[imagesource: Mike Jory / Vallejo Times-Herald via AP]
Denise Huskins (above) was robbed, raped, and held captive for days in a complicated kidnapping scheme that played out in 2015.
She was abducted from her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn’s (also above) home, and drugged and sexually assaulted while Quinn was forced to make payments to ensure her safe return.
Matthew Muller, a 45-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer and ex-Marine, had concocted such an elaborate scheme that the police wrongly and publicly accused the couple of faking the whole ordeal, likening it to the hoax kidnapping which played out in the movie Gone Girl.
Muller, who was already serving a 40-year sentence for the kidnapping, was sentenced to an additional 31 years behind bars on Friday:
Apparently, Muller is bipolar and was said to be dealing with paranoia and psychotic episodes during his crime spree.
Law&Crime has more about his newer state charges:
[Muller] entered a plea of no contest to two counts of forcible rape, robbery, burglary, and false imprisonment in Solano County Superior Court on Friday, as part of a deal with prosecutors.
The Solano County District Attorney’s Office tells Law&Crime that Muller’s 31-year sentence will run concurrent with the 40-year sentence he received in 2017 on federal charges.
The Vallejo Police Department had to pay out a $2,5 million settlement to Huskins and Quinn who won the case against the city for the mistaken accusation.
The details of the kidnapping are laid out in the complaint, stating how Muller broke into Quinn’s house and put headphones and ski goggles covered in black cloth on the couple.
The Guardian has more:
Muller used a remote-controlled drone to spy on Huskins and Aaron Quinn before he broke into their San Francisco Bay Area home with a fake gun on 23 March 2015. He then tied up the couple and made them drink a sleep-inducing liquid, prosecutors said. They were blindfolded while Muller played a pre-recorded message that made it seem as if there was more than one kidnapper.
During and after the kidnapping, Muller used an anonymous email address to send messages to a San Francisco reporter claiming Huskins was abducted by a team of elite criminals who were practicing their tactics.
Huskins was also tied to a bed with zip ties and a bike lock, where, according to the complaint, she was raped on two occasions.
Huskins was driven around and held for two days before eventually being released in her hometown of Huntington Beach, near Los Angeles.
The police immediately jumped to the conclusion that the situation was a Gone Girl hoax, and only dropped the accusation after evidence (a phone and swim goggles with Huskins’ hair in it) popped up from another home invasion linking Muller to his crime.
Furthermore, Muller also had to admit to his involvement before the police revoked their misstatement.
[sources:guardian&lawandcrime]
