” an Alaska teenager and convincing her to murder her supposed best friend for $9 million with the help of four others.
Months before the alleged hit job, 21-year-old Darin Schilmiller
pretended to be a Kansas multimillionaire named “Tyler.” Using a phony
moniker and headshot, he apparently wooed Denali Brehmer, 18, from
nearly 4,000 miles away and solicited her to kill someone for him,
according to court documents filed in Anchorage.
Brehmer and five co-conspirators picked a target for the
assassination: 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman, who in charging documents
was described as Brehmer’s closest friend. Cynthia went by the nickname
“CeCe,” which is also spelled “CeeCee” in court papers.
Police say Brehmer and Kayden McIntosh, 16, lured Cynthia into a
forest under the guise of going on a hike. But after the trio went off
path, Cynthia ended up bound in duct-tape before McIntosh allegedly shot
her in the head and dumped her in a river.
The disturbing killing is also tied to a child porn case filed
against Schilmiller, who is accused of persuading Brehmer to create
sexually explicit images and send them to him.
Schilmiller, Brehmer, McIntosh, 19-year-old Caleb Leyland, and two
minors are charged with murder in the first degree, along with
conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree and two counts of murder
in the second degree.
Additionally, Brehmer and Schilmiller are charged with solicitation
to commit murder in the first degree, and Brehmer was indicted on one
count and McIntosh on four counts of tampering with physical evidence.
According to Alaska’s
Department of Law,
the defendants face up to 99 years behind bars for each of the murder
and conspiracy to commit murder charges and up to five years in prison
for each of the tampering with physical evidence charges.
Schilmiller, who is in FBI custody, will be extradited to Alaska.
Arraignments for Brehemer, McIntosh, and Leyland are scheduled for
tomorrow in Anchorage superior court.
The murder plot was allegedly hatched soon after Brehmer, who called
herself “Angel,” and Schilmiller started their online romance.
Posing as “Tyler” from his home in New Salisbury, in southern
Indiana, Schilmiller sent Brehmer a fake photograph of himself. “He does
not look like the young man he portrayed himself to look like, he is
not a millionaire, and he lives in Indiana,” a bail memorandum states.
Weeks before Cynthia’s murder, Schilmiller and Brehmer allegedly
began to discuss raping and murdering someone in Alaska—a deed for which
“Tyler” offered $9 million or more, so long as the killers sent him
photos or videos of the act.
Brehmer only learned she’d been catfished after the fatal shooting,
authorities say. It’s unclear if Schilmiller knew Brehmer’s real name.
Following Schilmiller’s solicitation, Brehmer recruited four of her
friends, including two juvenile defendants identified as Jane Doe and
John Doe. The alleged killers gathered in May or early June of this
year, and all agreed to split substantial portions of the money for
their roles in the execution, the memorandum states.
“Cynthia Hoffman, who was allegedly ‘best friends’ with Brehmer, was
selected by the group as the murder victim,” court papers state.
Cynthia’s father, Timothy, told the
Anchorage Daily News
that Cynthia met Brehmer at Service High School in Anchorage. The
victim, who had a developmental disability, had described Brehmer as her
“best friend,” Timothy Hoffman said.
According to Timothy Hoffman, his daughter’s disability made her
vulnerable, as she was intellectually at about a seventh-grade level.
“Her disability just made her want to have friends,” the grieving dad said. “That’s all she wanted, was just to be her friend.”
At an initial court appearance for McIntosh earlier this month,
Timothy Hoffman said he grew worried on Sunday, June 2, when Cynthia
never checked in with him; the teen usually texted him every three hours
while she was out.
He described Cynthia as sweet and innocent and said she always tried to make him proud, the
Daily News reported. She was studying in a post-high school life skills program and hoped to get her driving permit soon, Timothy Hoffman said.
According to her obituary, Cynthia “had worked in restaurants but
truly enjoyed being her dad’s right-hand man in his handyman business.”
“Cynthia had such a kind heart and was a friend to many people. She is truly going to be missed,” the obituary stated.
The day she died, Cynthia believed she was going on a hike with her friend.
Brehmer allegedly drove McIntosh and Cynthia out to the Thunderbird
Falls trail, which is along the Eklutna River. They tied Cynthia’s hands
and feet with duct tape and also taped her mouth shut, according to
court papers.
Leyland allowed Brehmer and Macintosh to use his car to pick up
Cynthia and carry out the slaying in Thunderbird Falls, prosecutors
claim.
Throughout the horrific incident, Brehmer allegedly sent videos or
photos to Schilmiller. (Authorities say there’s no indication Cynthia
was sexually assaulted).
After the killing, Brehmer texted Cynthia’s family and claimed to
drop her off at Polar Bear Park in Anchorage. And she deleted all her
messages with Schilmiller, court papers allege. Cynthia was reported
missing the following day.
Authorities discovered Cynthia’s body in the creek on June 4.
Meanwhile, Schilmiller was charged with production of child
pornography and attempted receipt of child pornography in federal court
in Alaska.
An FBI agent’s affidavit in support of a criminal complaint details
how Cynthia’s death led to a search warrant on Brehmer’s cellphone,
which contained explicit images of children. Police obtained a second
search warrant to look for evidence of sexual assault of a minor and
photos and videos showing child porn.
Schilmiller was listed as “Babe” in the contacts section of Brehmer’s
phone, and the explicit photos were sent to him in text messages from
June 2 to June 4, court papers allege.
During a June 7 police interview, Brehmer informed police that Babe was a Kansas man named “Tyler,” the affidavit states.
When detectives subpoenaed Verizon for Tyler’s mobile account, they
discovered the cellphone’s subscriber was an elder Schilmiller based in
New Salisbury, Indiana. Police then searched the phone number on
Facebook Messenger and found an account for Darin Schilmiller.
Brehmer told cops that “Tyler” directed her to sexually assault an 8-
or 9-year-old and send him videos of the assaults. He allegedly
directed her to also assault a 15-year-old.
The FBI affidavit detailed sickening text messages between Brehmer
and Schilmiller, who wrote, “So are you going to the 14 year old??”
Brehmer replied, in part, “Gonna go buy weed first. I wanna get her high for it so she doesn’t fight me… I love you.”
Schilmiller later texted Brehmer: “I wish I never made a deal with
you in the first place…we can meet but once I see a cop I’m telling him
or her that I made you rape people and killed cece.”
In 2018, according to the affidavit, authorities in Harrison County,
Indiana, identified Schilmiller as a person of interest in another child
pornography investigation. He was allegedly using the same phone number
in that case, for which no charges were filed against him.
Meanwhile, a charging document filed against McIntosh and
published by Alaska Public Media details how Anchorage cops spoke with Brehmer’s mother on June 3.
The mother said Brehmer and a friend of Brehmer’s named “Anthony”
were at her home the night of June 2. The pair allegedly told the woman
that Anthony shot “CeeCee” in the head and dumped her in the water.
In a June 4 interview with cops, Brehmer allegedly stated that she,
Cynthia and McIntosh were smoking weed and driving around Anchorage
before the murder. The three friends stopped at a parking lot near
Thunderbird Falls and decided to play around in the woods, before
duct-taping each other and taking photos, Brehmer claimed.
“CeeCee was bound by her ankles and wrists with duct tape. She also
had grey duct tape placed over her mouth. However, CeeCee started to
panic,” the court filing states. Brehmer and McIntosh removed the tape
from Cynthia’s mouth and hands, and she warned them she’d call the
police and say they’d kidnapped her and sexually assaulted her, the
complaint alleges.
According to Brehmer, McIntosh grabbed a 9 mm handgun from Brehmer’s
hands and shot Cynthia in the back of the head. Brehmer said she thought
the victim was trying to phone police as she lay wounded on the ground.
Brehmer said the victim was twitching before McIntosh shoved her into the creek, the complaint states.
McIntosh ordered Brehmer to text Cynthia’s sister and fabricate a
story about dropping her off somewhere, Brehmer told police. Brehmer
claimed she complied with McIntosh’s demand because she feared him.
After abandoning the victim’s body, the alleged killers took off for
Anchorage, and McIntosh ended up burning Cynthia’s purse in the
neighborhood of Mountain View, along with some of her clothing, her ID,
and the murder weapon, court papers allege.
In his own police interview, McIntosh claimed he “blacked out” during
the encounter in the wooded area, after everyone agreed to bind Cynthia
with duct tape and snap photographs. McIntosh said he remembered
shooting the victim and pushing her into the river. He didn’t know if
Cynthia died from the gunshot or from drowning, the complaint says.
The bail memorandum states that Brehmer initially denied knowing her
friend was about to be executed in the woods, telling cops McIntosh
grabbed the gun from her hand.
But after cops discovered a Snapchat video in which Brehmer appeared
to confess to the killing, and “once she realized she had been catfished
by Schilmiller,” Brehmer admitted to participating in the murder during
a second police interview, the memorandum says.
According to the
Anchorage Daily News, one of Brehemer’s friends turned over one of the Snapchat videos to police.
“I just want to thank everyone that’s been there for me my whole life
and these past few years and everything. I f—ed up, I know I did, if I
could take back what I’ve done, I can’t,” Brehmer states, with McIntosh
wandering in the background. “I’m sorry everybody, my family, my
friends. I guess you will hear from me when you hear from me, but I
won’t be back for a long time. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it. I
didn’t mean to do it.”
For his part, Leyland told cops he was going to receive $500,000 for
allowing Brehmer to use his vehicle for the $9 million hit job proposed
by “Tyler,” court papers allege.
Prosecutors say Schilmiller admitted to being “Tyler” and to
catfishing Brehmer, who went by “Angel.” During an interview with
federal agents and Indiana State Police on June 9, Schilmiller said he
knew Brehmer and Cynthia were best friends. He and Brehmer had planned
the rubout for three weeks, the memorandum states.
“Schilmiller stated that he chose Hoffman as the victim,” the document alleges.
According to Schilmiller, Brehmer was in touch with him throughout
the murder and sent over Snapchat photos and videos of Cynthia tied up,
and of her body after the shooting.
“He admitted to convincing Brehmer that he was a millionaire and that
he would pay her millions of dollars to kill Hoffman,” the memorandum
says. “Schilmiller further admitted he and Brehmer discussed murdering
another person after Hoffman, but that the plan was ultimately
abandoned.”
Schilmiller allegedly admitted to trying to blackmail Brehmer into raping people, following Cynthia’s murder, prosecutors say.
Brehmer’s half-sister, Rebekah Langdon,
told the Daily News
that Brehmer went by several different names both online and in person.
Those aliases included Angel, Dakota Brehmer and Dakota Smith.
Langdon said that when she and her sisters were young, they were
taken away from their biological mother over allegations of abuse.
Brehmer was adopted and assumed the name Dakota, Langdon said.
According to Langdon, Brehmer had a baby which was put up for adoption.
Langdon told the newspaper she was horrified by the charges against Brehmer and the accusations she was involved in child porn.
“I can’t imagine what (the Hoffman) family is going through,” Langdon told the
Daily News.
“That’s the only reason I chose to say anything in the first place. I
want people to know we’re not all like this. We want justice for
Cynthia.”
Paulina Cachero,Yahoo Lifestyle
1 hour 41 minutes ago
