What did Denali Brehmer do? Best friend sentenced to 99 years in prison over Alaska catfish murder

On Monday, 23-year-old Alaska woman, Denali Brehmer was sentenced to 99 years behind bars for killing her best friend back in 2019 in a murder-for-hire scheme. 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman was bound in duct tape and reportedly shot to death at Thunderbird Falls on the banks of the Eklutna River, as per Law&Crime.

Apart from Denali Brehmer, six other people were charged in the murder case as well. 25-year-old Darin Schilmiller posed as a millionaire named "Tyler" on the internet and offered to pay Brehmer if she got one of her friends kidnapped and killed and recorded the same for proof. In reality, however, Tyler was a catfish and was an unemployed man.

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Alaska woman Denali Brehmer reportedly conspired with five other individuals to kill Hoffman

In 2019, Cynthia Hoffman was duct taped and then fatally shot in the head. State prosecutors stated that Brehmer reportedly convinced a group of teenagers to bind the victim, s*xually harass her, and then shoot her. She offered them a cut of the money Tyler promised her and she and an individual named Kayden McIntosh reportedly lured Hoffman on a hike.

The 19-year-old was then shot and her body was dumped into the Eklutna River, as per NBC News. Her remains were found two days later and officials discovered that she had been bound with duct tape and she had a gunshot wound to the back of her head, as per People.

Several people were charged in the case, including Hoffman's best friend, Denali Brehmer. Brehmer was catfished by a man who offered to pay her $9 million if she got a friend murdered. However, he was an unemployed Indiana resident living in his grandparents' basement. While Brehmer claimed that she knew the man and had established a relationship with him, cops believed that she had been catfished by him.

Darin Schilmiller, who posed as Tyler, pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation to commit murder in the first degree, and also to a federal charge of conspiracy to produce child p*rnography for asking Brehmer for child s*xual abuse material, as per Law&Crime.

The Alaska woman also pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the first degree, before the sentencing took place this week.

According to Law&Crime, prosecutor Patrick McKay Jr. said:

"The Court should find that Miss Brehmer engaged in one of the most serious crimes that we have in Alaska."

The prosecutor further spoke about Brehmer and said:

"She executed Cynthia Hoffman in a murder-for-hire plot. She conspired with numerous other individuals in and outside of Alaska, including juveniles, forever altering everybody’s life."

While announcing the sentence on Monday, February 12, Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson said that Brehmer's actions were "tragic and senseless." Peterson further added that Brehmer's conduct was "cold, calculated, and carried out to a T."

When Schilmiller was sentenced, Judge Peterson said:

"This was intentional, premeditated murder-for-hire. You plotted with other co-defendants to kill somebody you never met for no reason other than the sheer thrill of controlling others and seeing it be done."

Kayden McIntosh has been accused of allegedly shooting the victim, and his trial is yet to begin.