Matthew Muller is now facing charges for kidnapping Denise Huskins after allegations against him in an affidavit were unsealed on Monday in a case that authorities initially deemed to be a kidnap "hoax."
FBI Special Agent Jason Walter revealed in the affidavit that recently discovered evidence suggests that Muller was indeed involved in the two-day March kidnapping of Huskins, as well as a similar case that occurred in June,
according to The Associated Press.
The FBI said in a statement on Monday that Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, were awakened in their Vallejo home in California by a bright light on March 23,
according to CBS News. Quinn told local police that a man, suspected now to be Muller, told them to lie face down on the bed as Quinn was bound with zip ties and Huskins was removed to a bedroom closet. Muller then allegedly stole Quinn’s laptop and car, and took Huskins with him, according to Quinn.
After the Vallejo Police Department received a ransom demand of $8,500, Huskins turned up seemingly unharmed near her parents’ home in Huntingdon Beach a few hours before the ransom was due.
Local authorities publicly speculated that the case was a hoax after Huskins’ return and hearing conflicting accounts of what happened,
according to the New York Daily News. After these doubts were voiced, Huskins’ attorneys spoke in her defense.
With the new case in June and the release of the affidavit of Monday, Huskins’ and Quinn’s lawyers are demanding public vindication for their client and an apology from the police.
“What I want is for the Vallejo PD to do their job,” said Quinn’s lawyer, Daniel Russo, according to the AP. “Go out, find out if there are other guys out there and make sure that next time this happens they think before they talk.”
Muller, a former U.S. Marine and Harvard graduate, was disbarred in California by the state Supreme Court from practicing law in January for disciplinary charges. The FBI affidavit also revealed that Muller said he suffers from psychosis and bipolar disorder.