The man convicted in the bizarre "Gone Girl" kidnapping and assault involving a Vallejo couple in 2015 told. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Raised by two longtime educators in the Sacramento area, Muller was a high achiever at Bella Vista High. But some of Mullers problems are documented in legal filings in federal and state court. 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.". The FBI now links the case to a Dublin home invasion last month in which a man fought off an intruder. According to The Reporter, Matthew Muller has been referred to a mental health agency and will not face a jury trial for the time being in a bizarre 2015 Vallejo kidnapping case that made national attention. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. Looking back at all the evidence, there was just no denying that this wasnt his first time committing a crime, she said. Huskins said the man then told her to walk to the bedroom closet. I remember being asleep and hearing a voice and thinking it was a dream. Detectives in Palo Alto and Mountain View say theyre also looking into Mullers possible involvement in home invasions in 2009 that had similarities to the Vallejo and Dublin cases. On Dec. 21, the judge received an update regarding placement alternatives and care from MHM Services and earlier this month learned the defendant had been placed in the treatment program, the article said. Muller has pleaded not guilty in the Dublin case and plans to plead not guilty in Huskins' case, too, Johnson said. The Police Department declined to speak to The Bee about the case Tuesday, as did Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis. His adult life has been marked with mental health issues, including diagnoses of bipolar disorder and psychosis, Johnson said. The affidavit also outlines two 2009 home invasions that have eerie similarities to Huskins' case. Jodi Hernandez reports. Johnson said he graduated summa cum laude with degrees in economics and public policy analysis. Muller served as a U.S. Marine from 1995 to 1999 before returning home to California, according to the Associated Press. Watch The outbreak of hepatitis in children is unusual and concerning Latest News, Mwai Kibaki Illness & Death Cause: The Former Kenyan President Passed Away. Muller also worked for a year as an associate in the San Francisco office of immigration attorney firm Kerosky, Purves & Bogue. Mullers stepfather declined to speak with NBC Bay Area, deferring all calls to his lawyer. The goggles that Dublin Police Department Detective Misty Carausu found with a strand of blonde hair attached. Johnson said that Muller grew up with his parents, who divorced sometime after high school. Here are five things to know about the case. Because the federal court lacked jurisdiction, Aaron was not charged with the related criminal accusations of sexual assault and robbery. Quinn and Huskins continue to believe that there were others involved in the home invasion and kidnapping, but Muller is the only person who has ever been charged. Matthew Muller served as a Marine from 1995 to 1999. He's also been linked by police to home invasions in Dublin and possibly the Peninsula. But while 39-year-old Matthew Muller 's guilty plea to one count of kidnapping may begin to resolve part of the criminal matter, the victims, Denise Huskins, 30, and Aaron Quinn, 31, want to. I peeled the tape off my eyes and I was by myself in this alleyway, she said. The victim later told police she believed he was asking the questions to make some kind of overseas transaction. His parents sat with their younger son and their family and friends, as they waited in silence for U.S. District Court Judge Troy L. Nunley to hand down his sentence: Forty years in prison. Matthew Muller. I knew there was an old stain on my sheet, Quinn said. Denise Huskins & Aaron Quinn Today: Where Is the Couple From the Gone Girl Case Now in 2021. Huskins said she hoped that the confusion would result in the intruder deciding just to leave them, but that is not what happened. In the early morning hours of Sept. 29, 2009, a 27-year-old victim was sleeping in her Mountain View, Calif. apartment when she awoke to an unknown man on her back, according to the FBI. When he attended Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks near Sacramento, Muller took classes in the high achievers program. The intruder says, We have a problem and he says to Aaron, Do Denise and your ex-fiance look-alike?, At that moment, Quinn said he released a guttural sigh., I was like, Yes, they both have long, blonde hair, Quinn said. Court documents, interviews and other information gathered by The Sacramento Bee show that, despite Mullers academic successes, trouble has followed him in recent years, including an accusation that he stole data from a Bay Area law firm where he worked and that he failed to provide competent legal services to clients. Im not going to, Huskins said. The program is designated for defendants who were deemed incompetent to stand trial, the article said. Matthew Mueller. The FBI also uncovered four aerial drones - two of which had cameras -- and a wireless video camera and receiver in a Vallejo storage locker they say links Muller to Huskins' kidnapping, according to the affidavit. Johnson said the evidence that will be presented in court will likely show that Mullers bipolar disorder began while he was in Harvard, where he earned a law degree and was a research assistant. Quinn told police he heard a noise similar to a stun gun, and then a man, who authorities allege was Matthew Muller, told Huskins and Quinn to lie face down on the bed. In this July 13, 2015, file photo, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn stand in silence during a press conference in Vallejo, Calif. Matthew Muller was charged in federal court in Sacramento, California, with kidnapping for ransom. Maybe we were experimenting with drugs. He woke up to new emails and texts from the intruder. In 2013, the California Bar Association suspended Mullers license and began disciplinary proceedings that led to his disbarment, according to documents. Exhausted, worried about Huskins and anxious over the detectives refusal to believe him, Aaron Quinn said he began to doubt his own sanity. He described Muller as someone who loved music and studying, who didnt have a wide circle of friends. Still sedated, Huskins realized that shed been dropped off near her mothers house, but when she arrived at her house, no one was there. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. I just wanted to tell her I was sorry, said Aaron Quinn. Instead of appearing in court, Superior Court Judge Daniel Healy received a notice that Muller had already been admitted into the program, the newspaper reported, citing court records. Furthermore, a search of his family home yielded not only several squirt guns with laser pointers taped to them and blacked-out swimming goggles but also video evidence that confirmed he was Denise and Aarons offender. Federal Bureau of PrisonsMatthew Mullers federal prison records. And so, he said, We got the wrong intel.. Huskins was released two days later in Huntington Beach. But the 38-year-old didnt always suffer from mental illness, which he told federal agents is Gulf War Illness, even though he served in the Marines years after the Gulf War. He allegedly left a note stored on a USB drive that read, "I am going completely off the grid - no phone, email, credit cards, etc., so please do not try to reach me as it will only draw attention. Muller is charged with kidnapping Denise Huskins and boyfriend Aaron Quinn from Vallejo in March. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. ET. Matt's parents Robert and Noelle preceded him in death. Muller was charged in federal court in Sacramento, California, with kidnapping for ransom. 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. Matthew Muller Biography & Wikipedia: Is Denise Huskins Kidnapper Still In Jail? San Francisco judge sentenced the first of two men connected with a plot to bomb the state Democratic Party HQ. Muller told an officer he was a visiting professor from Harvard teaching at Stanford, but police later determined he wasn't teaching at Stanford. See Photos. He did very well at Harvard, too, Johnson said, adding that he couldnt detail exactly when his clients mental state began to deteriorate, or how it played out. 'There was an overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence that linked Muller to the crime but now there's direct evidence which is his detailed admission he was the kidnapper that was recorded during your jailhouse interview," Huskins' attorney, Doug Rappaport, told Goodrich Wednesday. When they responded, she says they told her to call the FBI. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). On March 22, 2015, the couple made a plan to meet at Quinns home in Mare Island, Vallejo, to decide if they wanted to continue their relationship. Rappaport and Russo both went to bat for their clients, even as they endured repeated questioning by the Vallejo police and the FBI. She said her captor told her he was being instructed to make the recording as a form of collateral over Huskins. After leaving a voicemail with him, she began walking to her fathers home. Matthew Muller, a former attorney, is representing himself. In addition to the Dublin home invasion and kidnap charges, Palo Alto and Mountain View police suspect he may be linked to 2009 robberies in their cities, too, though they havent made any arrests. Matthew Muller is accused in a bizarre California kidnapping plot, and the contents of his "off the record" jailhouse conversation are now public in an FBI affidavit . On Dec. 4 last year, Healy ordered Muller committed to one of five California state hospitals for a maximum term of two years. In both of the East Bay cases, the victims were restrained and blindfolded, he said. He will enter a not guilty plea when he arrives in about two to three weeks, Johnson said. Her daughter, she says, filled that hole. 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. All rights reserved. What he wasnt charged with were the sexual assaults, the robbery, the burglary against Aaron, Rappaport said. The city of Vallejo and the Vallejo Police Department have not yet responded to the claims alleged in Whitney's lawsuit. But, this time, the attempted break-in quickly went awry. They were ostracized by everyone other than family, he said. Matthew Muller. We were telling [the detective] what a good kid he was, said Marianne Quinn, his mother. The comparisons began after Vallejo Police announced that Huskins abduction appeared to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping.. There were a number of replica squirt guns, Campos said of the evidence theyd found. I just wanted to hold her. See Photos. Matthew Muller graduate Harvard University in 2006. VALLEJO, Calif. --The man charged in a bizarre California kidnapping that police initially dismissed as a hoax allegedly said he acted alone in the plot in an "off the record" jailhouse interview with a local CBS station that has since been obtained by the FBI. Huskins' Boyfriend Quickly Reported Her Missing. Matthew Mullers upbringing and background seemed like a prescription for success. 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. A home invasion in Dublin in June led police, and then the FBI, to Muller, through evidence in his car, including goggles with a long blond hair attached. People named Matthew Mueller. 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. Matthew Mullers mental illness will be most likely used as his defense strategy, said his Sacramento-based lawyer, Thomas Johnson. Misty Carausu had a nagging feeling that Muller had attempted this kind of crime before. His federal sentence will run parallel to his state sentence. Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn had a daughter, Olivia, who was born five years to the day that Huskins was released by her kidnapper, she said. Family members of Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, urge the judge to consider the pain caused by . Two days later, the affidavit states, Muller called his then-wife from Utah, and she picked him up. 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. I was just more so afraid that speaking to them was going to put me or my family in harm[s way].. Here are the latest totals, Hiker calls for help on dark Hawaii trail. So, if anything, it is Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins that owe this community an apology, Park said during the press conference. Matthew V. Muller. When officers from the Vallejo Police Department appeared at his home, it had been more than nine hours since Huskins had been taken. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. When they turned airplane mode off, the phone flooded with messages. The suspect had tried essentially the same things to another couple, 20/20 learned. Mr. See Photos. 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.. The case has remained open. 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. The man said it was a robbery, and that he was there for information. He wasnt in combat. Matthew Muller was arrested in South Lake Tahoe on June 8, 2015, and charged with kidnapping for ransom in a federal court. Because their accounts of what had occurred seemed too extreme and bore a striking resemblance to the book and film Gone Girl, the authorities deemed it to be an orchestrated event at first. Johnson said his client's statement to KPIX didn't amount to a confession, though he said he hadn't heard it and couldn't comment beyond that. He thought that one day Muller would be "sitting behind a desk in an elected capacity, not sitting in a jail cell. See Photos. Matthew Muller, who was formerly serving a 40- time judgment for civil offences, was doomed to Solano county superior court, according to the county quarter attorney's office. The only difference was that the victims successfully managed to attack and scare their assailant into running away before any damage was done. The suspect asked the victim questions including her date of birth, mother's maiden name and social security number, according to the FBI. It might take time and it might be a lot of hard work, but there is hope.. "This is perhaps the least extreme thing I can do to resolve it that does not also expose everybody to criminal liability.". Soon after Huskins was abducted in March 2015, boyfriend Aaron Quinn called police saying she'd . Reeves said Muller boldly, and in stealth mode, rummaged through the files of his law firms computer network in his final days before resigning, accessed confidential files, copied corporate client lists and tried to cover his tracks by using a computer application to erase signs of his conduct. Quinn woke up the next morning with only enough energy due to the sedatives to call out sick for Huskins and himself, and then he fell asleep again until 11:30 a.m. Johnson, Muller's lawyer, said his client hasn't been charged in either the Mountain View case or the Palo Alto case, and that the events outlined in the FBI affidavit don't amount to formal allegations. Heres how to help police stop it, Tesla crashes into Girl Scout table at a Northern California Walmart; 3 people are hurt, Video shows carjacking arrest turn violent, with police firing shots in North Sacramento. That didnt stop other people from weighing in. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Matthew Muller, 39, of South Lake Tahoe previously pleaded not guilty to a kidnapping charge for the March 23, 2015, incident. Today Muller, 38, is behind bars in Alameda County, accused of one of the most bizarre and twisted kidnapping cases in recent memory. Alleged kidnap of Vallejo woman now treated as hoax, Police search for apparent kidnap victim from Vallejo, Trump supporter in plot to firebomb Sacramento Democratic HQ sentenced to prison. Quinn said the first question the police asked him when he answered the door was, Are you on drugs?. The suspect asked the victim for information including PIN numbers, email addresses and passwords, and her family members' addresses and social security numbers, according to the affidavit. Matthew Muller was a Marine and Harvard-educated lawyer who was convicted in federal court for carrying out a kidnapping so bizarre Vallejo Police believed the victims were lying as part of an. or. After the man left, Quinn said he was able to push the goggles off his eyes, but the drugs were starting to take effect, and at around 5 a.m., he passed out. Other items confiscated included a blood pressure cuff found in a stolen white Mustang discovered near the Muller family vacation home in South Lake Tahoe. The same year that Reeves hired Muller, their relationship went south. In 2011, an immigration law firm he was working for, Reeves & Associates, sued Muller for allegedly sleeping in their offices and stealing client information and passwords, with the hunch that he wanted to start his own firm. During the time Huskins was missing, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter received an anonymous email with a link to an audio file "stripped of identifying data" that depicts a female voice identifying herself as the kidnapping victim, according to the FBI. Him when he arrives in about two to three weeks, Johnson said he graduated summa cum laude with in... 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