Soon-to-be-detective Misty Carausu remembered the case in Vallejo, and also found Muller had been a person of interest in several alarming cases. The man charged in the bizarre kidnapping case of Denise Huskins allegedly admitted to being the lone perpetrator of the crime during an interview with a CBS affiliate he believed to be "off the . Investigators brought Aaron Quinn back to the station that same day and asked him to send a message back to the kidnapper. Matthew Muller, 38, was arrested in connection with the March 23 kidnapping of Denise Huskins after authorities noticed similarities to a separate home invasion last month in Dublin,. Muller's sentencing ends a chapter in the sensational Vallejo kidnapping case that . But as long as he was willing to really give this a full shot, then we could try again., Huskins didnt know it at the time, but her decision to visit Quinn that night would become a pivotal moment in her life. I brought pizza and we sat on the couch most of the night and talked, she said. Quinns older brother is an FBI agent, so he decided he would call him instead, but his brother instructed him to immediately call 911. They cried and held each other when they finally reunited nearly a week after that terrifying night, Huskins said. This is a robbery.. This is not a dream.. 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. Investigators said they found videos of Muller arranging cameras in a bedroom and then recording himself twice sexually assaulting his blindfolded victim. I was really afraid that she wouldnt want to see me that she would just want to wipe her hands clean.. So now, lets find out all that there is to know about him and his current whereabouts, shall we? Denise and Aaron filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Vallejo and its police department, rightfully winning $2.5 million. 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. 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. However, the couple remained adamant that they were telling the truth. She and Aaron were both gaslit by the Vallejo police, each being treated like a criminal. She described being. However, once they are deemed competent, criminal charges can be reinstated and the defendant can be scheduled to face more court proceedings, including a jury trial. Again, we do not know. He told the detectives about the goggles placed over their eyes, the specific directions they were given and the recordings that played on the headphones. Huskins said the man tied her up inside and then brought Quinn to the closet and placed him inside. I just wanted to hold her. 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. Has he done drugs?, They said maybe we were in a fight and I pushed her down the stairs, Aaron Quinn said. Huskins said they were drawn together., I was very conflicted because I obviously was attracted to Denise, Quinn said. 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. 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 reason being is that there was no jurisdiction in federal court for those crimes.. Mr. . Muller previously pleaded guilty in federal court to kidnapping Huskins and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. 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. / CBS San Francisco. 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.". We fancied ourselves a sort of Oceans Eleven, gentleman criminals who only took stuff that was insured from people who could afford it.. During questioning, Quinn recounted what had happened the night before. It turned out Muller was not a typical criminal. 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. He woke up to new emails and texts from the intruder. Fearing he was putting Huskins life in grave danger, he dialed the police. He also described some of his symptoms, which include being "hyper-focused, a high achiever, and extremely productive to suicidal tendencies, paranoia, and psychosis." In addition, Matthew pled guilty to robbery of an inhabited dwelling, residential burglary, and false imprisonment. Offers may be subject to change without notice. "Bipolar disorder has many different stages and levels. Woodrow said the intruder told Quinn they were going to communicate with him via text and email, and that theyd even created an email address for the correspondences. Newleyweds Denise. There are other people out there. In video recordings of the interview, detective Mathew Mustard could be heard asking if there was tension in the relationship and if Quinn was cheating. Quinn said he realized the interview was taking a turn when, about 45 minutes into it, Mustard leaned back in the chair and told him, I dont think youre being truthful, and I dont think anybody came into your house., Mustard could be heard telling Quinn in the videotaped interrogation he the story youre telling here, I aint buying at all.. Huskins says that in the end, the couples experience of trauma and survival is ultimately a love story with a happy ending. Huskins said the man then told her to walk to the bedroom closet. While searching his South Lake Tahoe home, investigators discovered evidence connected to Huskins abduction. It was later discovered that the kidnapper had called the phone three times. Muller was arrested in that case after dropping his cellphone in a scuffle with the homeowners. 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.. The letter also said the comments from Lt. Kenny Parks were unnecessarily harsh and offensive. Bidou promised the department would apologize in public when Muller was indicted. Aaron Quinn said their first song together as husband and wife was Dierks Bentleys Riser. It is, he said, very much about overcoming a tragedy and rising like a phoenix from the ashes., 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Vallejo police apologized for initially discounting the couple's story. ZipRecruiter - Post your jobs . During the incident, Muller dropped his cellphone which led authorities to a cabin where he was staying in the South Lake Tahoe area. The suspect tries to get away. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. She had to hastily write down what was said after they were done. Denise Huskins survived 48 hours with her captor before she was released. He then pled no contest to two counts of forcible rape. Dear Abby: Am I overreacting to my European daughter-in-law's behavior? I had no reason to believe, at that time, that they doubted me, she said. I remember being asleep and hearing a voice and thinking it was a dream. Related Articles He abducted Denise Huskins for two days and demanded a $15,000. However, the physical evidence soon made it apparent that Matthew Muller was their perpetrator. I knew this was probably it for me, she said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "Gone Girl" kidnapper Matthew Muller will reportedly spend 40 years behind bars after his sentencing in California on Thursday. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Unlike typical criminals, Matthew Daniel Muller served in the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999 and graduated summa cum laude from Pomona College in California before eventually attending Harvard Law School. "I still have. Police later apologized to the couple who, in 2018, reached a $2.5 million settlement with the City of Vallejo and its police department. Perhaps that's why Juliette felt confusingly compelled to describe Muller as "intelligent.". I also didnt trust myself anymore., I could see who Aaron was and the man he was and the good in him, Huskins said. Looking back at all the evidence, there was just no denying that this wasnt his first time committing a crime, she said. However, last week, Henry said full justice was not achieved and that Muller still needed to be held accountable for raping Huskins and traumatizing Quinn. However, proceedings were put on hold last year when Muller was admitted to Napa State Hospital and ordered to take antipsychotic medication until he was declared mentally competent. Matthew had dropped his phone in the process, which directed the officials right back to him, earning a massive breakthrough. The case took another turn in June 2015, three months after Quinns abduction, when the FBI arrested Muller a 38-year-old Harvard-educated former attorney who worked at Harvards immigration clinic and later became an immigration lawyer in San Francisco. While the wife ran into the bathroom, locked the door and called 911, the husband was able to fight off the intruder, but he escaped. Court records did not indicate the doctors determination but, typically, if a defendant is sent from Solano County Jail to a mental health services agency, they are likely deemed incompetent. But Huskins wasnt lying. Rappaport and Russo both went to bat for their clients, even as they endured repeated questioning by the Vallejo police and the FBI. The 20/20 special will share their story with more detail, in the hopes of helping other victims who were not believed by authorities. 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. Here's what we know. He filed a 35-page speedy trial request on Feb. 13, 2019, citing, among other things, his health condition and saying he suffered assault while in custody. 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. I heard him drive off. On Friday, Solano County prosecutor Sharon Henry called the initial police response a travesty of justice and admitted mistakes were made,KTVU reports. Huskins Testified That She Was Kidnapped & Sexually Assaulted Twice Before She Was Released In a public preliminary hearing for Muller in 2019, Huskins spoke about the events in March 2015. 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. Weeks passed without a break in the case and Huskins and Aaron Quinn found themselves the prime suspects in their own home invasion and kidnapping case. What do I do next? she told ABC News Amy Robach. The couple was awakened at around 3 a.m. by a man whod broken into the house. 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. Quinn said the officers eventually seemed to soften a little bit and told him they were taking him to the police station to give a statement. Quinn said the officers entered the house and immediately unplugged the camera that the kidnapper had left. He is defending himself, acting as his own attorney, and on. The comparisons began after Vallejo Police announced that Huskins abduction appeared to be an orchestrated event and not a kidnapping.. Huskins and Quinn subsequently filed a defamation of character lawsuit against the police department. Americans who survived kidnapping in Mexico share details of their captivity Matthew Muller receives federal kidnapping charge in Denise Huskins case: Part 10 After Muller was charged, Huskins and Aaron Quinn settled a civil suit out of court with the city of Vallejo, its . 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 . Crime and Public Safety | Eventually he would be caught but it was certainly not because of the diligent detective work of the Vallejo, Calif. police. Oxygen.com reached out to the Solano County District Attorneys Office, but did not receive an immediate response. Jailhouse interview with Matthew Muller who sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for kidnapping Denise Huskins - an incident Vallejo police once said she . We would rather take the chance of revealing the truth than live in a world where someone like Victim F is victimized again.. 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 On Dec. 4 last year, Healy ordered Muller committed to one of five California state hospitals for a maximum term of two years. March 19, 2022 / 6:34 AM What he wasnt charged with were the sexual assaults, the robbery, the burglary against Aaron, Rappaport said. Their lives seemed to be falling apart while living in a constant state of terror and preparing for a defense, Huskins said. Muller, a Harvard-trained attorney and ex-Marine, concocted a plan so elaborate and bizarre that at first police accused the couple of lying, drawing national headlines. Of course, significant damage had already been done to Denise, on top of the horrendous trauma that came from being kidnapped, held hostage, and raped twice. The kidnapper, who had taken Huskins bags when he abducted her, had removed them from the car and placed them on the ground. Dear Abby: I have a great life, so why have I fallen into this shameful behavior? Sherri Papini sentenced to 18 months in prison in hoax kidnapping case - ABC . Its name is derived from the most common abbreviations for Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company. The 44-year-old suspect in a bizarre 2015 Vallejo kidnapping case that made national headlines has been admitted to a jail-based competency treatment program and, for the time being, apparently will not face a jury trial. 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. But Quinn says the detectives began to ask about his relationship with Huskins. Vallejo Police had initially believed Huskins had faked her own kidnapping, publicly hinting that it had been a hoax due to the bizarre and sensational details of the 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. But it turned out that one important part of this plan had not gone as expected for the intruder. Muller, a former Marine who had once studied at Harvard Law School, was sentenced to 40 years for federal kidnapping charges in 2017. It was fairly easy to get Muller after that. He has pleaded not guilty to those state charges. 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. There were things that happened that we saw, that we heard. 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. 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. bizarre and sensational details of the case. 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. In 2018, Huskins and Quinn, who is now her husband, reached a $2.5 million settlement with the city. 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. Denise Huskins talked about her 48-hour ordeal, and described her sexual assault by Matthew Muller, as he looked on. Related: Matthew Muller, Man Charged In Bizarre 2015 'Gone Girl' Kidnapping and Rape, Now . She said that after their conversation, as they went to bed around midnight, it felt like a fresh start.. Huskins recalled sitting in the airport fearful for her life, paranoid that the kidnapper might find her and take her away again. 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. Im just going to stay calm and be grateful for the life I had," Huskins said. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. In 2016, Matthew pleaded guilty to the count upon him and subsequently got sentenced to 40 years in prison. Although Huskins mother and father were both in Vallejo assisting police, they contacted family back in Huntington Beach to go be with her. After [one message], I went into one of my many PTSD episodes of terror, she wrote on Facebook. Quinn had lived with his ex-fiance in that house before their breakup, and she had only recently moved out all of her belongings. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Ms. 33 of 57 34 of 57 Attorney Thomas Johnson speaks to the media about his client Matthew Muller the suspect in the Vallejo kidnapping of Denise Huskins following an appearance by Muller before a . In September, Muller pleaded guilty to Huskins kidnapping. Matthew Muller, 39, of South Lake Tahoe previously pleaded not guilty to a kidnapping charge for the March 23, 2015, incident. The intruder placed blacked out goggles over their eyes and forced them to drink a sleep-inducing liquid, federal authorities said in 2016. I knew there was an old stain on my sheet, Quinn said. She said that he looked unremarkable when he was escorted out. Muller pleaded guilty to kidnapping Huskins and is serving a 40-year prison sentence. It was devastating to see both of them, said Marianne Quinn. Her daughter, she says, filled that hole. In 2016, Aaron Quinn and Huskins filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Vallejo and its police department, as well as specific officers involved, alleging a number of claims, including defamation. 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. According to the Associated Press, in March 2022, Muller was sentenced to 31 years in a state prison. Up until this point, neither Huskins nor Aaron Quinn had seen each other since the incident. The intruder covered their eyes with swimming goggles that had been covered in duct tape to block their sight and put headphones on them. 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. A state preliminary hearing for Muller, formerly of Orangevale, was held more than two years ago. When Denise got kidnapped and Quinn sought assistance from . Mullerwas arrested in South Lake Tahoe on June 8, 2015, after evidence, including a video ofMullerand Huskins, was found at his mothers home. As a result, he was handed down 31 years in prison, with the sentence to run concurrently with the 40-year term. First published on March 19, 2022 / 6:34 AM. Crime and Public Safety | Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. According to his lawsuit, Whitney claims that former Vallejo Police Department Chief Bidou directed Whitney to delete text messages on his cell phone so that they could not be downloaded during the litigation related to the investigation into Huskins' kidnapping filed by Huskins and Aaron Quinn. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information.
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