• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Kidnapper featured in chilling Netflix series sentenced to two life sentences in prison

Home> News> Crime

Published 16:12 29 Mar 2025 GMT

Kidnapper featured in chilling Netflix series sentenced to two life sentences in prison

He pleaded guilty to more crimes he committed in 2009

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: US News, Crime, True Crime, Netflix

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

X

@MrJoeHarker

Advert

Advert

Advert

The man serving 40 years behind bars for kidnapping Denise Huskins has been served two consecutive life sentences in prison for separate home invasions carried out in 2009.

You may have watched the Netflix true crime series American Nightmare which follows the 2015 kidnapping of Huskins, who was dubbed the 'real life Gone Girl' after police and the FBI thought the kidnapping had been staged by Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn.

After her kidnapping, a ransom demand of $17,000 was issued and two days afterwards she was found 400 miles away.

Advert

The couple were accused of 'plundering valuable resources' and taking 'focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear among our community members'.

Justice was only done when an attempted kidnapping in Dublin, California, was found to have similarities to Huskins' case and a former US marine named Matthew Muller was arrested after a phone found at the crime scene was traced back to him.

In 2017 he was sentenced to spend 40 years in prison, and he has now been handed two life sentences.

CBS reports that Muller pleaded guilty to new charges in January in connection with 2009 home invasions in Mountain View and Palo Alto.

Advert

On 29 September, 2009, Muller broke into a woman's home in Mountain View and tied her up, drugged her and told her he was going to rape her.

She persuaded him not to, after which he told her she should get a dog and fled the scene.

The following month, on 18 October, 2009, he broke into another woman's home in Palo Alto, tying her up and drugging her.

He started assaulting her before she persuaded him to stop, with a news release saying that he then 'gave the victim crime prevention advice' before once again fleeing the scene.

Matthew Muller kidnapped Denise Huskins, and police initially accuser her and boyfriend Aaron Quinn of staging it for a hoax (Netflix)
Matthew Muller kidnapped Denise Huskins, and police initially accuser her and boyfriend Aaron Quinn of staging it for a hoax (Netflix)

Advert

“I am today so thankful for the bravery of these women,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said of Muller's sentencing after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault during a home invasion.

"We marvel at the growing power of forensics, the never-say-die determination of investigators and prosecutors. But this case is about victims who never gave up."

Both of the cases had been investigated at the time but were left unsolved.

Muller also faces other charges of kidnapping for ransom in Contra Costa County, California, for a crime which is alleged to have taken place two weeks after Huskins was released and was not reported at the time due to fears that if the family said anything then Muller might return.

  • 'Serial killer' who likened himself to Michael Myers sentenced to 261 years in prison
  • Truth behind whether Lyle Menendez lost his hair as shown in Netflix Monsters series
  • Nine teenagers arrested after 16-year-old was lured to his death and filmed dying
  • Real life Mindhunter who interviewed serial killers explains chilling way psychopaths are able to pass polygraph tests

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • Jon Hobley | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesJon Hobley | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
    an hour ago

    'Jeremy Clarkson effect' is causing hordes of people to make major life change

    Chipper Norton has changed since Jeremy Clarkson set up his Diddly Squat Farm

    News
  • Nottingham Trent UniversityNottingham Trent University
    2 hours ago

    Psychologist explains how to spot ‘dark empath’ narcissists that can be extremely dangerous

    Researchers have questioned the belief that narcissists inherently lack empathy

    News
  • Ministerio de Cultura de PerúMinisterio de Cultura de Perú
    2 hours ago

    What could happen to uncontacted Amazon tribe after they make bizarre move amid expert warning

    The Mashco Piro people are believed to be the largest isolated tribe in the world

    News
  • VCG/VCG via Getty ImagesVCG/VCG via Getty Images
    2 hours ago

    Small eating habit changes could be sign of specific form of dementia suffered by Bruce Willis

    Bruce Willis was diagnosed with dementia in 2023

    News