On June 2nd, 2019, Cynthia Hoffman, 19, known as CeeCee to friends and family, went on a hike with friends at Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak, Alaska. She never came home.
Two days later her body was found on the banks of the Eklutna River. She had been bound with duct tape and had a gunshot wound to the back of her head.
One of the friends Cynthia Hoffman had gone hiking with was 18-year-old Denali Brehmer.
Denali Brehmer was in an online relationship at the time with a man named “Tyler”, from Kansas. He claimed he was a millionaire, and as their relationship progressed “Tyler” offered Brehmer $9 million if she killed someone and sent him photos and videos of the crime.
This is what made Brehmer, along with her friends, 16-year-old Kayden McIntosh and Caleb Leyland lure Cynthia Hoffman to Thunderbird Falls in June. The group went off-trail, where they bound and gagged Cynthia. She began to panic and they removed the duct tape from her mouth. This is when Cynthia said she would call the police and tell them she had been kidnapped. 16-year-old McIntosh grabbed a 9mm gun that Brehmer was holding and shot Cynthia in the back of the head, before pushing her body into the river. In an interview Brehmer said ‘I just went along with it…”, “Because… problem solved right?”
Brehmer and McIntosh tried to cover up the murder by burning Cynthia’s clothes, purse, phone and the gun. Brehmer also text Cynthia’s sister saying that they had dropped her off at a local park.
Brehmer sent photos and videos of the murder over SnapChat. It was on SnapChat that she also admitted to murder.
Being the last person to see her alive, Brehmer was arrested. This is when she admitted to plotting the murder with her online boyfriend “Tyler”. They had been discussing it for weeks, before they decided that they would kill Cynthia Hoffman. Unknown to Brehmer at the time, “Tyler” wasn’t who he made himself out to be. His name was actually Darin Schilmiller, a man from Indiana, and he wasn’t a millionaire; Brehmer had been catfished.
In February 2023, Denali Brehmer, then 23, was sentenced to 99 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.
Darin Schilmiller aka “Tyler” was also sentenced to 99 years in prison for his role in Cynthia Hoffman’s murder.
Caleb Leyland, 24, who admitted to giving Brehmer and McIntosh his SUV so they could kidnap Cynthia, was sentenced to 40 years. He will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years of his sentence.
Kayden McIntosh, who was 16 at the time of the murder, was charged as an adult. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He is currently awaiting sentencing but could face up to 75 years in prison.
Schilmiller and Brehmer also both pleaded guilty to the production of indecent images in a separate case, with both being sentenced to 30 years in prison and life on supervised release.
Timothy Hoffman said:
“The only thing I know is that my daughter trusted these people, my daughter just wanted friends.”
“All I want is me and my daughter to have peace, and to have peace this has to be done. But my job is to make sure that all involved do time for what they’ve done.”
Sadly in 2024, Cynthia Hoffman’s dad, Timothy Hoffman, 58, died during a weekend memorial motorcycle ride commemorating the fifth anniversary of Cynthia’s death, after losing control of his motorcycle.
Sources:
https://law.alaska.gov/press/releases/2024/082324-Leyland.html
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/indiana-man-sentenced-30-years-producing-child-pornography
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/denali-brehmer-sentence-cynthia-hoffman-murder-alaska
