Death penalty possible after ‘random’ hiking murders left children without mom and dad: former prosecutor

The 28-year-old schoolteacher in Arkansas accused of killing a married couple on a hiking trip with their kids July 26 may face the death penalty should his case go to trial, according to a former local prosecutor.

Andrew James McGann is accused of killing Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, and Clinton David Brink, 43, while the couple took a hiking trip with their two children at Devil’s Den State Park in Washington County, Arkansas.

During a news conference, prosecuting attorney Brandon Carter said he plans to present a death penalty punishment to the future jury as a punishment for the murder charges McGann is facing. 

“This case certainly has the aggravators that exist where a jury should get to decide what the punishment for this defendant is,” Carter said. “And it is my intention to pose that to the jury.”

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McGann was charged with two counts of capital murder after allegedly killing the Brinks.

Shane Wilkinson, a criminal defense attorney and former chief deputy prosecutor of Benton County, Arkansas, told Fox News Digital the specifics of the Brinks’ deaths will not bode well in McGann’s fight against the death penalty.

“I just think it’s going to be generally aggravating to people that there’s a mom and dad that have been killed, and there’s two kids that don’t have a mom and dad anymore,” Wilkinson said. “I mean … that’s going be one of the things that people are going to, you know … I mean it’s gonna be hard not to be sad for those kids, right?”

The fact authorities claim this was a “completely random event” by McGann, Wilkinson says, will “scare people.”

Authorities said the Brinks’ children, 7 and 9, are safe and in the care of family members but added they are emotionally distressed. 

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Wilkinson said there could be several “mitigating factors” that could help McGann avoid death row, including the fact he’s young and has no known criminal history.

“In this case, it doesn’t look like he has any significant criminal history so far that we know of, right? He is relatively young. I’m sure his attorneys are going to be looking very closely, what if he has any emotional or mental disturbances of some kind,” Wilkinson said. 

“If he has a mental disease or defect, that’ll make a big difference.”

While there’s no clear motive for McGann to kill the Brinks, as authorities allege, Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar said McGann confessed.

“During an interview with investigators, the suspect admitted to committing the murders. We also executed a search warrant at his residence and recovered items consistent with the crime,” Hagar said. 

McGann was arrested at a Springdale, Arkansas, barbershop July 30 while he was in the middle of getting a haircut.

Fox News obtained video showing McGann being arrested in Lupita’s Beauty Salon & Barber Shop.

McGann’s next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 25.

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.