SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A man implicated in the infamous “Gone Girl” kidnapping case has been charged with two sexual assaults that occurred during home invasions 15 years ago, as reported by prosecutors on Monday. The accused, Matthew Muller, 47, broke into a woman’s residence in Mountain View, California, in September 2009. According to court documents, he assaulted the woman, restrained her, and forced her to ingest medications. He reportedly threatened to rape her but was ultimately dissuaded by the woman’s pleas, after which he left, advising her to consider getting a dog for protection.
Prosecutors further allege that a month later, in Palo Alto, Muller entered another woman’s home, bound her, gagged her, and forced her to drink Nyquil. During this assault, he also attempted to sexually violate her, but she managed to persuade him to stop her attack.
Muller faces two felony charges for these sexual assaults during the home invasions, which carry significant legal repercussions, potentially leading to a life sentence in prison. Currently, he is serving a 40-year term stemming from the 2015 kidnapping of Denise Huskins.
The District Attorney, Jeff Rosen, expressed the gravity of Muller’s violent actions, likening the series of crimes to a Hollywood script, despite the tragic reality they represent. He emphasized the prosecution’s commitment to ensuring Muller is held accountable, voicing hope that the nightmare for the victims is coming to a close.
While Muller’s public defender, Agustin Arias, declined to comment on the new charges, it was revealed that the renewed investigations were prompted by new evidence. Criminalists from the District Attorney’s office found Muller’s DNA on binding materials used in one of the assaults.
Muller, a disbarred attorney with Harvard credentials, had previously pleaded guilty to Huskins’ 2015 kidnapping. In 2022, he received a sentence of 31 years in state prison after entering a no-contest plea to two counts of forcible rape against Huskins. The kidnapping case involved Muller entering the home of Huskins’ boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, where both were drugged, blindfolded, and restrained, with demands for an $8,500 ransom.
The police interrogation of Quinn was extensive, with detectives suggesting possible involvement on his part in Huskins’ disappearance. After taking a polygraph test, Quinn later claimed he was misled about the results during a subsequent discussion with FBI agents.
Huskins resurfaced, unharmed, two days after her abduction, outside her father’s apartment in Huntington Beach, California. She reported being released just hours before the ransom was due. However, when police in Vallejo held a press conference that day, they stated no evidence of kidnapping existed, even insinuating that Huskins and Quinn had fabricated the incident, which led to a widespread search.
Following Huskins’ return, authorities drew false comparisons between her case and the plot of “Gone Girl,” where a woman feigns kidnapping upon her return. However, that narrative collapsed when police arrested Muller shortly after for another similar home invasion. Evidence collected, including a stolen computer belonging to Quinn, directly connected Muller to the kidnapping of Huskins, clearing the fog over the accusations that once plagued her.
