SEASIDE, Calif. (KRON) — Kidnapping and rape survivor Denise Huskins spoke to reporters in Seaside on Tuesday about how she helped investigators discover extra victims who have been allegedly focused by Matthew Muller.
The Muller case regained traction after it was detailed in a well-liked Netflix documentary, “American Nightmare,” final 12 months. Huskins just lately teamed up with investigators to jot down jail letters to her convicted kidnapper and uncover extra crimes that he allegedly dedicated earlier than he was lastly caught in 2015. Bay Space prosecutors filed new prices towards Muller on Monday and final week.
“This man had all the markers of a serial predator. It’s something he crafted and perfected over a long period of time,” Huskins instructed reporters. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Denise Huskins talks to reporters in Seaside, Calif. on Jan. 7, 2025. (KRON4 Picture)
Tears flowed down Huskins’ face Tuesday as she talked about discovering further victims whom have been beforehand unknown to regulation enforcement, and serving to them search justice. She stood subsequent to Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges, who helped reopen the case and uncover further crimes that occurred in Santa Clara County, Contra Costa County, and El Dorado County courting again to 1993.
Muller, 47, was a Marine who graduated from Harvard College and labored as a lawyer in California. Investigators described him as “exceptionally intelligent” and “exceptionally well educated.” He was 38 years outdated when he kidnapped Huskins from her Vallejo residence on Mare Island, drugged and tied her up, and held her captive for 2 days in his South Lake Tahoe cabin.
Denise Huskins, Aaron Quinn, and Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges seem at a information convention in Seaside, Calif. on Jan. 7, 2025. (KRON4 Picture / Amy Larson)
Borges mentioned he labored carefully with Huskins earlier than he wrote a sequence of letters to Muller whereas he was an inmate at a federal jail in Arizona.
Muller allegedly confessed in his reply letters that he dedicated two residence invasions with intentions to rape girls inside their Palo Alto and Mountain View houses in 2009. He additionally confessed to kidnapping a intercourse assault sufferer when he was 16 years outdated in 1993, and holding hostages for ransom throughout a 2015 residence invasion in San Ramon, investigators mentioned.
Muller was arrested in the summertime of 2015 days after he broke right into a Dublin household’s residence and by chance left a cellphone behind.
El Dorado County District Legal professional Vern Pierson mentioned Muller’s jail letters “led to a breakthrough with new evidence and revelations of additional crimes. We now know Muller began committing kidnapping and sexual assaults at age 16, (followed by) home invasions in 2019, numerous prowling and peeping, secret recordings, and three separate home invasions in 2015.”
Chief Borges mentioned he wrote his letters to Muller in a manner that “just spoke to him as a human. No trickery. It was just authentic.”
Matthew Muller is seen in mugshots from 2015 and 2018. (Photos through Solano County District Legal professional’s Workplace)
Muller meticulously deliberate out his crimes and practiced earlier than “terrorizing” victims who have been woken up in the course of the evening by a house intruder, Pierson mentioned.
Pierson mentioned his investigators, in addition to FBI brokers, interviewed Muller in jail “during which he admitted to even more crimes” final 12 months. Investigators corroborated data from Muller’s confessions by discovering further proof, the DA mentioned. As one instance, Pierson mentioned his investigators discovered a ladder in the course of the woods the place Muller mentioned he left it after breaking into a house.
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Chief Borges and Huskins have been “persistent that there was more to this case. That Matt Muller had committed more crimes,” Pierson mentioned. They usually have been proper, he added.
Denise Huskins walks right into a information convention in San Francisco on Sept. 29, 2016. (Picture By Paul Chinn/ The San Francisco Chronicle through Getty Photos)
On Tuesday, Huskins thanked the Seaside Police Chief and DA Pierson for taking the Muller investigation severely. It was a stark distinction to Huskins’ “nightmare” expertise with the Vallejo Police Division when she went lacking in 2015.
On March 23, 2015, Muller broke right into a Vallejo residence the place Huskins lived along with her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn. He tied the couple up, drugged them with a sleep-inducing liquid, and drove Huskins to a cabin in South Lake Tahoe. When Quinn regained consciousness, he referred to as police.
Whereas Huskins was being held captive within the cabin, Vallejo Police Division detectives suspected that her boyfriend murdered her, the documentary revealed.
Aaron Quinn solutions questions from reporters in Seaside, Calif. on Jan. 7, 2025. (KRON4 Picture)
Timeline: Matthew Muller and the ‘American Nightmare’ Vallejo kidnapping case
The case made nationwide media headlines because the “Gone Girl kidnapping.”
Nonetheless Huskins and Quinn have been telling the reality to police. They have been later cleared of false accusations made by VPD and Muller was charged with kidnapping Huskins.
Vallejo Police Lt. Kenny Parks confirms to reporters that Denise Huskins was discovered secure on March 25, 2015. (Picture by Chris Riley/ Vallejo Occasions Herald through Getty Photos)
The couple’s story was heard by 20 million individuals who watched Netflix’s “American Nightmare” 2024 documentary, which detailed how Vallejo police botched their investigation.
Seaside is situated 100 miles south of Vallejo. Chief Borges had not heard concerning the case till he watched the documentary, courtroom paperwork state. He first reached out to Huskins by sending her a personal message by means of Instagram.
Huskins and Quinn weren’t solely exonerated, they have been heroes for searching for out justice for extra victims, Borges mentioned.
“It was Denise and Aaron that lit the flame that started so many things in motion. This is what law enforcement and survivors working together looks like … following evidence,” Borges instructed reporters.
Pierson mentioned, “This case should be referred to properly as the ‘American Nightmare case,’ and not the “Gone Girl case.’”
Huskins and Quinn are actually married and oldsters of two younger youngsters.
Muller is serving a 40-year jail sentence. The district attorneys of El Dorado and Santa Clara counties mentioned they filed new prices towards him in current days earlier than they wish to guarantee he’s by no means launched from custody. He’s at present locked up in a San Jose jail cell as he faces prices for the 2009 South Bay residence invasions.
If convicted of the brand new residence invasion and kidnapping prices, Muller will face a life sentence.
Huskins mentioned Tuesday, “It’s unfortunate that it’s taken this long to be able to give some clarity and a sense of peace to these other victims.”
Huskins mentioned her message to sexual assault survivors is, “Always believe in yourself. Trust yourself. It’s really easy to go into self-blame, self-doubt, and shame. Get support from wherever you can close to you, and know that you can always trust in yourself.”
Over the previous 10 months, businesses that joined the investigation reopening the Muller case included the FBI, Seaside Police Division, Palo Alto Police Division, Mountain View Police Division, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Workplace, Alameda County Sheriff’s Workplace, and several other district attorneys.
