Aug. 14 (UPI) — The man charged with fatally stabbing a couple with their kids at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of capital murder.
Andrew James McGann, a former teacher, has been alleged to have randomly attacked and killed Clinton and Cristen Brink in July as they were hiking the park with their daughters, aged 7 and 9.
The girls were not physically injured and are with family members.
McGann was arrested by special agents with the Arkansas State Police after a five-day manhunt resulting in his being taken into custody while receiving a haircut in Springdale, Ark., around 30 miles north of Devil’s Den State Park.
McGann, currently represented by a public defender, is being held in custody without bond. The prosecution will seek the death penalty if McGann is convicted.
The 2,500-acre park where the murders took place is in a remote and rural area that has rugged terrain with thick vegetation and no cellphone service.
Published reports quoted officials as saying that McGann recently had moved to the area from Oklahoma and was employed at a bank.
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