Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. I tell him no. Terror & Betrayal: They Were Attacked, She Was Abducted and Police Said It Was All Lies, Fla. While the state filed charges in March 2018, the trial was delayed due to the fact that Muller had been admitted to Napa State Hospital where he was ordered to take antipsychotic medication until he was deemed mentally competent to stand trial. 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After her release, Vallejo police called the kidnapping a hoax and erroneously likened it to the book and movie "Gone Girl," in which a woman goes missing and then lies about being kidnapped when she reappears. Based on my conversation with them, they are trying their best to move on.. On the same day that Huskins was released by her abductor, Vallejo police spokesperson Lt. Kenny Park hosted a press conference where he suggested that Huskins and Quinn lied about what happened to them. Dublin police were able to trace the phone to a woman who told them that it belonged to her son, a man named Matthew Muller, whod lost his phone a day earlier. Id washed those sheets multiple times. ET on ABC. But he had just gotten out of a relationship with a fiance who he said cheated on him. She had to hastily write down what was said after they were done. Muller, who already is serving a 40-year sentence for federal crimes, was sentenced in Solano County Superior Court after pleading no contest to two counts of forcible rape of Denise Huskins,. Kidnapping survivor details moments she thought were her last. Crime and Public Safety | It only took a day from her reappearance for the San Francisco Chronicle to receive a new message from the kidnapper, whod become irritated after seeing news reports that police were portraying Huskins kidnapping as a hoax. Huskins and Quinn married in 2018 and had a daughter, Olivia, who was born five years to the day that Huskins was released by her kidnapper, she said. Matthew Muller, a Harvard-educated lawyer, also is accused of raping Denise Huskins and assaulting her boyfriend Aaron Quinn. One, in particular, had a blonde hair strand attached to the duct tape. At an emotional sentencing hearing in March 2017, Denise Huskins talked about her 48-hour ordeal, and described her sexual assault by Matthew Muller, as he looked on. One of them had just your typical pen-style laser pointer that was duct-taped to it., There were several swim goggles that were duct-taped black, Carausu added. It wasnt until another similar home-invasion burglary in Alameda County on June 5, 2015 that investigators would discover the truth. He has since sought to have the conviction vacated, claiming ineffective. Initially Denise and Aaron were issued an apology privately by Vallejo police, who eventually issued a public statement of apology. Once she was released, if she attempted to go to the police, she said the kidnapper told her the group would release the recording on the internet. In return, he says they gave him prison clothes to wear. Crime and Public Safety | His defense argued that Muller had spiraled into mental illness. Quinns older brother is an FBI agent, so he decided he would call him instead, but his brother instructed him to immediately call 911. The case became erroneously known as the Gone Girl kidnapping, in reference to the popular book and movie about a deceitful disappearance. On September 2015, Huskins stepped forward and admitted to being kidnapped, sexually assaulted and held for three days. She recounted some of the horrific events that began on March 23, 2015, when the defendant entered the Mare Island home belonging to Huskins and Aaron Quinn, who are in their 30s. Im just going to stay calm and be grateful for the life I had," Huskins said. He deserved justice, and Denise Huskins Quinn also deserved justice related to the sexual assault crimes that were committed against her, Henry said, according to KTVU. After all that theyd gone through, Marianne Quinn said she knew the couple would stay together forever. Mullerwas arrested in South Lake Tahoe on June 8, 2015, after evidence, including a video ofMullerand Huskins, was found at his mothers home. He's now also facing state charges, including rape, burglary and false imprisonment. Why would there be a blonde hair stuck to goggles? I told him, Look, this is going to be a nightmare and theres no way youre going to be able to pinch yourself and wake up.. I asked for a blanket, and he goes, Oh, Im sorry. Mullers latest court appearances come after a lengthy series of defendant motions, going back to October 2018, and a jury trial date that had long been set for fall 2020. She and Aaron were both gaslit by the Vallejo police, each being treated like a criminal. The couple discusses being victimized twice, first by Matthew Muller and subsequently by the Vallejo Police Department and FBI, in their book name "Victim F From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors." . Muller meanwhile was arrested and charged with both . He used a remote-controlled drone to spy on Huskins and Aaron Quinn before he broke into their home with a fake gun on March 23, 2015, tied up the couple and made them drink a sleep-inducing liquid. Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, listen as their attorneys speak at a news conference July 13, 2015, in Vallejo, Calif. Mike Jory/Vallejo Times-Herald via AP Eventually, the intruder picked up Huskins and put her in the trunk of Quinn's car before driving away with her. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! I said, Yes, the kidnappers drugged me, he said. If I went to the police, they would kill her, he said. The suspect had tried essentially the same things to another couple, 20/20 learned. Rappaport said this new evidence still didnt deter police from their theory that Aaron Quinn and Huskins story was too unbelievable to be true. Where is Matthew Muller now? The last thing that youre thinking about is, If I do survive, I need to make sure that Im believable.. VALLEJO (CBS SF/AP) Matthew Muller, who sexually assaulted a Vallejo woman who was kidnapped from her home in what police initially thought was a hoax, was sentenced Friday to 31 years in state prison. Denise Huskins. 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The intruder placed blacked out goggles over their eyes and forced them to drink a sleep-inducing liquid, Vallejo Police initially suspected the kidnapping was a hoax, saying publicly that the couple had plundered valuable resources away from our community and taken the focus away from the true victims of our community, according to. People named Matthew Muller. However, the couple remained adamant that they were telling the truth. I dont want anyone to fear someone who has depression or mental illness. I knew from experience how this was going to go down, Russo said. There were things that happened that we saw, that we heard. Muller wasn't caught until police in Dublin, Calif. had a similar case. I finally just put my foot down and said, Look, I dont deserve this. And it was a couple of weeks of kind of going back and forth, she said. By this point, Huskins says it was clear to her that she needed to hire a criminal defense attorney. Huskins said that while walking to the closet she noticed two sets of legs from what she believed to be two different people in the bedroom. I knew that hed be a great partner but I could see that he was struggling.. The 20/20 special will share their story with more detail, in the hopes of helping other victims who were not believed by authorities. Huskins testified at his sentencing hearing about the "hell that we have survived" and told the court that she thought at the time she would be killed and still suffered from nightly nightmares. Rappaport and Russo both went to bat for their clients, even as they endured repeated questioning by the Vallejo police and the FBI. Muller, a former U.S. Marine, attended Harvard University where he also taught, according to court documents. It has never been made clear why Aaron Quinn and his ex-fianc were the targets of the abduction. But while he was there, the police also gathered DNA samples and his clothes, he said. Duct-taped goggles found at Muller's cabin. Whitney further alleges in the lawsuit that he was in the room and that he heard Bidou instruct Parks to "burn that bitch" prior to Parks' March 25, 2015, press conference where Parks suggested that Huskins and Aaron Quinn had lied about their home invasion and abduction. A Harvard-educated former Marine was sentenced Friday for raping a California woman in a kidnapping plot so bizarre police once suspected it was a hoax. Once in custody, Muller told detectives he served as a Marine from 1995 to 1999, attended Harvard from 2003 to 2006 and taught there from 2006 to 2009. Matthew Daniel Muller who was sentenced in 2017 in a Sacramento federal courtroom to 40 years in prison for kidnapping a couple and raping the female victim before releasing her near her. There were a number of replica squirt guns, Campos said of the evidence theyd found. Man wore armor in Northern California hostage killing, report says Huskins said that despite all the therapy they went through to rebuild their lives, she still felt like something was missing. The additional related criminal offenses of sexual assault and the robbery against Aaron were not placed on him as the federal court has no jurisdiction over them. When they searched the cabin, the Dublin officers found several laptops, cellphones, a few stun guns, a lot of ski masks and an empty bed with no blankets but a sheet that appeared to have been slept on, Carausu and Campos said. They said, Well, just have her sleep in her clothes and dont take a shower and well talk in the morning., Marianna Quinn said she was shocked when the police, too, started calling Huskins Gone Girl., You go through something like that, and every moment, every ounce of energy is about How do I live to see another second? That is all you can think about, said Huskins. ABC News shared that a similar break-in had happened but was thwarted by the victims. Her boyfriend had reported to police that shed been abducted from his California home at gunpoint and the kidnappers demanded an $8,500 ransom. The reason being is that there was no jurisdiction in federal court for those crimes.. Matthew Muller (left in 2015, right in 2019 via image by the Solano County Sheriff's Office) has agreed to a plea agreement in his state case. March 19, 2022 / 6:34 AM He pleaded guilty in September and on Thursday was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. On Friday, Solano County prosecutor Sharon Henry called the initial police response a travesty of justice and admitted mistakes were made,KTVU reports. Quinn said the moment was so shocking that it froze him in his place. Some of these went as far back as 2009 and involved the exact details. I thought maybe I did have a schizophrenic breakdown, he said. They include kidnapping, two counts of forcible rape by force, robbery, burglary and false imprisonment. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Vallejo police responded by calling them liars. But after Huskins reappeared seemingly unharmed an hour before the ransom was due, two days later, police called a news conference and declared the whole thing a hoax perpetrated by the couple themselves. Huskins says that her captor told her that he was part of a criminal organization that included three other members. Federal prosecutors had asked for the 40-year sentence for Matthew Muller, who pleaded guilty in September to holding a San Francisco Bay Area woman for ransom. Today, with their assailant Matthew Muller in prison, theyve chronicled their story in a new book called Victim F: From Crime Victims, To Suspects, To Survivors.. He will serve this concurrently with the 40-year sentence he received in a federal case against him in September 2016. She said that the online attacks took an emotional toll. Today, with their assailant Matthew Muller in prison, they've chronicled their story in a new book called "Victim F: From Crime Victims, To Suspects, To Survivors." Huskins says that in the end, the couple's experience of trauma and survival is ultimately a love story with a happy ending. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! In video recordings of Aaron Quinn's interview, detective Mathew Mustard could be heard asking if there was "tension in the relationship" with Denise Huskins and if Quinn was "cheating.". Muller put Huskins in the trunk of his car, drove her to his home in South Lake Tahoe and held her there for two days before driving her nearly 500 miles and releasing her in her hometown of Huntington Beach, near Los Angeles. In March 2016, Huskins and Quinn filed suit against Vallejo and its police department, accusing the department of defamation, false arrest and false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Campos said that Mullers mother told them he was staying at their cabin in the South Lake Tahoe area. They were instructed to listen to a pre-recorded message that threatened them with face cutting or electric shock if they failed to comply with the demands. I didnt realize how cold it is because were all wearing wetsuits.. Its name is derived from the most common abbreviations for Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company. Denise Huskins, from left, defendant Matthew Muller, Amy Morton, and Aaron Quinn are pictured in the sketch. "I still have. Their lives seemed to be falling apart while living in a constant state of terror and preparing for a defense, Huskins said. They see all of the components of what you might expect to see, objectively, in a domestic violence murder, said Matt Murphy, an ABC News contributor and former California prosecutor. Thats the same year Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinns property invasion and abduction matter transpired. He is defending himself, acting as his own attorney, and on. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Before the intruder left Quinns Vallejo home with Huskins in tow, he had forced Quinn, who would later marry Huskins after the ordeal, to stay on a couch, telling him that a camera on the wall would be watching him and instructing him not to go beyond a taped perimeter marked on the floor. Once police arrived, they discovered the suspect left a cell phone on top of a cabinet in the second floor hallway along with zip ties, duct tape and a fabric glove. She told them about Muller, and two FBI agents and a representative from Vallejo police came pretty quickly after that.. But it turned out that one important part of this plan had not gone as expected for the intruder. / CBS San Francisco. Melanie Woodrow, an investigative reporter with ABC News Bay Area, talks about covering the story of Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins' home invasion and kidnapping in 2015. During questioning, Quinn recounted what had happened the night before. Upon looking deeper into him, it came to light that even though hed never been charged or arrested, he was named a suspect in various other home invasion and burglary cases in the cities of California. Hes being asked questions and at some point, the intruder realizes theyve got the wrong person, said Melanie Woodrow, an investigative reporter with San Francisco ABC station KGO, who covered the story. During the state's recent trial in Solano County Superior Court, Muller plead, "no contest to two counts of forcible rape of Denise Huskins," per AP. Muller previously pleaded guilty in federal court to kidnapping Huskins and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Mustard has denied making this statement. Muller was charged in federal court in Sacramento, California, with kidnapping for ransom. Im not going to, Huskins said. Matthews intended mark was Aaron and his ex-fiance, but it makes no difference because of his actions. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Aaron Quinn and Huskins defense attorneys say they celebrated the developments in the case, holding a press conference in which they called for full apologies from the Vallejo Police Department. Its been six years since the night that Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins awoke in his Vallejo, California, home to a mans voice saying, Wake up. When she was freed, police publicly cast doubt on her story. On the same day that Huskins was released by her abductor, Vallejo police spokesperson Lt. Kenny Park hosted a press conference where he suggested that Huskins and Quinn lied about what happened to them. Related Articles This struck police as odd since neither of the victims in Dublin had blonde hair. The incident became national news and exposed them to public shaming. Were not here to hurt you, Huskins said. The kidnapping of Denise Huskins on March 23, 2015, made headlines across the country. Under state law, a defendant who is considered unable to help in his or her defense or understand court proceedings cannot be tried. I felt like a little girl, scared, wanting to hear the voices of my parents saying, Its okay. , Quinn told Muller that he strategically destroyed our lives., I cannot and will not ever be the same, he said. Her defense attorney, Doug Rappaport, said he insisted she shouldnt get on that plane and should take a commercial flight instead. Unfortunately, it was all too real and was orchestrated by a man named Matthew Muller. Carausu said they also discovered Muller was driving a stolen car. Given that Huskins had inconveniently shown up alive, [police] maliciously transitioned to the hoax story to avoid criticism for its initial and utterly false accusations of murder, the lawsuit claims. They realized that Denise. In December 2020 former Vallejo Police Captain John Whitney filed suit against the city and the police department alleging he was wrongfully terminated for speaking out on a variety of issues that he characterized as misconduct, including ones related to Huskin and Aaron Quinn's case. The Huskins Quinn case was not publicly handled with the type of sensitivity a case of this nature should have been handled with, and for that, the City extends an apology to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn, the statement read. According to court filings, when Rappaport pushed for Vallejo police to conduct a rape exam, they delayed. When Quinns parents and brother arrived at the police station, the Vallejo police questioned them, too. The state was finally able to proceed with the case last week and Muller appeared via Zoom from the Napa State Hospital, where he pleaded no contest to the charges against him. His brother, Ethan Quinn, retained attorney Dan Russo, who brought Aaron Quinn back to his office after 18 hours of police interrogation. He is 44 today and his full name is Matthew Daniel Muller, his prison records show. While Matthews last known location remains the Napa State Hospital, it seems that he will be serving his sentence at a federal prison. Denise Huskins made a promise to herself in the last moments she believed her kidnapper would allow her to live. Muller pleaded not guilty to the charges. Quinn said he was told to call out sick at his job and to text Huskins boss that she had a family emergency and would be out for a week. "Gone Girl" kidnapper Matthew Muller will reportedly spend 40 years behind bars after his sentencing in California on Thursday. Crime and Public Safety | Denise and Aaron filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Vallejo and its police department, rightfully winning $2.5 million. Some even compared Huskins to a real life "Gone Girl," a reference to the popular movie where a woman stages her own kidnapping. And when they did call her back, they told her to contact the FBI. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Its just a small stain that I wasnt able to get out. Huntington Beach police officers arrived at the neighbors apartment where Huskins was waiting and began questioning her, who recounted everything that had happened two nights earlier, including the events that unfolded after she was taken from Aaron Quinns home. Those are the words Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, heard in the early morning of March 23, 2015. Six years ago, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn survived a terrifying, prolonged attack in Quinn's Vallejo home. In 2015, an intruder broke into his home and kidnapped his then-girlfriend Denise Huskins. Muller gave an interview to KPIX in July 2015 from Dublin, Calif. where he was imprisoned at the time. While she waited, her father said he heard the voicemail and got word to the Huntington Beach Police Department. He woke up to new emails and texts from the intruder. Muller, who already is serving a 40-year sentence for federal crimes, was sentenced in Solano County Superior Court after pleading no contest to two counts of forcible rape of Denise Huskins, who was dragged from her Vallejo home in 2015, the county district attorney's office said. In a statement to 20/20 on Monday, Vallejos public information officer Christina Lee admitted, It appears that the follow-up personal public apology did not take place.. He starts asking if Id been partying. Everything to Know About Billy Evans, Body Cam Footage of Paul Pelosi's Attack Released, Showing Moment Assailant Lunged at Him with Hammer, Elizabeth Holmes Gives Birth to 2nd Child, Asks Judge to Let Her Remain Out of Prison Pending Appeal, Who Is Larry Ray? You can go through any kind of trauma to where it leaves you devastated and in a place where you just think, This is impossible to move forward from. The message received on March 26, 2015, contained explicit details about the kidnapping as well as photos of evidence, even showing the room where Huskins had been held. The only difference was that the victims successfully managed to attack and scare their assailant into running away before any damage was done. ZipRecruiter - Post your jobs . Matthew had dropped his phone in the process, which directed the officials right back to him, earning a massive breakthrough. When Huskins arrived in San Francisco to meet with her new attorney she finally felt safe enough to reveal all of the details of her harrowing captivity that she had been afraid to tell the police. As a result, he was handed down 31 years in prison, with the sentence to run concurrently with the 40-year term. She said that she had been raped twice by her kidnapper, which he videotaped. Soon after Huskins was abducted in March 2015, boyfriend Aaron Quinn called police saying shed been kidnapped from his home on Mare Island in Vallejo, California, according to court documents.
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