“Gone Girl” Kidnapper Charged in Connection with 2009 Bay Area Home Invasions
Santa Clara County prosecutors have charged Matthew Muller, 47, with two counts of felony sexual assault during a home invasion in connection with incidents that occurred in 2009 in Mountain View and Palo Alto.
The charges come after advances in forensic DNA testing linked Muller to the cases, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
Muller, a former attorney and Marine, is the subject of the Netflix documentary series American Nightmare, which examines his 2015 kidnapping of Denise Huskins in Vallejo, often referred to as the “Gone Girl Hoax.”
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office coordinated with law enforcement in Mountain View and Palo Alto to resubmit evidence from the 2009 cases to the DA Crime Lab for analysis. DNA from straps used to bind one of the victims matched Muller, authorities said.
In the first incident, on September 29, 2009, Muller allegedly broke into a Mountain View home and attacked a woman in her 30s, allegedly restraining her and forcing her to drink a mixture of medications before leaving when she convinced him not to assault her. Muller reportedly advised her to get a dog before fleeing.
In the second case, on October 18, 2009, Muller allegedly entered a Palo Alto home and similarly bound and gagged another victim, a woman in her 30s. He allegedly made her consume Nyquil and began to assault her, but she convinced him to stop. Before fleeing, Muller allegedly offered her advice on how to prevent future crimes.
Both cases went unsolved until recent developments. If convicted as charged, Muller faces a potential sentence of life in prison.
Muller gained national attention in 2015 after breaking into a Vallejo home, where he tied up a couple, kidnapped Denise Huskins, and sexually assaulted her. Police initially believed the incident was staged by the victims, but Muller was eventually arrested in June 2015 for that case and a Dublin home invasion.
Muller pleaded guilty to kidnapping Huskins in 2016, and to sexually assaulting her in 2022. He is currently serving a sentence in federal prison in Tucson, Arizona.
