Ex-Marine convicted of raping California woman in bizarre kidnapping plot that was once wrongly labeled a hoax
A former Harvard-trained Marine was convicted on Friday of raping a California woman in a kidnapping plot so bizarre police once suspected it was a hoax.
Matthew Muller has not contested two counts of forcible rape, robbery, burglary and false imprisonment in connection with the Vallejo kidnapping of Denise Huskins, according to Law and crime.
Muller was sentenced to 31 years behind bars on the state-level charges as part of a plea deal with the Solano County District Attorney’s Office, which will run concurrently with a sentence of Federal kidnapping of 40 years he is already serving.
Vallejo police initially believed Huskins had faked his own kidnapping, publicly implying it was a hoax due to the bizarre and sensational details of the case.
On Friday, Solano County District Attorney Sharon Henry called the police’s initial response a “travesty of justice” and admitted that “mistakes were made.” KTVU reports.
Huskins was sleeping in her boyfriend Aaron Quinn’s bedroom when an armed man, dressed in a wetsuit, burst into the bedroom around 3 a.m. on March 23, 2015 and demanded the couple into a closet, where he tied his hands and feet. ABC News reported last year.
The intruder placed dark glasses over their eyes and forced them to drink a “sleepy” liquid, federal authorities said in 2016. They were instructed to listen to a pre-recorded message that threatened them with “cutting in the face or electrocution” if they did not comply with the demands.
The kidnapper, later identified as Muller, then drove Huskins to his home in South Lake Tahoe, where he held her for two days and sexually assaulted her, before finally driving her to Huntington Beach and leaving her on her own. to approach his parents’ house.
Before the intruder left Quinn’s Vallejo home with Huskins in tow, he forced Quinn, who would later marry Huskins after the ordeal, to stay on a couch, telling her a camera on the wall would be watching him. and ordering him not to go. beyond a taped perimeter marked on the floor.
He also asked Quinn not to call the authorities, but when Quinn awoke from his drug-induced sleep later that morning, he called his FBI agent brother, who urged him to call the 911, according to ABC News.
Vallejo police initially suspected the kidnapping was a hoax, saying publicly that the couple had “looted valuable resources from our community and diverted attention from the true victims of our community,” according to SF door.
Some have even compared Huskins to a real “Gone Girl,” a reference to the popular movie where a woman stages her own kidnapping.
It wasn’t until another similar burglary in Alameda County on June 5, 2015 that investigators would uncover the truth.
Muller was arrested in the case after dropping his cellphone during a fight with the owners, SFist reports.
While searching his South Lake Tahoe home, investigators uncovered evidence related to Huskins’ abduction.
Huskins would later sue the Vallejo Police Department for its handling of the case and won a $2.5 million settlement.
Attorney Anthony Douglas Rappaport stands with his clients, Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, right, in San Francisco during a press conference in 2016. Photo: AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala
In a statement obtained by Oxygen.com last year, Vallejo police issued a public apology to Huskins and Quinn, saying the matter was “not being treated publicly with the type of sensitivity with which a case of this nature should have been treated”.
“What happened to Ms Huskins and Mr Quinn is horrific and diabolical. As the new Chief of Police, I am committed to ensuring survivors receive compassionate service with dignity and respect,” Chief Shawny Williams said at the time. “Although I was not a chef in 2015 when this incident occurred, I would like to sincerely apologize to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn for the way they were treated during this ordeal.”
Muller, a former Marine who previously studied at Harvard Law School, was sentenced to 40 years on federal kidnapping charges in 2017.
However, last week Henry said “full justice has not been served” and that Muller should still be held responsible for Huskins’ rape and Quinn’s trauma.
“He deserved justice, and Denise Huskins Quinn also deserved justice for the sexual assault crimes that were committed against her,” Henry said, according to KTVU.
The state-level case was initially delayed after Muller’s sanity came into question.
The state was finally able to pursue the case last week, and Muller appeared via Zoom from Napa State Hospital, where he did not contest the charges against him.
Henry later said she hoped the plea would “do justice to the victims.”
“My heart goes out to them and the healing process takes a very long time,” she said of Huskins and Quinn, according to KNTV. “Based on my conversation with them, they are doing their best to move on.”
Oxygene.com contacted the Solano County District Attorney’s office, but did not receive an immediate response.
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