She was promised $9 million by a man she met online to kill the bestfriend and she went ahead to execute the plan.
A 19-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska, was allegedly killed by her best friend and several other teen accomplices after they were promised millions of dollars for video evidence of the killing by a man who had catfished them.
According to court documents, Denali Brehmer, 18, confessed to killing Cynthia Hoffman on June 2 at the direction of a man she had met online several months prior named Darin Schilmiller.
Prosecutors say Schilmiller, 21, who’s from New Salisbury, Indiana, told Brehmer his name was “Tyler,” that he lived in Kansas, and that he was a millionaire. The two then developed an online relationship.
Alaskan officials described recovering cellphone records that showed the two “discussing a plan to rape and murder someone in Alaska” and an offer of “nine or more million dollars to carry out the murder and to have photographs and/or videos of the murder sent to [Schilmiller].”
Brehmer then allegedly recruited the help of four of her friends, including 19-year-old Caleb Leyland and 16-year-old Kayden McIntosh. The other juvenile accomplices are not named in the court records.
Officials say Leyland told them after the crime was committed that he had been promised $500,000 for his role.
When reached, the attorney for McIntosh, Benjamin Muse, told BuzzFeed News he was unable to share any other details or information related to the case or conversations he’s had with his client at this time. Leyland’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.
According to Alaskan officials, Brehmer lured Hoffman to Thunderbird Falls Trail on June 2 under the guise that she and their group of friends would go on a hike. At one point on the trail, the group then bound Hoffman’s hands and feet with duct tape before she was shot in the head.
Brehmer texted Hoffman’s family soon after the killing that she had been dropped off at another state park. She then deleted her texts with Schilmiller.
Cynthia Hoffman
