“From Screen to Sentencing: The Gripping True Story Behind the Kidnapper’s Double Life Sentenced to Prison”

What happens when a true crime story feels so outrageous that it’s almost like a Hollywood script? Well, grab your popcorn because the saga of Matthew Muller is just that! Serving 40 years for the audacious kidnapping of Denise Huskins—dubbed the ‘real-life Gone Girl’—Muller has recently been slapped with two consecutive life sentences for separate home invasions back in 2009. If you’ve caught the Netflix series American Nightmare, you already know this is a tale of twists and turns that kept even seasoned detectives scratching their heads. Can you imagine being accused of faking a kidnapping while the real criminal is out there? As we dive deeper into Muller’s chilling past, you might find yourself questioning how such mayhem can unfold… but truth can be stranger than fiction. Ready for the details? LEARN MORE.

The man serving 40 years behind bars for kidnapping Denise Huskins has been served two consecutive life sentences in prison for separate home invasions carried out in 2009.

You may have watched the Netflix true crime series American Nightmare which follows the 2015 kidnapping of Huskins, who was dubbed the ‘real life Gone Girl’ after police and the FBI thought the kidnapping had been staged by Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn.

After her kidnapping, a ransom demand of $17,000 was issued and two days afterwards she was found 400 miles away.

The couple were accused of ‘plundering valuable resources’ and taking ‘focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear among our community members’.

Justice was only done when an attempted kidnapping in Dublin, California, was found to have similarities to Huskins’ case and a former US marine named Matthew Muller was arrested after a phone found at the crime scene was traced back to him.

In 2017 he was sentenced to spend 40 years in prison, and he has now been handed two life sentences.

CBS reports that Muller pleaded guilty to new charges in January in connection with 2009 home invasions in Mountain View and Palo Alto.

On 29 September, 2009, Muller broke into a woman’s home in Mountain View and tied her up, drugged her and told her he was going to rape her.

She persuaded him not to, after which he told her she should get a dog and fled the scene.

The following month, on 18 October, 2009, he broke into another woman’s home in Palo Alto, tying her up and drugging her.

He started assaulting her before she persuaded him to stop, with a news release saying that he then ‘gave the victim crime prevention advice’ before once again fleeing the scene.

Matthew Muller kidnapped Denise Huskins, and police initially accuser her and boyfriend Aaron Quinn of staging it for a hoax (Netflix)

“I am today so thankful for the bravery of these women,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said of Muller’s sentencing after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault during a home invasion.

“We marvel at the growing power of forensics, the never-say-die determination of investigators and prosecutors. But this case is about victims who never gave up.”

Both of the cases had been investigated at the time but were left unsolved.

Muller also faces other charges of kidnapping for ransom in Contra Costa County, California, for a crime which is alleged to have taken place two weeks after Huskins was released and was not reported at the time due to fears that if the family said anything then Muller might return.