Vermont State Police have reached out to authorities in Arkansas about any possible connections between a double killing last month on a trail in that state and the homicide of a former university dean on a trail in Castleton nearly two years ago.
Andrew James McGann, 28, was taken into custody July 30 by police in Arkansas on capital murder charges stemming from two homicides that occurred July 26, at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas, according to Arkansas State Police.
McGann allegedly fatally stabbed Clinton Brink, 43, and his wife, Cristen Brink, 41, Arkansas State Police said in a press release last week. The couple were hiking at the time of the attack with their two young daughters, 7 and 9, who were not injured, the release added.
At a press conference last week, Arkansas State Police Maj. Stacie Rhoads said that McGann admitted to killing the couple after his arrest. She also said in response to a question from a reporter that she “fully” expected that “other jurisdictions will probably reach out to us to see if there are cases throughout the U.S. that may be connected to him.”
Adam Silverman, a Vermont State Police spokesperson, said Wednesday afternoon that Vermont State Police have contacted Arkansas authorities.
“As part of our ongoing investigation into the homicide of Honoree Fleming, the Vermont State Police routinely follows up on all possible leads when they arise,” Silverman wrote in an email.
“After VSP learned of the homicides in Arkansas and the arrest of a suspect, VSP detectives contacted their counterparts in Arkansas to discuss the case,” Silverman added. “Because our investigation remains open and active, we will refrain from sharing additional information about our procedural steps.”
Cindy Murphy, communications director for the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, stated in an email exchange Wednesday with VTDigger that she couldn’t comment on any specific questions related to connections, if any, between McGann and Fleming’s killing.
“Because we have an open investigation, we can’t address that,” Murphy wrote.
It’s not known what connections McGann might have to Vermont. He had been teaching in elementary schools in Oklahoma and Texas before accepting a job as a teacher in Arkansas earlier this year, according to an Associated Press article. The same article stated McGann had not yet started in that new job at Springdale Public Schools.
In a past teaching job in Texas, according to the Associated Press report, McGann was placed on administrative leave in spring 2023 “following concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favoritism,” according to a spokesperson for the Lewisville Independent School District. He later resigned from that position, the Associated Press report stated.
Fleming case remains unsolved
Fleming, 77, of Castleton, was found shot to death on the afternoon of Oct. 5, 2023, on the D & H rail trail in Castleton, about a mile from the university’s campus. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots around the time Fleming’s body was discovered by other passersby on the trail around 4:30 p.m., according to police at that time.
Police had also said that witnesses reported seeing a man carrying a backpack leaving the trail at its entrance on South Street, and heading north toward campus, around the time of the killing.
Police released a sketch of a “person of interest” about a week after Fleming’s death. The man, according to police, had been described by witnesses as white, red-haired, about 5-foot-10 and in his 20s.
The Vermont Chief’s Medical Examiner Office determined that Fleming died from a gunshot wound to her head, and her death had been ruled a homicide.
Before joining Castleton, Fleming was a faculty member at Trinity College in Burlington, Middlebury College and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, according to the university. She was married to Ron Powers, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Following the attack on the couple in Arkansas, police there released a photo and sketch of a person of interest. Police described the wanted person as a white man of medium build, last seen wearing a long-sleeve shirt (with sleeves rolled up), dark pants, a dark baseball cap and sunglasses. The man, according to police, was carrying a black backpack and wearing fingerless gloves.
A mugshot later released by police in Arkansas following his arrest shows McGann’s hair appears to be blond to reddish.
Police have released few details into their investigation of Fleming’s killing. A year after Fleming’s death, in October 2024, Maj. Dan Trudeau of the Vermont State Police told VTDigger, “The case has not progressed as quickly as we would have liked.”
Trudeau has since retired from the law enforcement agency.
