TV & Movies
American Nightmare Kidnapper Matthew Muller Is In Prison
A new Netflix docuseries revisits the 2015 crime that drew comparisons to Gone Girl.
Netflix has plenty of documentaries about frauds and scams. But while the kidnapping at the center of American Nightmare was once compared to Gone Girl, it’s actually very real.
The new three-part docuseries, which dropped on Jan. 17, revisits the 2015 case of Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn. One March night, the California couple was sleeping when they were awakened by a home invasion. Denise was kidnapped and ultimately released days later, but local police did not believe the couple’s story — until a twist in the case brought its true perpetrator, Matthew Muller, to light.
So, where is Muller today? Here’s a recap of everything that happened since the events of American Nightmare.
Trigger Warning: This article contains accounts of sexual assault.
A Chance Arrest
As Denise discussed during the docuseries, she was raped multiple times by her captor, who was a former Marine and disbarred lawyer.
A spokesperson originally described her kidnapping as a “wild goose chase” that “plundered valuable resources,” but Denise maintained the truth of what happened to her. Months later, Muller was arrested for a separate (but similar) home invasion, and a detective named Misty Carausu, who Denise and Aaron call their “hero” in the docuseries, made the connection between that case and Denise’s.
Muller’s Prison Sentences
In 2017, Muller received 40 years in prison on federal kidnapping charges and said in court that he was “sick with shame,” per NBC News. In 2022, he received a state prison sentence of 31 years for rape, robbery, burglary, and false imprisonment. However, the latter sentence would be served “concurrently” with his original one, CBS News reported.
As Denise explained in an Instagram post reacting to the news, Muller “will have no additional time added to his sentence.”
The survivor said that while the sentencing was “not the end result we had originally sought out,” it was still a positive outcome. “We are in a place where it is time to move forward with our lives and leave these court cases behind. I hope all involved can find some level of peace moving forward.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org.
