Hey there, folks. It's August first, and the suspect charged for killing the Arkansas couple on a hike with their young daughters just made his first court appearance. Bond has been denied. He did not enter a plea of not guilty, but police say he's already told them he's guilty. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Robes. He was in court just a short time ago, and I guess it was something. There's some images out of there, and it's just kind of eerie to just lay eyes on them.
It is eerie. And I saw that the hairstylist who was cutting his hair when he was arrested described his face as soulless, and that's actually a really accurate description. I may. I know that we're all viewing him and looking at him through the lens of what he's accused of doing, but it's still there is something eerie, something vacant in his face. He doesn't have any expression, And yeah, it's frightening even just to look at someone who's capable of what police say he did.
And yes, they say he did, and they also say that he said he did. We did give some updates from police among some of the updates to the fact that they say he did admit it. We'll tell you more about that in a second, but the update at least from right now robes he's making his first court appearance again. This wasn't the arraignment that's supposed to come August twenty fifth, but for now. One of the headlines that did come out is that they are not going
to let him out of jail anytime soon. Bond was denied.
That makes a lot of sense. He was also assigned to public defender. It was unclear whether or not he had already acquired an attorney. He had not, so he was given a public defender and they'll be getting things together next couple of weeks before his arraignment on the twenty fifth. So he didn't enter a plea today or anything like that. This was just to let him know he would not be given bail, which makes a tremendous amount of sense, perfect sense.
But this information we're just getting because we were just in court before we started recording here. But we did get new information from police at least overnight. We were wondering and waiting Robes when we first heard about this crime, about some of the details like what was happening on this hike and people were around, and why not bothered
the daughters and how did the daughters get away? Well, that was a big part of the story we now know, and we all wondered, you were sure like their last moments, these parents were probably trying to protect their kids. But the details robes are even more gut renting and even make you more proud in viewing another parent as you can be.
Absolutely so. Clinton and Kristen Brink are the two. That's the couple, the parents who were murdered, and we now also learned that they were stabbed to death. But police told us that what happened, you had our suspect, Andrew James McGann attacking Clinton the father first. That's when Kristen the mom, got the two little girls seven and nine
years old, to safety. So she rushed them out immediately, got them to safety further along on the trail, but then she went back to go help her husband Clinton, and that is when police say Andrew James McGann then stabbed her to death as well. So it's just such a heroic thing first for her to get her kids off and far away from danger, but then to turn around and head back to help her husband. My god, that is a love story for her children and a love story for her husband.
As they say sometimes and not making light. But she's a good one, Ain't she a good one? Ain't she a keeper? To think she? I mean, I wonder just think in those moments, she had to make some kind of decision to balance are they safe enough? Who needs me more? Now? Right? Wow? She had to go back. She had to make that call because she could have.
And I think no one would falter if she kept going with the kids and made sure she got away, because I'm sure that's probably what the husband would have preferred.
I think every mom asked herself what she would do, and every wife asked herself what she would do, And you know, you do have to make a split second decision. I'm getting emotional thinking about it because on one hand, you know, they actually had another daughter back at home by the way, so they had three girls who need their parents, And I don't know, I don't know what the right call would have been. Of course, I think it's interesting you pointed out, as the husband, you wouldn't
want her to come back. You would want her to keep running, go, go, and we.
Can sit here and think about that now. Awfully, in the moment, she it was instinct, and I'm sure she felt good enough as a mom that the kids were okay. Maybe she saw somebody else on the trail, because somebody did ended up did end up finding kids on the trail and helping them. But just to hear now this detail all the scenarios we thought about. I didn't think about that one.
Yeah, and they were about a half mile into the trail, and it's a popular trail, but you know how trails are there few and far between. You you see people maybe every half mile or so. But I started thinking there had to have been screaming. How did no one hear? Could she not have been screaming for help? I imagine like having my girls and running and screaming for help. You know, you just don't know what you would do.
But the kids were close enough to another hiker. Yes, we were wondering how they found their way back to the visitor center, because that seemed surreal and almost impossible for two little girls to navigate their way through a trail and having to go the opposite way wherever this danger was, but another hiker did find the girls and then called nine one one immediately and then got them to the visitor center. And that series of events certainly makes a lot more sense than what we re speculating.
And if we haven't said here now the girls were seven and nine years old, you can't imagine what they're going through now and what they saw. They experienced this as well, but ended up on harm. That was part of the new information. We got some other new details from police. So they're saying he has admitted to the crime the way they put it initially, and I wonder if they were trying to be careful with language here.
But the the person, the investigator who was in charge, made the statement that he indicated that was the word, indicated that he had committed the crimes. And then she was asked specifically was it a confession, and she said, I would call it an admission, So I wonder what they're being careful.
The legal difference is between an admission and a confession. Maybe a confession you actually usually will sign. They will ask you to write it out and then they'll ask you to sign a confession. So maybe he didn't do that, but verbally acknowledged that he was the one responsible. It's hard to know.
That probably is some kind of legal fine line because sometimes confessions get thrown out. Yes, that happens all the time. But if he just told it to you without you trying to course anyway, maybe that is the difference. What they should use that language. I would call it an admission. We told you the new details about the attack. Something else here. It turns out there were quite a few witnesses that sounds like robes that saw this guy at some point before and even after, yes, attack.
Yes, a couple reported seeing a man with blood on his face, and so that was actually how people then were able to see which car he got into, and that is how police were able to track him. So, yes, all of those eyewitnesses, folks who some of the folks who took videos and pictures and unknowingly captured him certainly
helped find him. There was the couple who was able to describe his face to police to give that sketch that certainly was spot on, and then others were able to And this is when the police were saying they were trying to connect the dots and doing all these interviews before they made the announcement to local residents that there was a double murderer on the loose, but they were doing all of these interviews, piecing it together so
they could follow him and find him. But yes, people, I mean, that's not something obviously you would forget if you saw someone running past you on a hiking trail with blood on their face, you know, And it worked.
Look, I credit to the police on this and to the community up there that listened, that paid attention. And as soon as they said they put that sketch out, they started getting They said they were They used the word we were flooded with tips in asking people in an area like that where you know, people have been taking pictures and got video. Said hey, people, just check what you have and they said there was video footage that they got that was so key in tracking this
guy down. So I mean applaud the community and all you folks who did what they asked you to do.
It was that car that led them to him, and someone actually got a video of the car and saw that the license plate was covered with duct tapes, so they knew exactly what they were looking for and they were able to track his car to spring Dale, Arkansas, and that is exactly how they found him in that barber shop. That's remarkable.
I know, I told you I guess obas So we've talked about this a little bit. Everybody knows I'm from Arkansas. I went to the university that's in the area up there. But we were there not too long ago for my niece's birthday in Springdale, and we stayed in Springdale.
Or Race's wedding, right you said birthday?
Yeah, yes, it was her celebratory. Yeah, something was going on in which we were.
It was a wedding.
I had to get her a gift, Okay, but I did. I could show you on the map. It's a five minute drive that barbershop from where we had that wow Mexican casa and I can't remember casa something that we.
Had a wonderful Mexican lunch with your sister there in Springdale on that main road.
And we always remember you. They wouldn't let us have drinks outside. Do you remember that?
We wanted to sit in the sun so badly and we had to. We could only have a margarita inside if we sat on the patio. It had to be alcohol stree. It was a very memorable lunch.
Do you remember that? But yes, the what we're talking about, and so we people think about don't know northwest Arkansas that well, this has been a sprawling area in one of the highest or the fastest growing areas in the country or the past ten years or so. So this is a booming place. This is not out in the booni somewhere, but where he was found was dead center in the middle of everything. You were there, you saw, oh, yeah, this area, this is a bustling area, and this is adorable.
And the thing he's just roaming around, walking around, Hey, it's not our haircut.
Hiding in plain sight, and certainly didn't seem concerned.
Yeah he did.
He did not seem concerned at all that police were going to find him, which is so interesting because I would think he had seen this sketch artist, I mean, the sketch rendering of him and the photo of him from behind. If I saw that and saw it, dang, they did a pretty good job. Looks just like me. And his vehicle description was out there as well. So that's just interesting that he had zero concern about being caught, that he just thought he'd get a haircut.
And to that point as well. Police did say they found things in his apartment that indicated that he had been keeping up with what was going on with his crime.
Yes, he was looking at the news reports. And also they said they found blood in his car and they actually were able to link his blood directly to the crime scene, so they've got plenty of evidence that they've got the right guy. He also had injuries to his hands, some cuts from the attack itself, but.
One of the most Yes, after the crime, shocking enough he was captured. The next shock came in finding out he is an elementary school teacher. And now some are wondering how were the signs missed? Because the next question is, well, there weren't any necessarily signs because he passed background check after background check after background check. But parents, especially some now in Texas, are arguing these administrators dropped the ball with this guy.
Welcome back, everyone to this edition of Amy and TJ, where we are talking about Andrew James McCann, the twenty eight year old elementary school teacher who is now facing double murder charges in the state of Arkansas for killing that couple who was hiking with their young daughters, and so many people are asking how this guy had been able to go from school district to school district and no one saw, no one heard, no one recognized any sort of warning signs that this something might be off
with this man. And you know, we've had school district after school districts say hey, we did our due diligence, we did the background checks. This guy is clean. There's no disciplinary actions on his record that would make us not want to hire him.
That's all true. What do you do, hey, if all that's true, what are you supposed to do? I really do ask that, somewhat rhetorically, but in all honesty, Well, how do you read someone say, you know what, just don't have a good feeling about this guy, because it seems like a lot of people did have that.
I think that is part of the interview process and should be considered one hundred percent if you're going to be dealing with our most precious resources or our most precious gifts are children. But there were some warning signs. Turns out, so he was a teacher in Oklahoma, correct sand Spring School District and Broken Aero School District. He passed the background checks.
Those were the two he was at in the two prior years before coming to Springdale. So that would mean three school districts in three different years.
That's a red flag.
That should be a red flag.
But and by the way, he was about to start Springdale School District. I mean, he was weeks away from being a teacher to all of those children there in the Springdale area, which is so scary. But when you go back to twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three, that school year he was in the Lewisville School District in Texas, And this is where parents are pointing to a situation that occurred that should have been why wasn't it on his record? And certainly talking to these parents,
they're confused as well. So he was placed on administrative leave and he ultimately resigned. And there is a reason that is listed for his resignation slash administrative leave concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favoritism.
Now, that doesn't sound terrible. He doesn't sound like this is a nut. It doesn't sound like experson is a threat necessarily. It sounds like they might be bad at their job at the beginning, does it not? That doesn't sound awful.
And maybe you're thinking, so he's twenty eight now, so three years ago he was twenty five. I mean young. I think so you could reasonably think, Okay, he's just young and inexperienced, and this isn't necessarily some character flaw, but maybe an experience issue or a maturity issue. You could see possibly how that would be the I guess the conclusion that they could come to.
Okay, but they looked into it. So after some things came to their attention, the district there did do an investigation and they claim, and I quote, they did not find any evidence of inappropriate behavior with a student. However, we did find his classroom management and professional judgment to be below our district expectations. Ultimately, mister McGahn resigned in May of twenty twenty three, and that is the end
of it. But there are parents there who are saying it's not that simple, just he was bad at managing a classroom robes, and they are telling some stories of behavior that they saw or they suspected or made them uncomfortable, and it seems nothing was done about that.
That's right. So several of these parents have spoken to multiple news outlets. There was a parent that spoke to CBS, who said that there were signs that not all was
right with mister McGann. And this woman specifically says that she actually her son came to her and said he was uncomfortable with how mister McGann treated specifically female students, claiming that he gave them extra treats, kept some of them in his classroom alone during recess, and she said the worst part was when her son came home and told her this story that he saw mister McGann tell
one of the little girls. And again, this is a fourth grade class, correct, I think these were fourth graders at the time. If you were older, I would love to marry you. And so this parent said her son heard that and was so upset he came home and started crying. So it disturbed her that much, and so she ultimately said, you drop your kids off every day, and we were literally wrapping our kids off to a monster. The fact that he was allowed to continue teaching is what blows my mind.
Okay, they read it, they saw something in him, but I mean, is it just weird behavior? Is that enough?
It should be? I think when it comes to a teacher and students, yes, if you have a teacher who is displaying bizarre, just bizarre tendencies and certainly favorite showing favoritism towards your female students when they're that little. That's scary.
Okay, So let me ask you this then, And this is something that every educator probably out there going. Y'all don't even understand a shortage of teachers, a shortage of help moving around and trying to get and feel positions in time for school. Okay, So this guy as an example, what's going on when this guy starting the age twenty five,
it's pretty young to be in charge of some kids. Fine, you can be twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, Texas School District, twenty twenty three, Oklahoma School District twenty twenty four, Another Oklahoma school district, twenty twenty five. He was supposed to start in Arkansas. That's four straight years, that's four different school districts. Something's wrong there. Yes, his record isn't
following him. He got into trouble at that first school district, but the next one, the next one and the next one have no idea about that.
There's nothing on record that anything happened. But why did he keep moving? Why did he keep leaving. It could have been uncomfortable for whatever reason. We don't know. We haven't heard anything yet from those other school districts, but certainly from other parents who say, now, I mean, of course, it's Monday morning quarterbacking. It's always easy to be able to look back and say, ah, I did think something
was off. It's hard in the moment to recognize if someone's just antisocial, or has social development issues, or is actually homicidal and a mania.
You would never go that route, would.
You wouldn't think it, You wouldn't jump go that far.
Yeah, No, I.
Mean this is other parents were saying. Several parents noticed, myself included he was off. He was just very disinterested one word answers. One parent described her son being uncomfortable. Yes, so it's just it's little things here and there, but nothing where someone should have said, this guy could go off, this guy could snap.
Well, they are in Texas at least some starting to call for something to be done. They think something fell through the cracks here and something was missed. Someone on the state member of the state Board of Education has called for a thorough investigation robe, saying we got to make sure at least that we didn't miss something. Maybe this is just one of those things where there's no
way the system can do anything about this. But man, if you hire somebody at your school district to take care of eight year old children, don't you want to know if that person has something on their record, yes, that caused them to actually have disciplinary action. You would need to know that and know why I would call down to the squot hate. So tell me what happened. Can I talk to some of those parents? You would like to hear that as a thorough vetting, and you
might make a different decision. I don't know what legally they can do, what unions protect, that's.
A tough one, but I do you know, this could be a tiny, tiny silver lining if there are some changes implemented, if there are more safety nets put in place. You can't always know what someone's thinking and who they are in their hearts they're not willing to show you. But perhaps if there are a few extra safety measures put in place in some of these school districts, that could be one small good thing that comes out of
really senseless, horrific tragedy. That we will continue to follow all the latest developments on thank you for listening to us on this Friday. I'm Amy Robot alongside my partner t J Holmes. Have a great day, everybody,