It was a huge amount of money for a teenager to imagine having, but what Denali Brehmer had to do to get the cash couldn’t have been more shocking. Brehmer was being offered $9 million by a stranger online in return for photos and videos of a murder. It didn’t matter who died, but Brehmer would have to make it happen.
Most people would have ended the conversation at the mere suggestion, but shockingly Brehmer, who was 18 at the time, agreed and even recruited others to help. As the plan was put in motion, she had no idea that the protagonist wasn’t all he seemed.
Brehmer lived in Anchorage, Alaska. She connected on Snapchat with a man who called himself Tyler and told her he lived in Kansas. Tyler said he was a millionaire and Brehmer was quickly influenced by him as he discussed his fixation with disturbing images. What Brehmer didn’t realised was that she was being catfished.
The person she was messaging was actually unemployed Darin Schilmiller, 21, who was living in his grandparents’ basement in Indiana and had little money.
Three weeks after they started messaging each other, Schilmiller asked Brehmer whether, in exchange for $9 million, she would kill a victim in Alaska and record it for him with photos and video. Instead of going to the police, Brehmer approached four of her friends and promised them a cut of the millions if they assisted her.
Two of the friends were minors and the details of their involvement has never been revealed. Caleb Leyland, 19, was offered $500,000 to provide the vehicle. Kayden McIntosh, 16, would pull the trigger. Now Brehmer needed a victim and she decided on her former friend Cynthia Hoffman, 19. They’d gone to school together and had a petty fight over a boy.
Schilmiller told Brehmer Cynthia was a perfect target. Cynthia was very close to her protective dad, Timothy.
She had some developmental disabilities so she acted younger than her age. Timothy would constantly ensure hi daughter was safe by driving her everywhere and phoning every hour.
Cynthia kept busy with restaurant work or would help her dad with his handyman jobs. On 2 June, 2019, McIntosh and Brehmer invited Cynthia out on a hike on a popular trail in the Alaska wilderness north of Anchorage. Leyland provided the vehicle.
Cynthia was taken to Thunderbird Falls and led on a path off-trail to Eklutna River.
Cynthia’s sister was later told by Brehmer in a text that they had dropped her at a local park. Cynthia’s dad was very concerned when she didn’t return home and reported her missing. On 4 June, her body was found in the Eklutna River with a bullet wound to the back of her head. Investigators determined she had been bound with duct tape before she was shot from behind.
The police quickly moved in on Brehmer and McIntosh in connection with Cynthia’s death and their guilt was obvious. Brehmer had photos and a video of Cynthia bound and distressed by the river. When questioned she said the three of them had been hanging out and agreed to “duct tape each other and take photographs”. But it was clear that only Cynthia had been restrained.
Brehmer said after Cynthia’s wrists and feet were bound, they had bound her mouth and she’d “started panicking”. They removed the tape and she had allegedly threatened to go to the police and say they’d kidnapped and assaulted her. McIntosh then grabbed the gun and shot her. They tried to cover up what they’d done by burning Cynthia’s clothes, purse, mobile and the gun they had used to shoot her, before pushing her “twitching” body into the river.
The story didn’t ring true and the police quickly discovered Brehmer had shared the images and videos of Cynthia’s ordeal with Schilmiller while it was happening. They identified Schilmiller and arrested him, as well as Leyland for providing the vehicle.
Brehmer was told she’d been catfished and she told them she’d been solicited by Schilmiller to do the killing. When news of the killing became public knowledge, it made the headlines. Young people had taken a life in return for money – that didn’t even exist.
In February 2023, Brehmer pleaded guilty to first degree murder. She was sentenced in 2024 to 99 years in prison. The judge called the murder-for-hire “tragic and senseless” as well as cold and calculated. The judge described viewing the video of Cynthia and said it was one of the most difficult pieces of evidence he’d ever had to watch.
It was acknowledged that while Brehmer hadn’t pulled the trigger, Cynthia’s death would not have happened without her involvement.
The court heard that Brehmer hadn’t shown remorse, and even after the murder had gone on to commit further crimes by conspiring to coerce a minor into sharing sexually explicit images. Both Brehmer and Schilmiller pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to produce child pornography in relation to that case.
Timothy was at the sentence and spoke emotionally about Cynthia. “My daughter trusted these people,” he said. “My daughter just wanted friends.”
Schilmiller, then 25, was extradited to Alaska and received 99 years for his part in Cynthia’s death after pleading guilty. The judge had reviewed his horrific messages with Brehmer and told him, “This was intentional, premeditated murder for hire. You plotted with other co-defendants to kill somebody you never met for no reason other than the sheer thrill of controlling others and seeing it be done.”
Leyland, then 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 30 years for his part in the plot McIntosh, who was being treated as an adult despite being 16 when he pulled the trigger, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He faces a sentence of up to 85 years. Two other teens were prosecuted in juvenile courts and their involvement remains unknown.
Tragedy continued to plague the Hoffman family. Every year, on the anniversary of Cynthia’s death, Timothy would organise a celebration motorcycle ride in her memory.
On the fifth anniversary, in June 2024, the 58-year-old lost control of his motorbike during the ride and was killed in the crash.
Cynthia’s mum, Barbara, had been persuaded to ride on the back of the bike for the first time that year and was severely injured. She continues her slow recovery.
Cynthia’s murder was like a plot from a disturbing film, but she deserves to be remembered as a young woman who just wanted friendship.
