Indiana teen Darin Schilmiller accused of catfishing Alaska teen to murder girl for blood sport and film the episode for $9 million.
An Indiana man is accused of cat-fishing an Alaska teenager and convincing her to murder her supposed best friend for $9 million with the help of four others.
Cynthia ‘CeeCee’ Hoffman, 19, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the back of her head and bound with duct tape near a hiking trail in rural Anchorage on June 2.
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 was allegedly supposed to send photos and videos of the killing back to Schilmiller as part of a plan.
The teenager allegedly agreed to the arrangement and offered four of her friends a cut of the $9 million if they helped.
A 21-year-old Indiana man implicated this week in the murder of Cynthia Hoffman, 19, promised millions of dollars to the teens who killed her in exchange for images of the killing, new charges against him claim https://t.co/vElpa3tehY
— Anchorage Daily News (@adndotcom) June 15, 2019
Denali Brehmer conspires with four others to kill ‘best friend’.
Brehmer told police that she and 16-year-old Kayden McIntosh borrowed a friend’s car and drove to the popular Thunderbird Falls hiking trail with Hoffman on June 2.
She told police they had planned to take photos of each other tied up and bound Hoffman’s hands, feet and mouth with duct tape.
Brehmer said that at some point, McIntosh took a gun from her and shot Hoffman before pushing her into the river.
They then allegedly drove to a park, called Hoffman’s family and said they were dropping her off at the park. Police said they went to another park and burned Hoffman’s purse and other items, as well as the gun used in the shooting.
McIntosh is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and evidence tampering. Brehmer is charged with first-degree murder. The owner of the car, Caleb Leyland, 19, and two juveniles, a male and female, are also charged with conspiracy in the case.
The teens told police each of them was supposed to receive a share of Schilmiller’s promised reward for their role in the killing.
But it gets grimmer.
Cynthia ‘CeeCee’ Hoffman tragic victim of Indiana catfisher:
After police obtained a search warrant for Brehmer’s phone, the dailymail reported investigators finding child porn, sexually explicit photos and text messages between her and Schilmiller.
Federal prosecutors announced the arrest of Schilmiller on child pornography charges last week.
He is charged with production of visual depiction of minors in sexually explicit conduct and attempted receipt of those depictions.
In a criminal complaint, the FBI said Schilmiller directed Brehmer to record the sexual exploitation of girls.
Brehmer told police she shot video of a girl who was 8 or 9 and another who is 15 and sent them to Schilmiller.
In interviews, she referred to him as ‘Tyler’ from Kansas.
‘Tyler’ was determined to be Schilmiller the FBI said.
Text messages on Brehmer’s phone show Schilmiller directing Brehmer on how she should assault the older girl, authorities said.
Federal prosecutors in Anchorage say Schilmiller, who is a person of interest in Hoffman’s murder, will be extradited to Alaska to face charges.
Hoffman’s family said the victim had the mental age of a seventh grader and that she met Brehmer when they were both students at Service High School.
‘All I know is that my daughter didn’t deserve all this,’ her father Timothy Hoffman said when he went to court to see the teenager’s arraigned.
He said Cynthia had described Brehmer as her ‘best friend’.
He said a developmental disability that caused his daughter to operate intellectually at about a seventh-grade level had made her vulnerable.
‘She should have had the friends that she wanted. She shouldn’t have had people that wanted to plot against her. And the ages of these people? I think it is sick. And now they don’t have to live the nightmare that I have to live,’ the father said at the time.
