Devil's Den Suspect Looked 'Soulless,' Says Hairdresser Who Cut His Hair By Christina Coulter

Days after a double murder at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas, the man accused of stabbing a couple in front of their young daughters was arrested mid-haircut — and the stylist who served him says she had an eerie feeling from the moment he sat down.

“As soon as I saw him, as I was telling him to come into my chair, I had an eerie feeling about him,” hairstylist Adriana Ruiz Avalos said on NewsNation of the suspect, Andrew James McGann.

Before the haircut began, Ruiz Avalos’ aunt — who also works at the salon — asked McGann to sign his name. He allegedly stared back blankly. 

“Something kind of didn’t feel right,” Avalos recalled, based on her aunt’s reaction.

“He looked soulless. He didn’t look right,” she said, describing his eyes as “very sunken in” and his hair as “very dry and matted.”  

Ruiz Avalos also offered a chilling detail about his behavior as police moved in: “He had his head down the whole time. He really didn’t say anything until they were like, ‘I believe it’s your car.’”

McGann, 26, walked into Lupita’s Beauty Salon in Springdale, Ark., on July 30, nearly five days after police allege he fatally stabbed Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, while they hiked with their daughters, ages 7 and 9.

Ruiz Avalos said a hairdressing cape was still around McGann’s neck when officers handcuffed him.

The Brink’s daughters survived and ran for help, providing descriptions that helped lead investigators to McGann. Authorities matched a black Kia Stinger seen near the park and DNA evidence to McGann after surveillance footage placed him at the scene.  

McGann was booked into the Washington County Jail later that day. Police have not disclosed a motive, saying in a press conference the attack appeared entirely random. McGann did not enter a plea at his Friday morning hearing and is being held without bond.

Now, as she grapples with the shock of having once been so close to someone accused of such brutality, Ruiz Avalos says she’s still processing what happened. 

“It does take a toll on someone. I’m just overwhelmed. I’m saddened because two little girls lost their parents,” she said. “And it’s … a soulless act by Andrew. It’s unimaginable.”