Woman pleads guilty to killing her 'best friend' with three other teens after man catfished her and offered to pay $9 million
An Alaska woman pleaded guilty to killing her ‘best friend’ after a man she met online said he would pay her $9 million if she sent him photos and videos of her committing murder. NBC News reported.
Denali Brehmer, 22, pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder in the June 2019 death of Cynthia Hoffman, the Alaska Department of Law said.
Denali Brehmer admitted in an Anchorage, Alaska courtroom on Wednesday to the first-degree murder of Cynthia ‘CeeCee’ Hoffman, 22.
Hoffman was found dead with a gunshot wound to the back of her head and bound with duct tape after she went missing on the Thunderbird Falls hiking trail.
Prosecutors claimed Brehmer, who was 18-years-old at the time, was catfished by a ‘millionaire’ named ‘Tyler’ to murder someone in exchange for millions, according to KTUU.
Police later revealed the catfish to be Darin Schilmiller, then 21.
Schilmiller offered $9 million for the ‘rape and murder of someone in Alaska’ — and told the teens to send him photos and videos of the horrific crime taking place.
Brehmer and her two alleged accomplices carried out the planned attack on June 2, 2019, luring Hoffman to Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak, an unincorporated community in Anchorage, under the guise of a friendly hike.
Hoffman had thought of Brehmer as her ‘best friend’ according to court documents.
The teens bound Hoffman, duct-taping her hands, feet and mouth — before shooting her in the back of the head with a 9mm handgun.
The group sent numerous Snaptchat videos and pictures to Schilmiller ‘at his directive throughout the duration of the event’ before pushing Hoffman’s body into the Eklutna River, authorities said.
The teens had tried to burn Hoffman’s body before sending her family a text that she had been dropped off elsewhere.
Brehmer’s sentencing has been set for August 22. She faces anywhere from 30 to 99 years in prison.
Schilmiller was arrested and extradited to Alaska. Now 24, Schilmiller has been held in jail on first-degree murder charges stemming from the case.
Charges against Brehmer’s two alleged accomplices — Caleb Leyland, 23, and Kayden McIntosh, 19, are pending.