Will the full extent of this shocking criminal case ever come to light? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re analyzing and, in some cases, answering the questions that this Netflix docuseries neglected to address.
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00:00 "I mean the news is just overwhelming. There's millions of different questions running on in our minds."
00:07 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're analyzing and in some cases answering the questions
00:12 that this Netflix docuseries neglected to address.
00:15 We will be going into spoilers for those who haven't seen the show yet.
00:18 "Is this why the investigation is not being followed through? Is this why evidence is being ignored?"
00:23 Number 10. Where did Denise Huskins get the bag and sunglasses?
00:28 "Emergency. Hi, this is Highway Patrol. I have Mike Huskins on the line regarding his daughter that's been kidnapped."
00:34 After being held captive and tormented by Matthew Muller for almost 48 hours,
00:39 Denise Huskins was released. Huskins surfaced around 400 miles away from Vallejo in Huntington Beach.
00:45 With her father living in the area, Huskins made her way to his house.
00:49 "They actually let her go. I thought I would never see her again."
00:52 American Nightmare uncovers footage of Huskins arriving in the neighborhood following the kidnapping.
00:57 Huskins is seen carrying a green duffel bag. It's a minor detail, but the documentary never gets into
01:02 where the bag came from or what was inside. In the book "Victim F," which Huskins co-wrote,
01:08 it's mentioned that she was told to pack a bag while being kidnapped from Aaron Quinn's house.
01:12 Huskins' captor also gave her the sunglasses that she's seen wearing in the footage.
01:16 "The next thing I know, he's shaking me awake. I'm sitting in the front seat.
01:22 My eyes are taped shut and I'm wearing sunglasses."
01:25 Number 9. Did Denise Huskins testify against Matthew Muller? Forced to wear duct tape-covered
01:31 goggles throughout the kidnapping, Huskins didn't get a good look at Muller. Once Muller was caught,
01:36 though, Huskins had little trouble identifying him as the kidnapper, recognizing his voice.
01:41 "The cadence of how he spoke, the rhythm, I know it's him."
01:48 American Nightmare touches upon a moment where Huskins sees Muller in court,
01:51 but the documentary doesn't delve deep into the trials. Huskins would testify against Muller on
01:56 multiple occasions. "Now we meet face to face, eye to eye. I am Denise Huskins,
02:05 the woman behind the blindfold." In 2017, Huskins recounted her horrific experience,
02:11 saying that Muller treated her, quote, "like an object, a toy, an animal."
02:16 Huskins testified again in 2019, recounting the kidnapping and assaults that Muller subjected her
02:21 to. Cameras weren't allowed in the courtroom, explaining the testimony's absence from American
02:27 Nightmare. Those in attendance, however, described Huskins' testimony as, quote, "chilling."
02:32 "Obviously when you hear it, when the family hears it, it's very shocking when you hear it.
02:36 And then to see the emotion from Denise and Aaron, that was, you know, that's moving."
02:42 Number 8. Where is Matthew Muller being held now? On March 16, 2017, Judge Troy Nunley sentenced
02:49 Muller to 40 years for kidnapping. In 2022, Solano County Superior Court sentenced Muller
02:55 to concurrently serve 31 years for assaulting Huskins. Muller pleaded guilty in the kidnapping
03:01 trial and no contest on the two counts of assault. "He told the court in a prepared statement,
03:06 'He was sick with shame.' A judge called the crimes he committed 'atrocious and heinous.'"
03:10 In a 2018 jailhouse interview, though, Muller claimed he was innocent and only pleaded guilty
03:16 because he felt bad for the couple. Muller also revealed that he was married. "Yeah,
03:20 Hue is my wife. We met quite a few years before this happened and dated for a while and were
03:26 boyfriend/girlfriend, even moved in for a bit. And then one of my mental health episodes split
03:31 us up, unfortunately." Court files indicate that Muller's wife, Hue Jing Dai, filed for divorce in
03:37 2022. As of 2024, Muller is being held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona,
03:44 where he'll remain until July 8, 2049. Muller will be in his 70s by the time he's eligible for parole.
03:51 "Really, the only scenarios where I get off almost completely involved going to trial,
03:56 I mean, I just happen to think my legal position is very strong."
04:00 Number 7. Did the Vallejo Police Department ever apologize?
04:04 "When I made the decision to call the police, I thought there would be a manhunt.
04:08 They're going to do everything they can to track these guys. But they just keep going after me."
04:14 The VPD initially attempted to paint Erin Quinn as a murderer. When it became apparent
04:18 that Huskins wasn't murdered, the authorities made her look like a real-life Gone Girl.
04:22 "How could this person who's charged with investigating crime think that this is like
04:28 a Ben Affleck movie? That's Hollywood. This is real life." It wasn't until another department
04:33 got involved that the VPD and FBI realized their horrible mistake. Even then, it took six years for
04:39 the city and VPD to issue an apology. By then, the VPD had changed leadership to Chief Shawnee
04:45 Williams, who has since resigned. The public statement acknowledged that the case was
04:50 mishandled, adding, "What happened to Ms. Huskins and Mr. Quinn is horrific and evil."
04:55 The couple felt the apology was too little too late, with Quinn saying, "They only apologized
05:00 after major news outlets reached out and our book is being released."
05:04 Number 6. Where is Misty Caruso now?
05:21 The Dublin Police Department came through for Quinn and Huskins when virtually everyone else
05:25 deemed them frauds. "We have a suspect in custody, very similar to the suspect that was involved in
05:32 the kidnapping of Denise Huskins. You guys deemed it a hoax." Detective Misty Caruso deserves most
05:38 of the credit for noticing the parallels between Huskins' kidnapping and another home invasion
05:42 with Mueller at the center. When we last see Caruso in American Nightmare, it's revealed that
05:47 she finally met Quinn and Huskins, who regard her as a hero. "We just hugged and we just talked for
05:53 a while. It was very emotional." Caruso continues to work for the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.
05:59 She'd become a sergeant in 2018, and shortly after American Nightmare hit Netflix, Caruso
06:05 was promoted to lieutenant. As of writing, she lives in Livermore, California with her husband
06:09 and two daughters. It's unclear if Caruso keeps in regular contact with Quinn and Huskins,
06:14 but the couple remains grateful to her. "If Misty didn't connect Mueller to us,
06:21 I have no idea where we'd be." Number 5. What happened to Detective Matt Mustard? Caruso isn't
06:28 the only authority figure who got promoted, although Matt Mustard's ascension has proven
06:32 far more controversial. "What's the conversation? Our conversation? What's the topic of conversation?"
06:38 Not only was Mustard named Officer of the Year, but he'd also take control of the VPD's
06:43 Investigations Division and the Evidence and Property Unit as a sergeant. The mishandling
06:48 of Quinn and Huskins' case is just one scandal that Mustard has faced. "So now I get out my
06:54 puzzle pieces and I start figuring out, okay, how do I make it so you look like a monster?"
07:00 In 2012, Mustard allegedly pressed forensic pathologists to change an autopsy report in a
07:06 murder case. He was accused of withholding evidence again in 2020. The following year,
07:11 Mustard was investigated due to accusations of racism. With American Nightmare raising his
07:17 profile, there have been multiple social media campaigns to have Mustard dismissed from his
07:21 position, although they're unlikely to have a significant impact. "Give me a minute.
07:25 Let me think about what's next." Number 4. What other crimes did Matthew Mueller commit?
07:33 "Three weeks prior, Matthew Mueller was stopped by a Palo Alto police officer because he had seen
07:40 him jumping out of the bushes nearby an apartment complex." Beyond what he did to Huskins and Quinn,
07:47 a separate home invasion led to Mueller's arrest. The American Nightmare crew also
07:51 interviewed a woman named Tracy, whose Palo Alto home was broken into in 2009.
07:56 "He restrained me with zip ties, made me drink something that would make me sleepy,
08:03 and blindfolded me with a pair of swim goggles that had been blacked out."
08:10 It's uncertain if Tracy's intruder was Mueller, although her story shares several similarities
08:15 with Huskins' ordeal. The main difference is that Tracy convinced her intruder to not assault her.
08:21 "I remember him being very silent for a while,
08:25 and then I hear him sigh and he says, 'I can't do this.'"
08:32 It's hard to say how many other crimes Mueller was responsible for, but what we saw in American
08:38 Nightmare may only be a fraction. Not long before Huskins' abduction, multiple Mare Island students
08:44 accused someone of taking pictures through their windows. The perpetrator was never identified,
08:49 but the students found that he was a lawyer with a military background, like Mueller.
08:54 In one of the documentary's most shocking twists, we learn that Quinn's ex-fiancé,
09:04 Andrea Roberts, used to date David Sesma, the lead FBI agent who failed to take Huskins seriously.
09:09 What's more, Roberts was supposedly Mueller's intended target.
09:13 "This wasn't meant for you. This was meant for Aaron's ex, Andrea."
09:20 Sesma and Roberts' relationship was reportedly sexual. Although they broke up before Roberts
09:25 started seeing Quinn in 2010, Sesma tried getting back together with her in 2011, only to be
09:30 rejected. "I mean, he would wanna hug me and, you know, sometimes he would try to kiss me,
09:34 but I told him that wasn't okay. And, um, I mean, he knew it." American Nightmare co-director
09:40 Bernadette Higgins said in an interview, quote, "There's no reason to believe that David or Andrea
09:45 had anything to do with anything that happened." Although, Huskins' lawyer found it, quote,
09:49 "outrageous" that Sesma was handed the case given his personal connection.
09:53 "There's absolutely no way Sesma should be on this case. It's a clear, unequivocal,
09:59 black and white conflict of interest." Roberts is currently living a private life,
10:03 while Sesma still works for the FBI.
10:06 Although Mueller was brought to justice, Huskins and Quinn are not convinced that he acted alone.
10:14 "And he goes on to tell me that he's part of this black market company that kidnapped people
10:21 for money." Huskins recalls seeing another set of legs when Mueller broke into Quinn's house.
10:26 While Mueller was the one who assaulted and interacted with her, Huskins also remembers
10:31 hearing other voices at the cabin where she was held. "I don't know how big the organization is.
10:35 I don't know who's involved or why. I hear them talking, and it does feel strained."
10:50 In the emails that he sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, Mueller claimed to represent a group
10:55 of kidnappers. Mueller would later backtrack on this, saying that he acted alone. The evidence
11:01 seems to support this, with no further arrests being made. Nevertheless, the couple remain
11:06 suspicious, with Huskins saying, quote, "It just would have been impossible to have been done by
11:11 one guy. There are other people out there." Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to
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11:37 Bernadette Higgins believes that Roberts wasn't an accomplice in the kidnapping of Huskins,
11:57 calling her connection, quote, "an unfortunate set of coincidences."
12:00 That said, Roberts does play a part in this puzzle that still isn't quite complete.
12:05 According to Huskins, Mueller told her that she wasn't the one he intended to kidnap.
12:16 Roberts was his true target. We can see how Mueller might have confused Huskins for Roberts,
12:21 who used to live with Quinn. Both women have physical similarities as well.
12:26 Alas, Mueller never explained why he targeted Roberts or if he knew her prior. This is one
12:31 question that may never have a clear-cut answer, but we can safely assume that this wasn't a random
12:36 break-in, with Huskins in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do you have any theories on American
12:50 Nightmare? Let us know in the comments.
12:58 [Outro]