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A kidnapper who made national headlines following his arrest and conviction in a high-profile Vallejo case – and who was not arrested until after a Dublin home invasion months later – is facing charges in at least one other case in the Tri-Valley during the same year.
The Contra Costa sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices announced Monday that Matthew Muller, the convicted kidnapper in the 2015 “Gone Girl” case, is facing new charges in a previously unreported case in unincorporated San Ramon the same year.
As chronicled in the Netflix docuseries “American Nightmare” released nearly one year ago, the investigation into the 2015 Vallejo kidnapping of Denise Huskins – which police there had initially called a hoax – was cracked open by an investigation into a home invasion in Dublin the same year.
The Contra Costa Sheriff’s office joined the investigation into Muller’s additional crimes in December, 2024, after he confessed to a 2015 kidnapping for ransom in the San Ramon Valley.
The new charges announced on Jan. 6 by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office stem from the Tri-Valley kidnapping for ransom. The crime came to light over the course of 2024 through correspondence between law enforcement and Muller, during which he confessed to multiple crimes in Northern California, including the 2015 incident in Contra Costa County.
“In the spring of 2015, Muller unlawfully held two John Does and one Jane Doe for ransom, demanding that one of the captives withdraw tens of thousands of dollars from their bank account to secure the release of the others,” said Ted Asregadoo, Contra Costa DA’s Office spokesperson. “After obtaining the money, Muller fled the residence. Fearing retribution, the victims never reported the crime. To this day, they have chosen to remain anonymous.”
While much of the ensuing media attention and court actions surrounding Muller since the debut of “American Nightmare” have focused on other parts of the Bay Area – the Vallejo case, and now two home invasions and sexual assaults in Mountain View and Palo Alto in 2009 that he was charged with last month – it was his arrest for a home invasion in Dublin that reopened an investigation that Vallejo police had dismissed.
Muller went on to strike again in the San Ramon case in April, 2015, then on June 10, 2015 on North Terracina Drive in Dublin, during which he broke into a home and attempted to kidnap the husband and wife residing there. The wife was able to escape and call the police, who arrived at approximately 3:30 a.m. after Muller had fled the scene, leaving his cellphone behind.
The cellphone helped Dublin Police Services officers find Muller at a home in South Lake Tahoe at approximately 7:15 a.m. that day, where he was arrested for the Dublin home invasion and attempted kidnapping.
He was ultimately connected with the Vallejo kidnapping in the ensuing investigation, with charges announced weeks later, after DNA and video evidence were found at the scene of his arrest.
In addition to the Huskins kidnapping, the arrest came after the two 2009 cases in the South Bay that were reported and unsolved, as well as the previously unreported San Ramon case in April 2015, weeks after the Vallejo case.
“The trauma of crime can have lasting effects that some people endure for their entire lives — whether the crime is reported or not,” Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton said in Monday’s press release. “Muller committed serious offenses throughout Northern California, and my office will be resolute in seeking justice on behalf of the victims in Contra Costa County.”
According to the DA’s office, the unincorporated San Ramon case is one of “multiple crimes in Northern California” that Muller confessed to while talking to law enforcement over the course of last year.
Aside from his crimes, it’s unclear what, if any, connections Muller has to the Tri-Valley.
