An Alaska woman who helped orchestrate the killing of a friend after a man in Indiana said he’d pay $9 million to see photos and videos of a murder, was sentenced to 99 years in prison Monday.
Denali Dakota Skye Brehmer was a teenager when she put together a plan to kill Cynthia Hoffman on an Alaska hiking trail in 2019.
Court documents showed that Brehmer, then 18, struck up an online relationship with then-21-year-old Darin Schilmiller, who was living in Indiana.
Schilmiller told Brehmer that he was a millionaire, according to court records, and that if Brehmer killed someone and provided him with videos and photos of the murder he would pay her $9 million.
Schilmiller did not name a person that Brehmer had to kill to get the money, authorities said.
Brehmer sent photos and video footage of the killing to Schilmiller, Fox News reported.
Brehmer allegedly offered four other friends a cut of the money to help her with a murder, The Anchorage Daily News reported.
Brehmer, now 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February 2023 after charges of conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation of murder, tampering with evidence, and murder in the second degree were dismissed.
The 99-year sentence was the maximum penalty the court was permitted to impose, a news release from Alaska’s Department of Law said.
Schilmiller, who is now 25, was sentenced in January to 99 years in prison, according to the Alaska Department of Law.
Schilmiller previously pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree.
Schilmiller also solicited child pornography from Brehmer; conduct that led to additional charges, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Kayden McIntosh, who was 16 at the time of the murder, allegedly lured Hoffman on a hike. During the hike, Hoffman was shot in the back of the head. Hoffman’s body was put into a river, according to CBS. Police found Hoffman’s body one day after she was reported missing.
McIntosh faces first-degree murder charges, according to the Daily News.
Caleb Leyland, who was 19 at the time of the murder, will be sentenced in June for his part in the killing.
Two others involved in the murder who are minors have been prosecuted in juvenile court. The results of those trials are sealed.
© 2024 Cox Media Group
