Woman pleads guilty to killing 'best friend' after stranger she met online offered her $9 million to do it
An Alaskan woman has pled guilty to the murder of her 'best friend' after she was allegedly promised millions online for murder videos.
Denali Brehmer, now 22, has admitted to first-degree murder after taking the life of Cynthia Hoffman, 19, in June 2019.
According to the Alaska Department of Law, Brehmer made her guilty plea on Wednesday (15 February) after claiming that a man on the internet promised her $9 million for photographs and videos of her committing murder.
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As per the court documents, this allegedly was her reasoning behind killing Hoffman with a gunshot wound to the back of the head, before disposing her remains in the Eklutna River.
The guilty plea was accepted immediately by Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson.
Brehmer, who carried out the crime at the age of 18, was in a relationship with the man known only as 'Tyler', who claimed that he was a multimillionaire from Kansas.
In reality, authorities say that he was a man called Darin Schilmiller, then 21, from Indiana.
The pair allegedly planned a series of crimes in exchange for cash, including the 'rape and murder of someone in Alaska'.
While Brehmer was apparently willing to take on the responsibility, she allegedly recruited Kayden McIntosh, then 16, and Caleb Leyland, then 19, to assist under the promise that they would be well-paid too.
Authorities said that the group went on to trick their victim into coming to Thunderbird Falls, claiming that they were going on a hiking trip before they bound and shot her.
Authorities also said that photographs and videos of the crime were sent to Schilmiller by Brehmer as it was taking place.
But while Schilmiller reportedly requested the sexual assault of the woman, there was no evidence that this actually happened.
The group then proceeded to contact her family to say that they had dropped her off at a park and destroyed some of her belongings in a bid to get away with the crime.
The Alaska Department of Law said in a press release that Brehmer 'admitted the facts contained in the complaint initially filed in the case'.
Brehmer will be sentenced in August of this year and is expected to last three days.
The other charges against Brehmer, including 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.
Schilmiller, meanwhile, was arrested in August 2019 and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
He is still awaiting trial.
The charges against McIntosh and Leyland are pending.
Hoffman's father, Timothy, said: "All I know is that my daughter didn't deserve all this."
Emma Guinness