Home » Convicted ‘American Nightmare’ rapist pleads guilty to two more home invasions – Jobsmaa.com

Convicted ‘American Nightmare’ rapist pleads guilty to two more home invasions – Jobsmaa.com

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Matthew Mueller, the most infamous kidnapper profiled in the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare,” appeared in court Friday and pleaded guilty to two additional charges.

Mueller, 47, dressed in a tan Santa Clara County Jail uniform, responded with a series of quiet “yeses.” Superior Court Judge Cynthia A. The nurse confirmed that he pleaded guilty to two home invasions in 2009. In both cases, Mueller broke down. He entered homes early in the morning, tied up the women and tried to drug and sexually assault them.

In all, Mueller is now suspected of or convicted of at least six violent crimes, starting when he was 16.

“This extremely dangerous individual left a trail of traumatized and terrified victims,” ​​said District Attorney Jeff Rosen. “It took the collective courage of his victims and determined law enforcement officers to stop him. This nightmare is over.

The Santa Clara charges against Mueller came as a result of the job An unlikely team Law enforcement officers and the two victims in the Vallejo case, Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn. Over the past 10 months, the pair said they received clues about the crimes — and even confessions — from Mueller before approaching local authorities with jurisdiction over the incidents.

“We knew from the beginning that there was a lot more to this, and how things were handled from the beginning led to a lot of errors,” Huskins said in an interview last week. “There's really no one in law enforcement that we trust that we felt justified this case.”

The first Santa Clara County incident occurred on September 29, 2009, when a Mountain View woman in her 30s told police she saw a man on top of her. According to a description of the case from the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, Mueller forced her to drink a drugged drink, then tied her up and told her he was going to rape her.

The woman was able to convince him to stop his assault, according to the district attorney's office. Before leaving, Mueller allegedly told her to get a dog for protection.

About three weeks later, on Oct. 18, 2009, a woman in nearby Palo Alto woke up to find Mueller on top of her, the district attorney's office said. Nikhil has tied up the girl and forced her to drink.

Again, according to prosecutors, the woman was able to persuade him to stop. Again, before leaving, he offered the woman “crime prevention counseling,” according to the district attorney's office.

Last week, Mueller was indicted in another new case in the Contra Costa city of San Ramon after authorities reviewed evidence brought to light by the investigation efforts of Huskins and Quinn.

After “American Nightmare” came out, Huskins and Quinn were contacted by an unlikely ally: Nick Borges, the police chief in the Monterey Bay town of Seaside. He watched the documentary and wanted to help.

The fact that Borges had nothing to do with the case didn't stop him. Quinn invited Huskins and Quinn to speak to law enforcement officials on the coast to share their belief that crime-focused police investigative methods sent the investigation down the wrong path.

Borges persuaded Misty Karazu, the detective who ultimately led to Mueller's arrest, to come forward.

All four met with El Dorado County Dist. Atty. Vern Pearson, who had jurisdiction in the county where Huskins was held captive — and the seeds for a new trial were planted.

At lunch after a law enforcement briefing, Huskins and Quinn told Borges of their frustrations and desire to personally approach Mueller to seek answers. But the couple feared it would be dangerous. Borges offered to write Mueller on their behalf.

Mueller wrote back, detailing other crimes and legal notices along with the confessions.

Armed with new information, Pearson, who has worked with the FBI and other agencies, traveled to Tucson in November to interview Mueller in person. Over the course of two days, according to Pearson, Mueller shared more details, including information about the Northern California assault he said he committed when he was 16. That case is still under investigation, Pearson said.

Attorney Anthony Douglas Rappaport at a 2016 news conference with clients Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn.

Attorney Anthony Douglas Rappaport speaks with clients Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn at a 2016 news conference. The couple reached a $2.5 million settlement with the city of Vallejo after police accused Huskins of faking the abduction.

(Suthin Dhanawala/Associated Press)

In the Huskins case, based on the Netflix documentary, Mueller broke into her Vallejo home in March 2015 and drugged her and her then-boyfriend, Aaron Quinn. Mueller blindfolded them with swimming goggles and drugged them to sleep. He puts headphones on Quinn and plays recordings designed to make Quinn think she's dealing with more than one kidnapper.

Mueller then put Huskins in Quinn's car and drove with her, eventually driving her to his family's cabin in South Lake Tahoe. He held her there for two days and sexually assaulted her before driving her across California and releasing her in Huntington Beach.

Initially, Vallejo police dismissed Quinn's account of being induced by a kidnapper — or kidnappers — who put headphones on him and forced him to drink a soporific substance. Authorities questioned Quinn for hours, brushing aside his story and assuming he was behind her disappearance.

When Huskins returned, police became more suspicious, questioning how a kidnapped man could reappear hundreds of miles away wearing sunglasses and carrying a bag overnight.

Huskins “didn't act like a kidnapping victim,” then-retired Vallejo Police Capt. James O'Connell said. said in a sworn statement.

Huskins and Quinn attacked each other and police tried to plead not guilty, according to reports from their family members, giving the first flippers immunity.

Then, the police went to the public with that feeling. “There is no evidence to support claims that this was a stranger abduction or kidnapping,” police Lt. Kenny Park said in a statement at the time. “Given the facts presented thus far, this event appears to be a planned event and not a crime.”

However, less than three months later, on June 5, 2015, evidence gathered from a home invasion robbery in a Dublin Bay Area community helped authorities connect Mueller to the kidnapping. That case led officers and Detective Karazu to the Mueller family's South Lake Tahoe cabin. Where did they find it?Tab with, among other things, Quinn's computer, glasses, and long blond hair.

Huskins and Quinn, who later married, sued the Vallejo Police Department for defamation. $2.5 million settlement in 2018.

Mueller, a Harvard-educated lawyer and former Marine, pleaded guilty to kidnapping Huskins in 2016. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to additional charges of sexually assaulting her. He served him until he was transported to Santa Clara County to face new charges 40 years sentence at a federal prison in Tucson.

Mueller is expected to return to Santa Clara County Superior Court for sentencing on February 21.

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