Indiana man pleads guilty to soliciting murder of Anchorage teen

An Indiana man accused of being the mastermind behind an elaborate plot to kill an Anchorage teenager during 2019 pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of solicitation to commit murder.

Darin Schilmiller, now 25, had posed as a millionaire and started an online relationship with then 18-year-old Denali Brehmer and directed her to kill 19-year-old Cynthia Hoffman, according to an indictment and bail memorandum filed in the case.

Brehmer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February and is scheduled to be sentenced this month.

Schilmiller had promised to pay Brehmer $9 million or more to carry out a killing, the bail memorandum said. She recruited then 16-year-old Kayden McIntosh, 19-year-old Caleb Leyland and two other teens to plan Hoffman’s death, according to the memorandum. Authorities did not publicly identify two of the teens because they were charged in the juvenile justice system.

Hoffman had a developmental disability and described Brehmer as her best friend, her family said at the time.

On June 2, 2019, the teens lured Hoffman to Thunderbird Falls in Chugiak and bound her with duct tape before shooting her in the back of the head and dumping her body into the Eklutna River, the memorandum said. Schilmiller had requested photos and videos of the killing, which Brehmer sent to him on Snapchat, according to the memorandum.

While investigating the killing, police found child pornography on Brehmer’s phone, according to an affidavit written by an FBI agent. She told investigators during an interview that Schilmiller had directed her to sexually assault two minors and send explicit videos to him, the affidavit said.

Brehmer and Schilmiller were indicted on federal child pornography charges. They have both pleaded guilty in those cases and are awaiting sentencing.

Schilmiller pleaded guilty to the charge of solicitation to commit murder on Friday. Charges of first- and second-degree murder were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson will determine Schilmiller’s sentence at a hearing in January. He could be sentenced to between five and 99 years on the charge. Assistant District Attorney Patrick McKay said he could not comment on what sentence the state plans to recommend in Schilmiller’s or Brehmer’s case. The attorney representing Schilmiller could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.

Leyland and McIntosh are still awaiting trial on charges including first- and second-degree murder.