Mat Mustard's 'real shame' interview response to American Nightmare documentary creators
With yet another true crime documentary series dropping on Netflix in the shape of American Nightmare, people once again can't get enough of it and the people in it.
We're obsessed with feeling invested in a real-world mystery and trying to solve the crime before the series comes to an end.
The new three-part show dropped on Netflix last week. It saw Harlan Coben's Fool Me Once finally knocked off the streaming giant's number one spot.
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American Nightmare follows the disappearance of Denise Huskins back in 2015. Along with her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, the couple were tied up in their home by masked intruders who then kidnapped Denise from their home in the city of Vallejo, California. They demanded $17,000 (£13,340) for her safe return.
Police eyes turned to Aaron as a potential suspect in the case. But in a bizarre turn of events some 48-hours after being reported missing, Denise was found alive some 400 miles away near Huntington Beach.
An integral figure in the kidnapping case was Detective Mat Mustard of the Vallejo Police Department.
The couple were accused of coordinating an elaborate kidnapping hoax by the police department.
And then, at a press conference, they were accused by police of ‘plundering valuable resources’ and taking 'focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear among our community members'.
Mathew 'Mat' Mustard had falsely accused Aaron of being involved. And under his guidance, Vallejo Police made him undergo a lie detector test as he was questioned for 18 hours without charge.
Aaron quickly lawyered up and took the fight back to the police alongside his partner Denise.
And now, American Nightmare directors Bernadette Higgins and Felicity Morris have told The Mirror about their approach to the detective and Vallejo Police.
Bernadette said: "We approached both the Vallejo PD and the FBI and told them that we were making the series and asked them if they would be willing to give us interviews.
"But, we basically just got the standard formal response saying that they were declining the invitation to take part.
"We think that's a real shame because it's kind of just turning their backs on the situation when it could have been an opportunity for them to be humble and to say 'we are fully aware of how mistakes were made and this is what we've changed since and this is how we now approach victims of crimes'.
"They could have said something which could have perhaps showed there's been an opportunity for learning here and maybe things are different now and that they've all grown from the experience. But that hasn't happened."
She said it would have been really worthwhile if Mustard had 'explained why they jumped to the conclusions that they did and helped us understand'.
Denise and Aaron resorted to taking legal action against the Vallejo Police Department a year after her kidnapping.
Two years later, in 2018, the legal case was finally settled out of court and the couple were compensated $2.5 million.
Mustard was the president of the Vallejo Police Officers Association from 2009 to 2019. In 2018, it is believed that he was promoted to a sergeant.
He is now reportedly a detective sergeant for the Vallejo Police Department in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.
LADbible has contacted Vallejo PD for comment.
Topics: Netflix, TV and Film, Documentaries, Crime, US News
Tom Earnshaw