MATTHEW MUELLER; THE 'GONE GIRL " KIDNAPPING

 MATTHEW MUELLER; The "GONE GIRL" KIDNAPPING

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INTRODUCTION

           Matthew Daniel Muller (born March 27, 1977) is an 

American kidnapper, former immigration attorney, and Marine

veteran. He is known for carrying out the kidnapping in Vallejo,

 California, referred to in the media as the ”Gone Girl” kidnapping, 

as later depicted in the Netflix docuseries American Nightmare.

          Muller is a decorated United States Marine Corps veteran. He

 was honorably discharged after developing mental health issues

 in the Middle East. He was a Harvard-educated immigration lawyer

 who gained prominence after he halted a deportation by using an

 online petition. He was voted one of the American Bar 

Association's "Techiest Lawyers." He was disbarred in 2015 after a

 decline in his mental health; he was diagnosed with bipolar 

disorder with psychotic features and schizophrenia.

         In March 2015, Muller developed a delusion that he should 

kidnap "evil wealthy people" for ransom to give to the poor. During

 his psychosis, he committed two home invasions and kidnapped 

and raped Denise Huskins, originally deemed a hoax by authorities. 

He was caught on June 9, 2015 after leaving his cell phone and 

other evidence at the site of the unsuccessful second home 

invasion. He is being held in Federal Correctional Institution, 

Tucson, until 2049.

          Muller grew up in the suburbs of Sacramento.His mother,

 Joyce, was a middle school English teacher, and his father, Monty,

 was a school administrator who served as a wrestling coach. He

 has one younger brother, Kent. His parents divorced during his 

senior year of high school after his father began an extramarital 

affair. Muller was introverted and bullied for being overweight 

growing up. He was also known as someone who "fought for the 

underdog".

         He played the trumpet in his Fair Oaks, California, high school

 band, participated in computer club, and earned over a 3.8 GPA

 taking high achiever coursework.Muller is fluent in English, 

Spanish, Russian and German. He graduated from Bella Vista High 

School in 1995.

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MILITARY EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION

        In 1995,he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps to get in

 shape and to earn money to attend college. He played trumpet in 

the United States Marine Band across the world, including 

Australia, Abu Dhabi, and the United Arab Emirates.While stationed

 in Okinawa, Japan, Muller started a nonprofit to teach locals about

 the internet and worked at an off-base bilingual newspaper.

       In 1999, he was deployed to train soldiers in the Middle East

 where he became a decorated marine. He earned three service

 medals, one ribbon, and was promoted to a sergeant. Muller 

developed severe mental health issues he referred to as Gulf War

 syndrome, despite never having been in combat. He requested a

 discharge, which was granted, honorably. While serving, Muller

 said he witnessed discrimination and harassment against fellow

 marines who were suspected of not being heterosexual.He served

 for four years.

         Muller attended a community college and transferred to 

Pomona College. In 2001, he participated in an academic summer 

abroad in Prague. He graduated with summa cum laude honors as 

a double major in economics and science, technology, and society

 within the Public Policy Analysis program. His undergraduate

 senior thesis in the program was titled Once Again Waiting: 

Implementation of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central 

American Relief Act. While at Pomona, he volunteered helping 

homeless people obtain government services, organized 

Orientation Adventure trips, and contributed to political campaign

 finance research.

        After graduating in 2003,he moved to Boston and enrolled in

 Harvard Law School. While in law school, he volunteered at 

Harvard’s Legal Aid Bureau, where he began to work with 

immigrants and low-income rental tenants who had been victims 

of domestic violence. In October of his first year, he spoke at a 

teach-in about the implications of the Solomon Amendment and 

advocated for Harvard to change its policies around military 

recruitment in accordance with its anti-discrimination policies. He

 obtained a juris doctor in 2006.

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LAW CAREER

         Muller remained at Harvard as a fellow and research 

assistant in the law school's Immigration and Refugee Clinical 

Program,working under Deborah Anker. He contributed to a 

chapter in a law book authored by Anker. When the director went 

on sabbatical, he stepped in to manage the program. In his role at

 Harvard, he earned near-perfect marks. Muller was known as an 

incredibly caring and intelligent student, professor, and legal 

advocate, but was also described as being "unusually devoted" to 

his clients.

         In 2009, Muller relocated to Silicon Valley. He passed the bar

 exam and worked at an immigration law firm, but did not register

 with the California bar. In 2011, Muller started volunteering with 

a legal non-profit. He then registered with the state bar and began

 practicing law at the San Francisco office of Reeves and

 Associates. He quit within six months after working excessive

 overtime and getting caught sleeping at the office. In 2012, Muller

 found work at Kerosky, Purves and Bogue, another immigration

 law firm.He was fired the same year for undisclosed reasons. In

 2012, he founded a non-profit called Immigrant Ability, which 

provided pro bono services for immigrants with mental illness.

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"GONE GIRL KIDNAPPING

        On March 23, 2015, around 3:00am,Muller broke into Quinn's 

house with a water pistol with a flashlight and a laser taped to it.

 He drugged Quinn and his girlfriend and co-worker, Denise

 Huskins, and demanded Huskins bind Quinn with zip ties. During 

the encounter, Muller whispered and appeared to be speaking 

aloud to one or more accomplices, and used voicemail recordings 

to demand two ransom payments of $8,500[a] each that was 

never paid.

       Muller developed a delusion that he was part of an elite three-

person gang that began as an auto-theft ring likened to an 

"Ocean's Eleven gentleman criminals who only took stuff that was 

insured from people who could afford it."Muller said he acted 

alone, referring to the professional gang as part of his psychosis. 

Authorities also determined that Muller acted alone.Huskins wrote

 in her memoir, Victim F,[b] that she and Quinn still believed he 

had accomplices and were being gaslit by the authorities into a 

false narrative.

       Muller informed the couple over the course of the event that

 Quinn's ex-girlfriend, Andrea Roberts, not Huskins, had been his

 intended kidnapping target.Muller played a recording that

indicated the break-in was being completed by professionals to

 collect debts. The message threatened the victims with electric 

shock and demanded Quinn's financial information and passwords.

 Muller stole Quinn's car, his laptop, and led him to believe that he

 was being monitored by video camera, which delayed him from 

calling the authorities. Muller put Huskins in the trunk of Quinn's 

car, moved her to the stolen Mustang, and held her captive at the 

cabin in South Lake Tahoe. He raped Huskins twice.

       Quinn called his brother, an FBI agent, who told Quinn to call 

911.He reported the kidnapping at around 2:00pm on March 23,

 2015.The Vallejo police did not believe that the invasion 

happened, or that Huskins had been abducted, instead 

interrogating Quinn as a murder suspect.

      While holding Huskins hostage, Muller sent several anonymous

 emails to the San Francisco Chronicle demanding the ransom and

 claiming it was a training mission for higher net worth targets. He

 recorded a "proof of life" of Huskins and said she would be 

returned "in good health."The Vallejo police refused to confirm 

that the voice was Huskins.

      On March 25, 2015, Muller drove Huskins to Huntington Beach,

 California, 400 miles away.She was dropped off around 10:00am

 near her family's home. She and her father went to the Huntington

 Beach police. At 9:30pm that same day,the Vallejo police told the

 public that the incident had been a hoax perpetrated by Huskins,

 which authorities and the media called a "real life 'Gone Girl'," 

referring to the film Gone Girl, an adaptation of the Gillian Flynn 

novel by the same name.

      In 2018, it was reported that the Vallejo police department had

 been in possession of evidence that would have led them to 

Muller. He was caught on security purchasing a TracFone at Target

 in Pleasant Hill, California, that was used to call Quinn while 

Huskins was being held. Their experience was detailed in the 

Netflix docuseries American Nightmare. They filed a defamation 

lawsuit against the police department and were awarded $2.5 

million.

       On March 26, 2015, Muller sent a 9,000-word email to the San

 Francisco Chronicle[44] that the intended target was not Huskins,

 but Andrea Roberts, and demanded the record be set straight

 maintaining he had kidnapped Huskins and that the couple was 

telling the truth. He also wrote that the operation went "terribly 

wrong," that he felt deep remorse and regret, and "in particular,"

 that he was mortified of the impact he had on Huskins.Muller 

admitted to several property crimes , comparing the events to the

 film A Clockwork Orange "without the ultra-violence."

       The Vallejo police refused to corroborate the existence of the

 mentioned crimes. In further emails, Muller wrote that he was 

outraged at the police and demanded an apology on behalf of his

 victims. He also contacted Kenny Park of the Vallejo police to

 prove the victims' innocence. Muller also threatened that if the

 department and Park did not apologize "by noon Tuesday" (March

 30, 2015) that Muller may harm again.

         After Nancy Grace declared on her show, "Everything about

 this 'kidnap' screams out hoax," Muller planned another 

kidnapping and intending to send photographs to Grace, with a 

note that it was Grace's fault and a threat to "do it again" until 

claims about Huskins "being the Gone Girl" were retracted.

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