the October 2023 homicide of Honoree Fleming in Castleton remains active and ongoing.
Recent media reports have led to speculation about possible connections between this case and another high-profile homicide investigation in Arkansas. The Vermont State Police would like to provide some clarity regarding routine investigative steps related to these cases.
As part of their continuing investigation in the Fleming case, VSP detectives follow up on any potential lead whenever it might arise. This includes contacting other police agencies when a crime occurs that might have potential similarities in fact patterns, even if there is no known connection between that case and VSP’s investigation. VSP has reached out to several police agencies across the country to discuss various suspects and cases that have any similarities to the Fleming case. Sharing information between police agencies is a normal occurrence, and such contacts do not indicate that a suspect in one crime is necessarily involved in any way with another.
After the Vermont State Police learned of the recent double homicide of a couple on a hiking trail in Arkansas and the arrest of a suspect, VSP detectives took the routine step of contacting their counterparts in Arkansas to discuss the case. At this time, there is no known link between the suspect in that case and the Honoree Fleming homicide, or to Vermont in general.
The Vermont State Police continues to ask that any member of the public who has information that could assist in the Fleming investigation call the VSP station in Rutland at 802-773-9101 or submit an anonymous tip online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.
Source: VSP
Before McGann moved to Northwestern Arkansas to teach elementary school, the former teacher lived in Oklahoma and Texas and appeared to move from school to school to get out of trouble.
In a disturbing allegation from a parent of one of his former students in Texas, McGann is said to have shown favoritism to little girls and once told a student he wished she could be his girlfriend.
The school said McGann was placed on leave over “concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favouritism,” but that he resigned of his own accord.
McGann’s motive in the killings hasn’t been disclosed by police.
He is set to be arraigned in court on August 14.
