Alaska woman gets 99 years for orchestrating catfished murder-for-hire plot in friend’s death
ANKERAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage woman has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for orchestrating the death of a developmentally disabled woman in a murder plot, hoping to cash in on a $9 million bid from a Midwestern man claiming to be a millionaire.
Denali Dakota Skye Brehmer, 24, was sentenced earlier this week by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson for the 2019 death of her friend Cynthia Hoffman, whose death was captured in photos and video near Thunderbird Falls, a popular hiking area just north of Anchorage. Brehmer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February 2023.
“She may not have pulled the trigger, but without Denali Brehmer this never would have happened,” Anchorage Assistant District Attorney Patrick McKay said during the sentencing.
Peterson said Hoffman’s murder-for-hire was “tragic and senseless” and that Brehmer showed no remorse. He said he hoped her sentence would be a deterrent to others.
Defense lawyers asked for an 80-year prison sentence, with 20 years suspended. Alaska does not have the death penalty.
Darin Schilmiller of New Salisbury, Indiana, was also sentenced last month to 99 years in prison for his role in Hoffman’s murder.
Authorities said in 2019 that Schilmiller posed as “Tyler,” a Kansas millionaire, online when he began an online relationship with Brehmer. About three weeks before Hoffman was killed, Brehmer and Schilmiller discussed a plan to rape and kill someone in Alaska, court documents show.
The millionaire’s only demand for payment was for photos or videos of the murder.
Brehmer agreed to the offer and enlisted the help of four friends, Caleb Leyland and Kayden McIntosh, along with two unnamed youths.
Leyland will be sentenced in June. McIntosh, who prosecutors say was the shooter, will be tried as an adult in the case even though he was 16 when Hoffman was killed. His case is pending.
According to court documents, the group took Hoffman to Thunderbird Falls. They left the trail and followed a path to the Eklutna River, where Hoffman was bound with duct tape, shot in the back of the head and thrown into the river. Officials said Hoffman then texted Hoffman’s family to let them know they had dropped her off at a park in Anchorage.
Brehmer was eventually arrested, and once she realized she had been tricked or deceived by Schilmiller, she told authorities she had been solicited by him.
Schilmiller admitted to federal agents and Indiana State Police that he chose Hoffman as a victim and told Brehmer to kill her, according to court documents.
He said Brehmer communicated with him during Hoffman’s murder and sent Snapchat photos and videos of Hoffman while she was tied up and after she was killed.