Matthew Muller pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Sacramento, acknowledging he used computer-generated voices, blackened swim goggles, liquid sleeping medication and numerous props in. It's entirely possible that he suffered from PTSD with the combination of bipolar disorder, which could lead to violent tendencies. MSNBC West : TV NEWS - Archive Its name is derived from the most common abbreviations for Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company. Again, we do not know. Prosecutors asked a judge to sentence Muller to 40 . 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. On March 24, one day after the incident, the San Francisco Chronicle received whats known as a proof-of-life message from Huskins, Murphy said. Huskins said that despite all the therapy they went through to rebuild their lives, she still felt like something was missing. Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, the California couple falsely accused of staging a kidnapping in 2015, say they believe the real abductor didn't act alone . The City of Vallejo. I knew this was probably it for me, she said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. And in that moment, I just thought, Oh my God. Matthew Muller Sentenced To 31 Years In Vallejo 'Gone Girl' Kidnapping Of Denise Huskins - CBS. The suspect, Matthew Muller, was a Harvard-educated lawyer who was out on Mare Island, near Vallejo, performing "practice" operations for bigger crimes, was actually the culprit of the crime. They were blindfolded while Muller played a pre-recorded message that made it seem as if there was more than one kidnapper. Her boyfriend had reported to police that shed been abducted from his California home at gunpoint and the kidnappers demanded an $8,500 ransom. 'Gone Girl' Kidnapper Matthew Muller Sentenced 40 Years - People Im not going to, Huskins said. She said that the online attacks took an emotional toll. There is hope. Matthew Muller pleaded no contest to two counts of forcible rape, robbery, burglary and false imprisonment in connection with the Vallejo kidnapping of Denise Huskins, according to Law & Crime. Huskins had been sleeping in her boyfriend Aaron Quinns bedroom when an armed man, wearing a scuba suit burst into the bedroom around 3 a.m. on March 23, 2015 and demanded the couple get into a closet, where he zip-tied their hands and feet. Matthew Muller abducted Denise Huskins from her boyfriend's Vallejo home, holding her captive and sexually assaulting her over a two-day ordeal. Maybe we were into weird sex things and something went wrong.. 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. He pleaded guilty in September and on Thursday was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. Denise Huskins, however, did. Review: Couple traumatized by crime set the record straight on Vallejo Dear Abby: Am I overreacting to my European daughter-in-law's behavior? My life was coming to an end and I made peace with that., Once released, I couldnt fathom the pain that was to come, she continued. 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 man then used duct tape to tie Quinns ankles and asked him if he was comfortable, Quinn said. [In] the Dublin home invasion, none of them had blonde hair.. Aarons car is missing, and they know that he waited a substantial period of time before dialing 911. Survivors of so-called 'Gone Girl' case reflect on the life-changing 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. Disbarred Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Kidnap Once Called Hoax - NBC News On Nov. 2, Healy received a doctors report and later ordered Muller placed in the care of MHM Services, a nationwide firm which contracts with governmental agencies for inmate care and has offices in Vallejo, a secured facility. Video Detective helps connect Matthew Muller to Denise Huskins San Jose: Three arrests made in alleged robberies targeting AAPI community, 4 dead in Mojave Desert community after shooting report, The dad whose wife and child were among 5 killed by a neighbor in Texas describes how the massacre unfolded, San Jose: Pedestrian killed in early morning collision. Here's what we know. Denise Huskins, from left, defendant Matthew Muller, Amy Morton, and Aaron Quinn are pictured in the sketch. 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. 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. He said that the suspect bound them, placed blackened swim goggles over their eyes and monitored their heart rates and blood pressure. Henry later said she hoped the plea would bring justice to the victims., My heart goes out to them and the healing process takes a very long time, she said of Huskins and Quinn, according to KNTV. Huskins said they were drawn together., I was very conflicted because I obviously was attracted to Denise, Quinn said. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. When they turned airplane mode off, the phone flooded with messages. I didnt realize how cold it is because were all wearing wetsuits.. He starts asking if Id been partying. Jailhouse interview with Matthew Muller who sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for kidnapping Denise Huskins - an incident Vallejo police once said she . Actually, it was one movie in particular: Gone Girl. Matthews intended mark was Aaron and his ex-fiance, but it makes no difference because of his actions. In court, Muller said he was "sick with shame" for the "pain and horror" he caused. Campos said that Mullers mother told them he was staying at their cabin in the South Lake Tahoe area. Vallejo police apologized for initially discounting the couple's story. AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala, My heart goes out to them and the healing process takes a very long time, she said of Huskins and Quinn, according to. Matthew Muller broke into the home of Denise Huskins and her boyfriend, tied them up, and took Denise. Elisa McNabney Had 38 Aliases Identity Theft Was Just the Tip of the Crime Iceberg, Actress Alice Barrett Mitchell's Role in NBC Miniseries 'The Thing About Pam' Is Strangely Meta, Abby Hernandez Executive-Produced a Lifetime Movie About Her Own Kidnapping. According to the Associated Press, in March 2022, Muller was sentenced to 31 years in a state prison. Huskins and Quinn subsequently filed a defamation of character lawsuit against the police department. Huskins and her future husband endured harrowing crimes; she was kidnapped, raped and left on a roadside. Carausu did a search of Mullers name and found that although he had never been charged, he had been a person of interest in several other incidents in nearby cities. The reason being is that there was no jurisdiction in federal court for those crimes.. The only difference was that the victims successfully managed to attack and scare their assailant into running away before any damage was done. Carausu also tracked down the owner of the stolen car, who told her that it had been stolen around the time of a kidnapping in Mare Island, where Aaron Quinn lived. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. ABC News shared that a similar break-in had happened but was thwarted by the victims. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! 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. . 'I'm Not Guilty': Matthew Muller Gives Jailhouse Interview About Huskins alleged she was offered a proffer of agreement for immunity and told that Quinn was cooperating with cops, and that whoever accepted first would get immunity.. 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. California woman gets 4 years in prison for unwitting role in plot against Iranian opposition activist Meanwhile, Huskins reappearance had set off a media firestorm fueled by suggestions that her case bore striking resemblance to the book and film Gone Girl. The fictional story is about a woman who fakes her own disappearance as revenge against her cheating husband. Muller meanwhile was arrested and charged with both . Eventually, a cousin, who had recently passed the bar exam and had become an attorney, insisted he be allowed to see her. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Two incidents from 2009 took place in Palo Alto and Mountain View, and involved an unknown man breaking into the homes of the female victims and threatening to rape them. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Investigators dropped that theory after Muller was arrested by police in Dublin for a similar home invasion. There were a number of replica squirt guns, Campos said of the evidence theyd found. Matthew Muller arrested in kidnapping of Denise Huskins that police in 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. As a result, he was handed down 31 years in prison, with the sentence to run concurrently with the 40-year term. There were these pre-recorded messages, Huskins said, referring to what they heard through the headphones. Thats something that weve had to live with and somehow make peace with., Huskins said the Vallejo Police Department never came out and publicly apologized for saying what happened to them was a hoax. 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. Muller held her for two days before driving her to Southern California, then released her near her familys Huntington Beach home. Muller went on to say that he his extreme paranoia and psychosis "can blur the lines between reality and fantasy in [his] mind.". "Matthew . Rappaport and Russo both went to bat for their clients, even as they endured repeated questioning by the Vallejo police and the FBI. He also pleaded guilty to robbery of an inhabited dwelling, residential burglary and false imprisonment. 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. Victim F was absolutely kidnapped, one letter read. Matthew Muller was implicated in a separate but similar crime in Dublin, California. 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. I said, We have evidence thats going to dissipate And they said the most callous thing I think Ive ever heard somebody say from law enforcement, Rappaport said. In this March 25, 2015, file photo, Lt. Kenny Parks speaks at a press conference in Vallejo, Calif., confirming reports that Denise Huskins has been found safe in Huntington Beach, Calif. Vallejo Times Herald/MediaNews Group via Getty Images, FILE. Yet, in 2015, following filing for bankruptcy and being accused of neglecting to refund roughly $1,250 to a client when a court ordered it for failure to provide competent representation, he was disbarred for good. She later explained she feared that the kidnapper had threatened her and her family if she revealed two specific details: that anyone involved in the abduction was in the military or that she had been raped.