STRANGER THAN FICTION

‘Gone Girl’ Kidnapper Charged with More Break-ins

Mathew Muller’s kidnapping and assault of Denise Huskins was the subject of the 2024 Netflix documentary “American Nightmare.”

The man who was convicted in the kidnapping of a California woman that became known as the “Gone Girl” case has been charged with two more break-ins. Matthew Muller, who was convicted of the 2015 kidnapping and assault of Denise Huskins, has been charged with two counts of committing sexual assault during home invasion. In 2009, Muller allegedly broke into a Northern California home, drugged a woman and said he was going to rape her before she persuaded him not to. Weeks later, he allegedly broke into another Northern California home, forced a woman to drink NyQuil and assaulted her until she also persuaded him to stop. Police said “advances in forensic DNA testing” were able to link Muller to the crime scenes. In 2015, Muller broke into Huskins’ home and drugged and tied up her and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn. He then kidnapped Huskins and sexually assaulted her before releasing her two days later. Because Huskins and Quinn were accused of fabricating the kidnapping, the case was compared to the book and movie Gone Girl. Police initially considered Quinn as a suspect. Muller was arrested months later and pleaded guilty to the kidnapping. The case was serialized in “American Nightmare,” which premiered on Netflix earlier this year.