Woman confesses to killing 'best friend' after online stranger offered her $9 million (P490 million)
People are often blinded to do crazy things because of money. Others often joke that they would slap their close friends in exchange for a large amount of hard cash, sometimes to the point of pushing them off a cliff and into a swarm of sharks.
But a woman from Alaska turned that simple joke into reality when she killed her "best friend" after being catfished by a man she had met online and offered to pay her $9 million (P490 million) if she could show him photos and videos of the crime.
According to a press release by the Alaska Department of Law, 22-year-old Denali Brehmer confessed on February 15 that she committed first-degree murder in the 2019 killing of Cynthia Hoffman.
Brehmer, who was 18 years old at the time, reportedly killed Hoffman near Thunderbird Falls north of Anchorage. Her accomplices included two fellow teenagers who bounded the 19-year-old victim. Hoffman reportedly thought of Brehmer as her "best friend."
The act came about after Brehmer and her accomplices met a man online who posed as a millionaire and offered to give them a hefty sum of money to sexually assault and kill someone in Alaska, according to Alaska Public Media.
Going by the name "Tyler" to the teens, the online stranger was identified to be Darin Schilmiller, who was 21 years old at the time. The New York Post reported that after being manipulated, Brehmer and her cohorts lured Hoffman to the waterfall "under the guise of a friendly hike."
They then took out a 9mm handgun and shot her in the back of the head.
Authorities detailed that when the crime was done, the teens sent several Snaptchat videos and pictures to Schilmiller before pushing Hoffman’s body into the nearby river.
Brehmer’s sentencing is set for Aug. 22 and may face imprisonment for 30 to 99 years. Meanwhile, Schilmiller had been taken into custody in Indiana in 2019 after being charged with coming up with the plan to kill Hoffman and was extradited to Alaska, where he is currently jailed and is awaiting trial.
