By The Associated Press via NBC News
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Anchorage woman has been sentenced to 99 years in prison for orchestrating the death of a disabled woman in a murder-for-hire plot, hoping to cash in on a man's $9 million offer. from the Midwest who claimed to be a millionaire.
Denali Dakota Skye Brehmer, 23, was sentenced by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson earlier this week for the 2019 death of her friend Cynthia Hoffman, whose death was captured in photographs and videos near Thunderbird Falls, a popular trail area just north of Anchorage.
Brehmer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February 2023.
“She may not have pulled the trigger, but this would never have happened if it weren't for Denali Brehmer,” Anchorage Deputy District Attorney Patrick McKay said during the sentencing.
Peterson said Hoffman's premeditated murder-for-hire was “tragic and senseless” and that Brehmer showed no remorse.
He said he hoped his sentence would serve as a deterrent to others.
Denali Brehmer, 18, appears in a superior courtroom for an arraignment hearing at Nesbett Court in Anchorage, Alaska, Tuesday, June 18, 2019.Anchorage Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty I
Defense attorneys requested a sentence of 80 years, of which 20 were suspended.
Alaska does not have the death penalty.
Darin Schilmiller of New Salisbury, Indiana, was sentenced last month to 99 years in prison for his role in Hoffman's murder.
Authorities said in 2019 that Schilmiller posed online as “Tyler,” a Kansas millionaire, when he began an online relationship with Brehmer.
About three weeks before Hoffman was killed, Brehmer and Schilmiller discussed a plan to rape and murder someone in Alaska, according to court documents.
The millionaire's only demand for payment was photographs or videos of the murder.
Brehmer accepted the offer and enlisted the help of four friends, Caleb Leyland and Kayden McIntosh, along with two unidentified minors, authorities said.
Leyland will be sentenced in June.
McIntosh, who prosecutors say pulled the trigger, will be tried as an adult in the case even though he was 16 when Hoffman was killed.
His case is pending trial.
An email was sent to McIntosh's attorney seeking comment.
According to court documents, the group took Hoffman to Thunderbird Falls.
They left the road and followed a path to the Eklutna River, where they tied Hoffman up with duct tape, shot him in the back of the head, and threw him into the river.
Authorities said Brehmer then texted Hoffman's family to inform them she was dropped off at an Anchorage park.
Brehmer was eventually arrested, and once she realized that Schilmiller had tricked or tricked her, she told authorities that he had solicited her.
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 contacted him during Hoffman's murder and sent Snapchat photos and videos of Hoffman while she was tied up and after she was killed.