Catfish persuaded school boy to kill friend for no reason in horrific murder-for-hire plot

Denali Brehmer lured her erstwhile friend, 19 twelvemonth aged Cynthia Hoffman, into the Alaskan wilderness past filmed her decease and sent it to a antheral who posed arsenic a millionaire

It was a immense magnitude of wealth for a teen to ideate having, but what Denali Brehmer had to bash to get the currency couldn’t person been much shocking. Brehmer was being offered $9 cardinal by a alien online successful instrumentality for photos and videos of a murder. It didn’t substance who died, but Brehmer would person to marque it happen.

Most radical would person ended the speech astatine the specified suggestion, but shockingly Brehmer, who was 18 astatine the time, agreed and adjacent recruited others to help. As the program was enactment successful motion, she had nary thought that the protagonist wasn’t each helium seemed.

Brehmer lived successful Anchorage, Alaska. She connected connected Snapchat with a antheral who called himself Tyler and told her helium lived successful Kansas. Tyler said helium was a millionaire and Brehmer was rapidly influenced by him arsenic helium discussed his fixation with disturbing images. What Brehmer didn’t realised was that she was being catfished.

The idiosyncratic she was messaging was really unemployed Darin Schilmiller, 21, who was surviving successful his grandparents’ basement successful Indiana and had small money.

Three weeks aft they started messaging each other, Schilmiller asked Brehmer whether, successful speech for $9 million, she would termination a unfortunate successful Alaska and grounds it for him with photos and video. Instead of going to the police, Brehmer approached 4 of her friends and promised them a chopped of the millions if they assisted her.

Two of the friends were minors and the details of their engagement has ne'er been revealed. Caleb Leyland, 19, was offered $500,000 to supply the vehicle. Kayden McIntosh, 16, would propulsion the trigger. Now Brehmer needed a unfortunate and she decided connected her erstwhile person Cynthia Hoffman, 19. They’d gone to schoolhouse unneurotic and had a petty combat implicit a boy.

Schilmiller told Brehmer Cynthia was a cleanable target. Cynthia was precise adjacent to her protective dad, Timothy.

She had immoderate developmental disabilities truthful she acted younger than her age. Timothy would perpetually guarantee hullo girl was harmless by driving her everyplace and phoning each hour.

Cynthia kept engaged with edifice enactment oregon would assistance her dada with his handyman jobs. On 2 June, 2019, McIntosh and Brehmer invited Cynthia retired connected a hike connected a fashionable way successful the Alaska wilderness northbound of Anchorage. Leyland provided the vehicle.

Cynthia was taken to Thunderbird Falls and led connected a way off-trail to Eklutna River.

Cynthia’s sister was aboriginal told by Brehmer successful a substance that they had dropped her astatine a section park. Cynthia’s dada was precise acrophobic erstwhile she didn’t instrumentality location and reported her missing. On 4 June, her assemblage was recovered successful the Eklutna River with a slug coiled to the backmost of her head. Investigators determined she had been bound with duct portion earlier she was changeable from behind.

The constabulary rapidly moved successful connected Brehmer and McIntosh successful transportation with Cynthia’s decease and their guilt was obvious. Brehmer had photos and a video of Cynthia bound and distressed by the river. When questioned she said the 3 of them had been hanging retired and agreed to “duct portion each different and instrumentality photographs”. But it was wide that lone Cynthia had been restrained.

Brehmer said aft Cynthia’s wrists and feet were bound, they had bound her rima and she’d “started panicking”. They removed the portion and she had allegedly threatened to spell to the constabulary and accidental they’d kidnapped and assaulted her. McIntosh past grabbed the weapon and changeable her. They tried to screen up what they’d done by burning Cynthia’s clothes, purse, mobile and the weapon they had utilized to sprout her, earlier pushing her “twitching” assemblage into the river.

The communicative didn’t ringing existent and the constabulary rapidly discovered Brehmer had shared the images and videos of Cynthia’s ordeal with Schilmiller portion it was happening. They identified Schilmiller and arrested him, arsenic good arsenic Leyland for providing the vehicle.

Brehmer was told she’d been catfished and she told them she’d been solicited by Schilmiller to bash the killing. When quality of the sidesplitting became nationalist knowledge, it made the headlines. Young radical had taken a beingness successful instrumentality for wealth – that didn’t adjacent exist.

In February 2023, Brehmer pleaded blameworthy to archetypal grade murder. She was sentenced successful 2024 to 99 years successful prison. The justice called the murder-for-hire “tragic and senseless” arsenic good arsenic acold and calculated. The justice described viewing the video of Cynthia and said it was 1 of the astir hard pieces of grounds he’d ever had to watch.

It was acknowledged that portion Brehmer hadn’t pulled the trigger, Cynthia’s decease would not person happened without her involvement.

The tribunal heard that Brehmer hadn’t shown remorse, and adjacent aft the execution had gone connected to perpetrate further crimes by conspiring to coerce a insignificant into sharing sexually explicit images. Both Brehmer and Schilmiller pleaded blameworthy to charges of conspiracy to nutrient kid pornography successful narration to that case.

Timothy was astatine the condemnation and spoke emotionally astir Cynthia. “My girl trusted these people,” helium said. “My girl conscionable wanted friends.”

Schilmiller, past 25, was extradited to Alaska and received 99 years for his portion successful Cynthia’s decease aft pleading guilty. The justice had reviewed his horrific messages with Brehmer and told him, “This was intentional, premeditated execution for hire. You plotted with different co-defendants to termination idiosyncratic you ne'er met for nary crushed different than the sheer thrill of controlling others and seeing it beryllium done.”

Leyland, past 24, pleaded blameworthy to second-degree execution and received 30 years for his portion successful the crippled McIntosh, who was being treated arsenic an big contempt being 16 erstwhile helium pulled the trigger, pleaded blameworthy to second-degree murder. He faces a condemnation of up to 85 years. Two different teens were prosecuted successful juvenile courts and their engagement remains unknown.

Tragedy continued to plague the Hoffman family. Every year, connected the day of Cynthia’s death, Timothy would organise a solemnisation motorcycle thrust successful her memory.

On the 5th anniversary, successful June 2024, the 58-year-old mislaid power of his motorbike during the thrust and was killed successful the crash.

Cynthia’s mum, Barbara, had been persuaded to thrust connected the backmost of the motorcycle for the archetypal clip that twelvemonth and was severely injured. She continues her dilatory recovery.

Cynthia’s execution was similar a crippled from a disturbing film, but she deserves to beryllium remembered arsenic a young pistillate who conscionable wanted friendship.