“Gone Girl” kidnapper Matthew Muller charged in 2009 Mountain View, Palo Alto home invasions
The man convicted in the 2015 kidnapping of Denise Huskins in Vallejo, California, is scheduled to appear in Santa Clara County court on Monday to face new charges for a different case.
Matthew Muller is currently serving a 40-year sentence in an Arizona prison for the rape and false imprisonment of Huskins in what police initially thought was a hoax.
Forensic DNA testing has now led to new charges in connection to a series of home invasion sexual assaults in Mountain View and Palo Alto, the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office announced.
What are the new charges against Matthew Muller?
The Santa Clara County district attorney’s office alleges that Muller broke into the homes of women in Mountain View and Palo Alto. Muller is suspected of medicating, and then sexually assaulting both women, prosecutors say.
Both attacks happened within weeks of each other in 2009, from September to October, and had gone unsolved.
Investigators did initially identify Muller as a possible suspect in the Palo Alto case. However, detectives said they didn’t have enough evidence at the time to charge him.
Muller is scheduled to appear in Santa Clara County court at 1 p.m. Monday.
Real “Gone Girl” case
Muller, a Sacramento-area native, was convicted in 2022 for the 2015 kidnapping and rape of Vallejo resident Denise Huskins.
Police initially believed the disappearance was a hoax and accused Huskins’ boyfriend of perpetrating it, reminding many of the plot of the popular novel and movie “Gone Girl.”
However, Muller was eventually linked to the case and arrested for both Huskins’ kidnapping as well as a home invasion in Dublin.
Huskins’ kidnapping received renewed interest in 2024 after the release of the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare” which detailed the case.
Vallejo police also received renewed criticism for its handling of the case after the release of the documentary. The department had already been sued for its handling of the kidnapping.
