They demanded two payments of $8,500, he said. Two days later, she was found near her parents' house in Huntington Beach, Calif. The intruder escaped but left behind a cellphone that led agents to Muller, who was arrested at the South Lake Tahoe house. Huskins said that while walking to the closet she noticed two sets of legs from what she believed to be two different people in the bedroom. Maybe we were into weird sex things and something went wrong.. However, the physical evidence soon made it apparent that Matthew Muller was their perpetrator. Others called him friendly and funny. People named Matthew Muller. Little did I know, a quarter-sized bloodstain was going to mean that I was a murderer.. He was a very, very hard worker, said Volberding,a UCLA law student who also attended Pomona College with Muller from 1999 to 2003. Faith & Family Producer of new film on 1970s Jesus movement hopes to spark repeat spiritual . The affidavit states that the victim was sexually assaulted during the kidnapping. To make matters worse, the detectives had also found a small bloodstain on Quinns sheets. It just would have been impossible to have been done by one guy, Huskins said. 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. 15 2022, Published 4:24 p.m. Because the federal court lacked jurisdiction, Aaron was not charged with the related criminal accusations of sexual assault and robbery. Sign Up. Maybe we were experimenting with drugs. Latest news and commentary on Matthew Muller including photos, videos, quotations, and a biography. He worked at Harvards immigration clinic, where he trained and supervised law students representing clients in immigration matters. After returning to California, he enrolled at Pomona College in Claremont, where he majored in science and technology. @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/xdjIu33wsH, Volberding said he saw no signs of criminality during his years at Pomona College. Student dead, another injured following stabbing at a Santa Rosa high school, police say. The city managers office said the FBI asked officials not to talk about the case. 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. What happened to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn is horrific and evil, Chief Shawny Williams said in the statement. Kidnapping survivor details moments she thought were her last. "These recurring crimes involving nighttime home intrusions in which passwords are demanded indicates some plan for further use of computers and/or the Internet for crime.". Johnson said he graduated summa cum laude with degrees in economics and public policy analysis. William Vizzard, professor emeritus of criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento, said law enforcement sometimes ends up with egg on your face when calling out hoaxes. Muller told an officer he was a visiting professor from Harvard teaching at Stanford, but police later determined he wasn't teaching at Stanford. Matthew Muller, who was already serving a 40-year sentence for federal offences, was sentenced to Solano county superior court, according to the county district attorneys office. The woman said "she is still alive because she knows of the German airliner that crashed in the French Alps, and that it was in fact her as her first concert she went to was Blink 182," the affidavit states. 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. / CBS/AP. View the profiles of people named Mathew Muller. We talked about how it would be difficult; we had to rebuild trust. Matthew Muller. It turned out Muller was not a typical criminal. Huskins and Quinn married in 2018 and had a daughter, Olivia, who was born five years to the day that Huskins was released by her kidnapper, she said. 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. A component of the defense is going to be a progressive debilitating illness, Johnson said, adding that Muller did not show any signs of mental illness before graduate school. Mountain View police didn't immediately return a call for comment from 48 Hours' Crimesider. In 2015, an intruder broke into his home and kidnapped his then-girlfriend Denise Huskins. He is survived by his sister Karlie Powers, (Michael), and his nephew Hayden. 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. According to court filings, when Rappaport pushed for Vallejo police to conduct a rape exam, they delayed. In this Sept. 29, 2016, file photo, attorney Anthony Douglas Rappaport, left, speaks at a news conference with his clients, Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, right, in San Francisco. Muller has since been charged in Solano County with kidnapping for ransom, two counts of forcible rape, robbery, burglary and false imprisonment. "He was a very, very hard worker," said Volberding, a UCLA law student who also attended Pomona College with Muller from 1999 to 2003. Matthew Muller served as a Marine from 1995 to 1999. NEW 20/20: Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn reveal stunning new details about surviving a harrowing kidnapping experience. He graduated summa cum laude from Pomona, and received his juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School. Its been six years since the night that Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins awoke in his Vallejo, California, home to a mans voice saying, Wake up. Mr. In the latest update on the case against suspected home invader and kidnapper-for-ransom Matthew Muller, former employers and colleagues have come forward to describe some of his behavior during . The Bees Sam Stanton, Denny Walsh and Ben Egel contributed to this report. He woke up to new emails and texts from the intruder. September 3, 2015 / 6:08 PM Quinns struggle eventually came to a head when, in February 2015, Huskins found out that Quinn had been messaging his ex-fiance about getting back together. They said, Well, just have her sleep in her clothes and dont take a shower and well talk in the morning., Marianna Quinn said she was shocked when the police, too, started calling Huskins Gone Girl., You go through something like that, and every moment, every ounce of energy is about How do I live to see another second? That is all you can think about, said Huskins. Muller enlisted in the Marines after high school, and ended up in Okinawa, Japan, where he worked for a newspaper off of his base and played trumpet in the Marine Corps band. Denise Huskins survived 48 hours with her captor before she was released. Today, Muller is in court-ordered mental health treatment. Woodrow said Quinn was moved downstairs, where he was placed on a couch and told that a camera on the wall would be watching him and that he couldnt leave a perimeter marked by tape on the floor. Mustard has denied making this statement. Dublin Police/Marine Corps 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. The intruder covered their eyes with swimming goggles that had been covered in duct tape to block their sight and put headphones on them. Huskins said she hoped that the confusion would result in the intruder deciding just to leave them, but that is not what happened. They also found the address where Huskins had been dropped off in the stolen vehicles GPS, Campos said. Denise Huskins, who was abducted from her Vallejo home in 2015, pleaded no guilty to two charges of forcible rape. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ pic.twitter.com/nrGoAIxPHv. When Quinns parents and brother arrived at the police station, the Vallejo police questioned them, too. Denise Huskins & Aaron Quinn Today: Where Is the Couple From the Gone Girl Case Now in 2021. First published on September 3, 2015 / 6:08 PM. 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. He described Muller as someone who loved music and studying, who didnt have a wide circle of friends. 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. According to online biographical information, Muller graduated from Bella Vista High in Fair Oaks in 1995. San Francisco judge sentenced the first of two men connected with a plot to bomb the state Democratic Party HQ. Sign Up. Gavin Newsom likes to bash Texas. 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. 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. Once she was released, if she attempted to go to the police, she said the kidnapper told her the group would release the recording on the internet. What do I do next? she told ABC News Amy Robach. Matthew Mueller. 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. Watch tonight at 9/8c on @ABC and streaming this weekend on Hulu. 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. 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. Muller also worked for a year as an associate in the San Francisco office of immigration attorney firm Kerosky, Purves & Bogue. They ultimately settled out of court for $2.5 million with no party admitting any wrongdoing. Facebook gives people the power to. These are among the first accounts that highlight a different side of the accused kidnapper since his arrest was announced by the FBI on Monday. Powered by. The FBI even offered to fly Huskins back to Vallejo on its airplane. During a jailhouse interview with a reporter in July, Matthew Muller, 38, allegedly said he acted alone in the March 23 kidnapping, which police initially claimed was a hoax. Huskins turned up alive in Huntington Beach, California, 400 miles away from Vallejo, on March 25, 2015, two days after shed gone missing, as the kidnapper had promised Huskins previously. His family later received . Soon after Huskins was abducted in March 2015, boyfriend Aaron Quinn called police saying she'd . Right out of high school, Muller joined the Marines. Marianna Quinn is the mother of Aaron Quinn. There is hope. As new details of Huskins ordeal emerged this week with the unsealing of the FBI documents, Vallejo city police came under fire for their handling of the original kidnapping report in March. Miguel Campos. The suspect in both cases is described as a tall, lean man wearing black clothing and a black mask. I knew that hed be a great partner but I could see that he was struggling.. But it was on June 5, three months after the fact, when Matthew attempted to break into another home in California, that he was identified as a suspect. Among the evidence that Dublin, California, police found in Matthew Muller's Lake Tahoe cabin was this toy gun with a laser pointer taped on. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. He was also told he would have to withdraw money from his bank and that hed have a camera monitoring his moves. Some of these went as far back as 2009 and involved the exact details. Denise Huskins, who was kidnapped from her Vallejo home in 2015, contended no shamefaced to two charges of forcible rape. Today, Muller is in the custody of a California jail and in court-ordered mental health treatment, according to his jail records. Pentagon records show he rose to the level of sergeant and played the trumpet something he did in high school, too. No ones going to understand what they went through except each other., The two married near the water in Monterey, California. His federal sentence will run parallel to his state sentence. If I went to the police, they would kill her, he said. Matthew Muller was arrested in South Lake Tahoe on June 8, 2015, and charged with kidnapping for ransom in a federal court. Muller, a former U.S. Marine, attended Harvard University where he also taught, according to court documents. 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. When they responded, she says they told her to call the FBI. They could not function.. He then pled no contest to two counts of forcible rape. As authorities try to sort out the puzzle of Mullers life, his lawyer seems to be preparing a defense that will center on his clients mental state. ET. When he was handed his phone, Quinn says a member of his legal team noticed that it had been placed in airplane mode, even though it was the only means of communication with the kidnappers. Watch The outbreak of hepatitis in children is unusual and concerning Latest News, Mwai Kibaki Illness & Death Cause: The Former Kenyan President Passed Away. Jodi Hernandez reports. 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. Back in California, he attended college and graduated summa cum laude, then entered law school at Harvard, the AP reported. Federal prosecutors charged Matthew Muller - a disbarred Harvard University-trained attorney - with the March kidnapping of Denise Huskins from her Vallejo, California, home. When Huskins arrived in San Francisco to meet with her new attorney she finally felt safe enough to reveal all of the details of her harrowing captivity that she had been afraid to tell the police. Muller was convicted in federal court in Sacramento in 2017 and sentenced to 40 years in prison, according to The Mercury News. ", This news comes as a total surprise, he said. Eventually, the intruder picked up Huskins and put her in the trunk of Quinn's car before driving away with her. Then, in 2013, while working as an immigration lawyer for the firm of Kerosky Purves & Bogue, Muller got into trouble with the State Bar for failing to show up for cases, among other things. He is survived by his sister Karlie Powers, (Michael), and his nephew Hayden. She and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, told authorities they were bound with zip ties and forced to consume drugs that put them to sleep. 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. Watch the full story on "20/20" FRIDAY at 9 p.m. Matthews intended mark was Aaron and his ex-fiance, but it makes no difference because of his actions. How much rain and snow fell in Northern California storm? She told them about Muller, and two FBI agents and a representative from Vallejo police came pretty quickly after that.. He has pleaded not guilty to those state charges. When he attempts to tie up the wife, the husband jumps across the bed and tackles the suspect. Looking back at all the evidence, there was just no denying that this wasnt his first time committing a crime, she said. Matthew Muller served as a Marine from 1995 to 1999. On Nov. 13, 2009, Muller was reported missing by his then wife, according to the affidavit. See Photos. In 2013, the California Bar Association suspended Mullers license and began disciplinary proceedings that led to his disbarment, according to documents. 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. There were things that happened that we saw, that we heard. People named Matthew Mueller. Matthew Muller Today: Where Is the Gone Girl Kidnapper Now in 2021? Not only was Muller a good student, he was in top physical condition, running five miles a day before class started. That didnt stop other people from weighing in. He responded to the kidnappers message but when he didnt hear back, he began to panic. So now, lets find out all that there is to know about him and his current whereabouts, shall we? Quinn and Ms. Huskins have plundered valuable resources away from our community and taken the focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear among our community members. The reason being is that there was no jurisdiction in federal court for those crimes.. Matthew Muller was implicated in a separate but similar crime in Dublin, California. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Huskins said they were drawn together., I was very conflicted because I obviously was attracted to Denise, Quinn said. By this point, Huskins says it was clear to her that she needed to hire a criminal defense attorney. The detectives called Huskins parents and alerted them that something terrible mightve happened to their daughter. Authorities questioned the victims story once she was freed, assuming it was all a lie. You have entered an incorrect email address! He has a brother and a sister, Johnson said. READ NEXT: Denise Huskins & Aaron Quinn Today: Where Is the Couple From the Gone Girl Case Now in 2021? Quinn said the moment was so shocking that it froze him in his place. Huskins borrowed a cellphone from a stranger and called her father, who did not answer. 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