Alaska woman sentenced to 99 years in murder-for-hire killing of friend
CBSN
Denali Dakota Skye Brehmer, one of two young people charged in the 2019 killing of Alaska teenager Cynthia Hoffman in a murder-for-hire scheme, was sentenced to 99 years in prison on Monday.
Court documents showed that Brehmer, then 18, struck up an online relationship with 21-year-old Darin Schilmiller, who was living in Indiana. Schilmiller claimed to be a millionaire and said he would send Brehmer $9 million in exchange for photos and videos of a killing. He did not name a target.
Brehmer allegedly offered four other friends a cut of the money if they helped her, CBS News previously reported, and Brehmer and then-16-year-old Kayden McIntosh allegedly lured Hoffman on a hike. During the hike, Hoffman was shot in the back of the head and put into a river. Police found Hoffman's body one day after she was reported missing. McIntosh's trial in the case is pending.
This story previously aired on Sept. 15, 2018. News report: Today, in a 5-1 decision, the California State Supreme Court ruled that Rodney Alcala did not receive a fair trial. Juror: We, the jury, find the defendant, Rodney James Alcala, guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree. Victim Robin C. Samsoe… "I wanna kill, I wanna kill, I wanna see blood and gore and guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean, kill, kill, kill, kill." Jury member [in court]: We, the jury … determine that the penalty to be imposed upon defendant, Rodney James Alcala, to be death. D.A. Cyrus Vance to reporters: For both families, who had lost all hope that these cases would ever be solved, the pleas by Rodney Alcala, and today's sentencing brings closure to painful chapters in their lives.
A new law aims to strengthen reporting requirements for technology companies to combat online predators seeking to exploit children. One dad told CBS News that he hopes the law will save children like his son, who died by suicide after becoming ensnared in a "sextortion" scheme when he was 17 years old.