ANCHORAGE, Alaska (WFLA) — An Alaska woman could spend almost 100 years in jail after pleading guilty to murdering her best friend last Wednesday, according to officials.
The State of Alaska’s Department of Law said Denali Brehmer, 22, pleaded guilty to murdering Cynthia Hoffman after tricking her into coming onto a hiking trip near Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak, Alaska.
Today reported that Brehmer conducted the murder after Darin Schilmiller, a resident of Indiana, offered her $9 million if he sent her photo and video of evidence of her killing someone, according to authorities. Law enforcement officials said Schilmiller pretended to be a millionaire named Tyler while striking up a relationship with Brehmer, who was 18 years old at the time.
Officials said Brehmer, Kayden McIntosh, Caleb Leyland, and two unidentified minors worked together to plan Hoffman’s death in exchange for money.
According to Today, authorities said that Brehmer and two of her accomplices took the victim to Thunderbird Falls for a hiking trip on June 2, 2019. The teens then tied her up, shot her in the head, and dumped her body in the river.
In a report by the Anchorage Daily News, the Hoffman family said their daughter considered Brehmer to be her best friend. They also said her learning disabilities made her more trusting and at a developmental age under her physical age.
Alaska’s Department of Law said Brehmer “admitted the facts contained in the complaint initially filed in the case” and pleaded guilty on Feb. 15, 2023.
Brehmer’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2, 2023. According to officials, she could face 30 to 99 years in prison for first-degree murder.
Her other charges of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, solicitation of murder in the first degree, tampering with physical evidence and two charges of murder in the second degree were dismissed.
