The man convicted of kidnapping Denise Huskins in 2015 in Vallejo, Calif., is scheduled to appear in Santa Clara County court Monday to face new charges in a separate 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 evidence has now led to new charges in connection with a series of home invasion sexual assaults in Mountain View and Palo Alto, the Santa Clara County District Office announced.
What are the new charges against Matthew Muller?
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office alleges Muller broke into women’s homes in Mountain View and Palo Alto. Muller is suspected of drugging and then sexually assaulting both women, prosecutors say.
The two attacks happened within weeks of each other in 2009, from September to October, and had remained unsolved.
Investigators initially identified Muller as a possible suspect in the Palo Alto case. However, detectives said they did not have enough evidence at the time to charge him.
Muller is scheduled to appear in Santa Clara County Court at 1 p.m. Monday.
True case “Gone Girl”.
Muller, a native of the Sacramento area, was sentenced in 2022 for the 2015 kidnapping and rape of Vallejo resident Denise Huskins.
Police initially believed the disappearance to be 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 and a home invasion in Dublin.
The Huskins kidnapping received renewed interest in 2024 after the premiere of the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare” which detailed the case.
Vallejo police also received renewed criticism for their handling of the case after the documentary premiered. The department had already been reported for his management of the kidnapping.