The kidnapper from true crime series American Nightmare could be charged with further crimes that go back decades.
In early 2024, the Netflix series became one of the most watched series on the platform, with many drawing parallels to the 2014 thriller Gone Girl.
The documentary follows American couple Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins after the latter was kidnapped in 2015.
After police got a call from a man in Vallejo, California, to report his girlfriend had been kidnapped, Aaron became the prime suspect in Denise’s disappearance.
Interviews between authorities and Aaron are shown in the documentary, and though they didn’t believe him after he failed a polygraph test, the attention shifted when an audio message was sent by the kidnapper from Denise to say she was still alive.
Police then thought they may have been dealing with a hoax, much like Gone Girl, when Denise appeared in her hometown, 400 miles from Vallejo, after being released.
However, they would go on to track down a man named Matthew Muller, who eventually pleaded guilty to kidnapping, drugging and sexually assaulting the then 29-year-old, before being sentenced to 40 years behind bars.
Denise went on to receive a settlement and apology from the Vallejo Police Department for calling it a hoax, as she would eventually marry Aaron. And now Muller is facing further charges.
Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Misty Carausu was the one who connected Muller to the Vallejo kidnapping, while investigating a different Dublin home invasion.
Muller is now facing new charges and investigators are now claiming his crimes date all the way back to 1993.
Though he is already serving a hefty prison sentence for the vile things he did to Denise Huskins, it could be even worse than first thought.
Chief Nick Borgess of the Seaside Police Department stated: “This is what law enforcement and survivors working together looks like.”
Denise was involved, as Borgess reached out to Huskins on Instagram, with the couple interested in speaking with the kidnapper to follow up on some unanswered questions.
Borgess started a letter-writing campaign to the kidnapper, resulting in a two-day interview with the convict, where Muller agreed to speak to Borgess without an attorney present, he confirmed to ABC7 News.
Investigators claim that he allegedly committed a kidnapping and sexual assault, aged just 16, though as it is still under investigation, the location has not been disclosed.
Denise commented on the new findings, adding: “That’s two decades of this mindset that he was living in. By the time our case came about they found storage units full of equipment to help him facilitate terrorising people.”
Some charges that were more recently announced include two home invasions in 2009 in Santa Clara County, and a home invasion and attempted kidnapping in Contra Costa County, just two weeks after kidnapping Denise Huskins.
Denise said she has been in touch with at least one other victim.
The district attorney revealed that on 29 September 2009, Muller broke into a Mountain View home, tied a woman up, drugged her and was going to rape her, though authorities say she persuaded him not to, and he fled.
In October that year, he reportedly broke into a woman’s Palo Alto home, where he bound and gagged her, forced her to drink Nyquil, then gave her ‘crime prevention advice’ and left.
Both cases were unsolved.
Muller appeared in a San Jose courtroom on Monday (6 January), as he faced two felony counts of committing a sexual assault during a home invasion 15 years ago.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a press release to ABC7: “The details of this person’s violent crime spree seem scripted for Hollywood, but they are tragically real.
“Our goal is to make sure this defendant is held accountable and will never hurt or terrorise anyone ever again. Our hope is that this nightmare is over.”
