Is teacher accused of murdering couple in Arkansas park a serial killer?
McGann, 28, is eyed in an unsolved stabbing from 2020 and also a 2023 shooting death at another park
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The eyes of accused killer Andrew James McGann are chilling.
Lifeless and glaring at the world, detectives now are investigating if McGann, a teacher, may be responsible for other cold-blooded murders, potentially making him a serial killer.
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Is teacher accused of murdering couple in Arkansas park a serial killer? Back to video
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On July 26, Clinton and Cristen Brink were stabbed to death on a trail at the Devil’s Den State Park in northeastern Arkansas while hiking with their young daughters, aged 7 and 9.
Now, homicide detectives are eyeing McGann, 28, in an unsolved stabbing from 2020 and also a 2023 shooting death at another park.
McGann was arrested last week following an intense five-day manhunt. He has been charged with murdering the Brinks.
According to cops, McGann confessed to the murders in the immediate aftermath of his arrest, made mid-haircut at a salon. His DNA matched the forensics discovered at the crime scene.
Detectives said the sickening attack was random.
Now, investigators are taking a new look at two unsolved homicides. If McGann is involved in those two deaths, he would be categorized as a serial killer. Depending on the methodology, a serial killer can be someone who murders two or three unrelated people over time.
Police in Wisconsin are looking at McGann for the stabbing murder of John Schmutzer. The 24-year-old was butchered at the similarly Satanic-sounding Devil’s Lake State Park on Oct. 14, 2020. Homicide detectives in the Badger State have requested DNA from Arkansas.
The 2020 killer was described as white, about 5-foot-11 and dressed in black.
Police are also said to be looking at the suspect in the October 2023 murder of retired Vermont State University professor Honoree Fleming, 77. Fleming was shot to death while hiking on her favourite trail.
McGann’s past is murky. He grew up in Texas and Oklahoma before relocating to Northwestern Arkansas to teach elementary school. It was reported that McGann fell afoul of supervisors and was shifted from school to school.
One former parent said that McGann tended to favour little girls, telling one that 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.”
He resigned of his own accord.
Washington County Prosecutor Brandon Carter called the double Arkansas murder “the most horrific thing that you could ever imagine.”
“That was the basis of everything that we had,” he added, “so we have to be careful about relying solely on that information.”
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Cops say that the girls’ mom whisked them to safety and returned to the scene of the attack to help her husband. She was then stabbed to death
So far, homicide detectives have not disclosed McGann’s motivation for the murders. He is set to be arraigned in court on Thursday and remains in custody without bond.
McGann is charged with two counts of capital murder, and if convicted, he could face the death penalty.
@HunterTOSun
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