Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
Denise Huskins, 29, of Vallejo, Calif.(Photo: Vallejo (Calif.) Police Department)
SACRAMENTO — Federal prosecutors are accusing a former lawyer of orchestrating a hoax kidnapping earlier this year in an attempt to extort ransom money, according to FBI documents released Monday.
Now officials are looking for other potential victims of the suspect, Matthew Muller, 38, of the Sacramento suburb of Orangevale, Calif. He was arrested June 8, three days after a Dublin, Calif., home-invasion robbery that had similarities to the kidnapping, and charged in connection with a March case on June 29, the FBI said.
On March 23, Aaron Quinn, 30, called Vallejo, Calif., police saying someone had broken in during the night; drugged him and his girlfriend, Denise Huskins, 29; used his car to take Huskins; and demanded $8,500 ransom. Dozens of officers searched areas around Northern California for Huskins.
She was found two days later after reportedly calling her father, saying "they" had dropped her off a few hours before a ransom was due.
At one point, Vallejo police cast doubt on the incident and questioned whether enough evidence existed to classify the crime as a kidnapping.
USA TODAY
'Kidnappers' of Vallejo, Calif. woman threaten police
"When you hear all this stuff, when it all gets revealed, your jaw will drop," Mike Huskins, Denise Huskins' father, said Monday morning before the records were unsealed. "It was obvious she wasn't a part of this thing or any foul play."
Muller was linked to the Dublin crime when a cellphone was left at the scene following a scuffle with residents awakened by a flashlight shining in their eyes at about 3:30 a.m. PT in their bedroom. The suspect fled when a female victim locked herself in the bathroom with her cellphone and called 911.
Afterward, police discovered another cellphone at their home, called 911 on it, were able to discern its phone number and obtained a search warrant to require the cellphone provider to release information about its customer. Detectives ended up finding Muller's mother, who told them that the phone belonged to her son.
She also told them that her son was living at a home in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., where officers arrested him. As authorities began to unravel the Dublin case and gather evidence, various departments began to see similarities to the Vallejo abduction, the FBI said.
In the Vallejo case, an intruder woke up Denise Huskins and Quinn at about 2 a.m., and the man had her bind her boyfriend's hands with zip ties, according to the FBI release. The intruder then put swim goggles on Quinn's eyes, with tape over the lenses, and put headphones on his ears as he placed him in the closet.
The headphones reportedly played a pre-recorded message indicating "that the break in was being performed by a professional group on site to collect financial debts", then threatened physical violence to both if they did not comply, according to federal investigators. The recording referred to Quinn and another woman, not Denise Huskins.
At one point, the intruder asked Quinn if Denise Huskins looked like the woman named in the recording. Quinn said that they both had similar hair, but the woman named in the recording was his ex-girlfriend and moved out months ago.
USA TODAY
Police: Kidnapping appears to be 'orchestrated event'
The main intruder then reportedly chatted with another suspect who had accompanied him.
Then the intruder asked for financial account numbers and passwords, Wi-Fi information and other Internet accounts. Quinn was placed on the couch, where he was told he was being watched on camera and shouldn't try to free himself.
Matthew Muller, 38, of Orangevale, Calif.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Dublin (Calif.) Police Department)
He reportedly asked for a blanket, and the intruder responded he didn't know how cold it was because he was wearing a wet suit. At that point, Quinn passed out and woke up hours later, investigators said.
When Quinn was able to break free, he called police.
Quinn's and Denise Huskins' cellphones were left behind with a ransom message.
After Denise Huskins was reunited with her family, she told investigators that the suspects sexually assaulted her multiple times. At one point, one of the suspects told her that people overseeing the kidnapping were making him assault her and that Quinn's ex-girlfriend was the intended target.
While USA TODAY and KXTV-TV don't usually publish the names of sexual-assault victims, Huskins' name was widely circulated when police were attempting to find her after what was thought of as an abduction.
When the suspects considered her of no further financial use, one of them dropped her off in Huntington Beach, Calif., more than 400 miles away, she told investigators.
As she turned around after her abductor drove away, she saw that she was at her mother's house, according to the FBI affidavit.
Related:
USA TODAY
Woman in kidnapping story was a victim, says attorney
USA TODAY
Woman believed held for ransom found safe
USA TODAY
Search narrows for woman possibly kidnapped for ransom
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed