Dad dies during motorcycle ride for his murdered daughter: ‘Almost too unbelievable to be true’
An Alaska father whose daughter was murdered in a 2019 catfishing plot died in a tragic motorcycle crash while riding to honor the 19-year-old's memory.
Timothy Hoffman, 58, died after he lost control of his motorcycle on Sunday near Mile 49 of the Parks Highway, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The ride tragically marked the fifth anniversary of Cynthia Hoffman’s death.
His motorcycle left the road shoulder and then rolled into the center median, Alaska State Troopers said in a statement.
Barbara "Jeanie" Hoffman, Mr Hoffman's wife and Cynthia's mother, was riding on the back of the motorcycle and was seriously injured in the accident. This was the first year she joined her husband on his motorcycle for the memorial ride. In previous years she followed the event in a car.
When emergency responders arrived, the couple was unresponsive and required transport to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Mr Hoffman was pronounced dead at the hospital. His wife was in critical condition and required sedation, according to a family member who spoke to Anchorage Daily News.
State troopers said that Mr Hoffman was not wearing a helmet when he crashed. Ms Hoffman was wearing a full-face helmet, but still sustained skull fractures, a broken back, and other broken bones, according to Tanya Chaison, who told the Anchorage Daily News that she was engaged to Mr Hoffman's twin brother.
Cynthia Hoffman's murder was part of a bizarre plot enacted by then-18-year-old Denali Brehmer, who Cynthia considered to be her best friend.
Brehmer began an online relationship with 21-year-old Darin Schilmiller, a man from Indiana who claimed to be a millionaire, according to prosecutors. He promised to pay Brehmer $9m if she killed someone and sent him photos and videos to prove she carried out the act, prosecutors said.
Brehmer then recruited four friends to kill Cynthia. They traveled with Cynthia to Thunderbird Falls on 2 June 2019, where they used duct tape to bind her, shot her, and then threw her body into the Eklutna River, according to authorities.
Schilmiller, Brehmer, and two other defendants charged in the case have pleaded guilty to the crime. Both Brehmer and Schilmiller were sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Mr Hoffman was a continuous presence in the courtroom during the trial, and was a "zealous advocate" for his daughter, according to Patrick McKay, the prosecutor on many of the cases relating to Cynthia's murder.
“I am deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Tim Hoffman on the fifth anniversary of Cynthia Hoffmann’s murder. It seems almost too unbelievable to be true,” he told the Anchorage Daily News. “I hope his family and friends take comfort in remembering that Tim died doing something he loved, with people he loved, in memory of someone he loved.”
Mr Hoffman took his final ride with 15 other motorcycle drivers and others following in cars, totaling about 50 participants. Leslie Sonnenberg, a friend of Mr Hoffman's, told the paper that the group tossed roses over the bridge at Thunderbird Falls to remember Cynthia.
He crashed while traveling to the final stop in the ride, Big Lake, where live music and a celebration were planned.
