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The man is accused of killing a married couple while traveling with his children on July 26 in Arkansas and is looking for other murders that may be involved.
Arkansas State Police accused Andrew James McGann of killing 41-year-old Cristen Amanda Brink and 43-year-old Clinton David Brink while the couple is taking their children to hike at Devil Dan State Park in Washington County, Arkansas. McGann will be arraigned in court on Thursday morning on death penalty charges.
Arkansas State Police Chief Colonel Mike Hagar said McGann admitted to the murder, adding that they were stabbed to death in a “completely random incident.”
“We have no reason to believe that there is any known connection between our suspect and the victim,” Hagar said. “In an interview with investigators, the suspect admitted to the murder. We also executed a search warrant at his residence and recovered items consistent with the crime.”
Possible death penalty leaves children without mom and dad after “random” hiking murder: former prosecutor
Clinton and Christine Fringe were murdered on July 26, 2025 at Devil’s Dan State Park. (GoFundMe)
DNA was used to associate McGann with the couple’s death, Hagar said.
McGann, who has held several teaching teacher positions in the Southeast over the past few years, is also looking for possible murders in the people of Vermont and Wisconsin.
A detective in the Sauk County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin told Fox News that his agency received a prompt about a “possible connection” between the July 26 incident and the separate incident on October 14, 2020, which occurred in Devil Lake State Park, where John Craig Craig Schmutzer was stabbed while hiking on the Grottos Trail.
Family vacation hotspot on the edge after parents random murder in front of their children
John Craig Schmutzer was killed in 2020. (Soke County Sheriff’s Office)
Detectives said police are trying to determine if there is any connection between McGann and Schmitzer’s death.
“We have received connections from Arkansas and citizens of Wisconsin, regarding the devil’s murder and possible homicides from October 2020,” Det. Sgt. Drew Brynn told Fox News Numbers. “We have been in contact with investigators in Arkansas and will work to determine if the similarities are coincidences or more.”
McGarn grew up near Garfield Ridge in Chicago, a neighborhood about three hours from Devil Lake State Park, according to ABC 7 News.
The Sauk County Sheriff’s killer was about 6 feet tall and “average build.” Prison records from Washington County, Arkansas show McGan is 6 feet tall.
Vermont police said in an August 7 press release that detectives contacted Arkansas law enforcement to discuss the death of winner Fleming, whose body was found on the Delaware and Hudson Railroad in Castleton.
Vermont Police wrote: “After Vermont Police learned about the couple’s two recent homicides and the arrest of the suspect on a hiking trail in Arkansas, VSP detectives took a routine step to discuss the case with their Arkansas colleagues, ‘’ Currently, there is no known connection between the suspect and the winner Fleming murder or with a suspect in general in Vermont. ”
Honoree Fleming, a biologist and former dean of education at Vermont State University’s Castleton campus, sat on her computer in an undated family photo. She was found shot dead on a hiking trail near the school on October 5, and police are seeking public help to find the suspect. (Dean Powers)
Shane Wilkinson, a criminal defense attorney in Benton County, Arkansas and former chief deputy prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that he believes law enforcement agencies in hiking murders that have not been resolved may be watching McGann.
“I think anyone who hasn’t solved the murder of hiking people, they may notice that right now,” Wilkinson said.
Previous homicides. Ted Williams told Fox News Digital McGann’s alleged murder “raised a lot of red flags across the country.”
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Special Agents from the Arkansas State Police Department arrested Devil’s Den State Park’s double homicide on July 26, 2025 at 28-year-old James Andrew McGann in Springdale. (Arkansas State Police; Washington County Detention Center)
“I Not only must be trusted in Wisconsin law enforcement and Vermont’s enforce interest in McGon. But they are also interested in his country’s scope, too, because of the way he was accused of stabbing the couple,” Williams said. “The way he stabbed the couple in Devil’s Den State Park will lead any law enforcement agency with similar circumstances where someone was stabbed and certainly wanted to investigate Andrew McGann. ”
Michael Ruiz of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.
