A US woman who killed her “best friend” in 2019 after allegedly being catfished by a man who offered her $9 million to commit the murder is speaking out about what led to this point. Denali Brehmer, now 23, shot and killed her so-called best friend Cynthia Hoffman, 19, after forming an online relationship with a man who convinced her he was rich and willing to pay her $9 million to murder a person of her choosing. She was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to 99 years in prison for the 2019 murder, the Alaska Department of Law announced.
According to authorities, Denali Brehmer carried out the killing after Darin Schilmiller, a 21-year-old Indiana man living in his grandparents’ basement, catfished her online and “solicited the murder of Hoffman from Brehmer in Anchorage”. Brehmer enlisted other friends too into the plot and then in June 2019, they carried out the murder of the 19-year-old. Ms Hoffman’s death was captured in photos and videos that were sent back to the man on Snapchat as proof. In 2023, Brehmer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Her friends – Kayden McIntosh and Caleb Leyland – were also charged in the murder.
Now, in the latest episode of Court TV’s ‘Interview With a Killer’, Brehmer opened up about the incident publically for the first time. “I’ve already admitted guilt so now I’m ready to fully take responsibility for what I’ve done,” she said in the interview which aired on Sunday, per People Magazine.
Speaking to the hosts, Brehmer acknowledged that the murder was somewhat premeditated, but she also blamed it on panic. She also said that she agreed to commit the crime because she was mad at Ms Hoffman because they had gotten into a fight over a boy.
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Mr Brehmer said that Thunderbird Falls, where she, Leyland and McIntosh took Ms Hoffman hiking the day she was murdered, was merely “a place of opportunity” for them to carry out the killing. “Initially, when we all came up with it, I agreed and said yeah because I was mad at her and she was mad at me and I was just over her s***,” Brehmer said in the interview about the fight they had over a boy named Zack. “I wanted to make amends, I did want to make amends but she needed payback for what she did with Zack,” she said.
When asked in the documentary if she deserved payback with her life, Brehmer said, “no,” adding “That’s on me.”
Brehmer was eventually arrested, and once she realized she had been catfished or tricked by Darin Schilmiller she told authorities that she had been solicited by him. She was given the maximum sentence for her role in the killing. Schilmiller, who posed as “Tyler” online, was also sentenced to 99 years in prison for his role in the murder. He admitted to federal agent that he chose Ms Hoffman as the victim after learning about the fight between the two friends.
