ANCHORAGE, AK – In a shocking turn of events, Darin Schilmiller, the orchestrator of a brutal murder-for-hire plot, was sentenced to 99 years in prison by Alaska Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson. Despite Schilmiller’s emotional display in court, Judge Peterson offered no leniency, labeling him as “a worst offender.”
Schilmiller, in 2019, manipulated teenagers into committing a heinous crime against Cynthia “CeeCee” Hoffman, a 19-year-old woman, for his perverse thrill. The judge condemned Schilmiller for his role in orchestrating the murder of a person he had never met, solely for the thrill of controlling others and watching it unfold.
The victim’s father, Timothy Hoffman, expressed relief at the sentencing. Cynthia Hoffman was tragically killed in 2019 as part of Schilmiller’s elaborate scheme. Posing as a wealthy young man named “Tyler” from Kansas, Schilmiller lured Alaskan teenagers into his plot with the promise of millions of dollars in exchange for videos of a murder.
The unsuspecting teens, drawn in by the promise of money, befriended Hoffman, who was described as vulnerable and developmentally disabled. They lured her into a rural area in Anchorage, Alaska, where they brutally murdered her and disposed of her body in a creek.
Hoffman’s father recalled his daughter’s joy when she thought she had made a new friend in the group’s ringleader, Denali Brehmer. Brehmer, now 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February of last year, admitting to orchestrating Hoffman’s death.
The other participants in the crime, Caleb Leyland, now 24, and Kayden McIntosh, now 20, were also charged in Hoffman’s murder. Leyland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, while McIntosh, who allegedly fired the fatal shot, pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
The investigation into Hoffman’s murder revealed Schilmiller’s disturbing plot and led to his arrest, along with Brehmer’s, in June 2019. Schilmiller’s sentencing marks a significant development in this shocking case.