California's 'Gone Girl' kidnapping: Harvard-educated lawyer charged over abduction police thought was a hoax

Denise Huskins, left, and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn listen as their attorneys speak at a news conference in Vallejo, California. Photo / AP

When a Californian woman claimed to have been kidnapped from her home four months ago, and set free just hours before the ransom was due, police initially dismissed it as a hoax.

But now the FBI has charged a disbarred Harvard-educated lawyer with her abduction in a bizarre twist that has been likened to the Ben Affleck film Gone Girl.

Matthew Muller, 38, was arrested in South Lake Tahoe following a home invasion robbery with similarities to the alleged kidnapping of Denise Huskins, 29. The allegations were revealed in an affidavit released on Monday.

Ms Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, allege that kidnappers broke into their home in Vallejo in March, abducted her and demanded two $8,500 ransoms. According to Mr Quinn's lawyers, the kidnappers bound him and drugged him before kidnapping Ms Huskins.

The suspects then ordered Ms Huskins to tie up her boyfriend, who was given swimming goggles to cover his eyes and a pair of headphones. The headphones played a prerecorded message claiming that the break in was being conducted by professional debt collectors, who threatened the victims would suffer electric shocks and facial cuts if they did not cooperate.

Mr Quinn was told to wait on his couch and he fell asleep shortly after, the affidavit said. He awoke to find a message on his mobile phone demanding two payments of $8,500.

Missing for two days, Miss Huskins suddenly turned up in her hometown of Huntington Beach, where she says she was dropped off by her kidnappers, just hours before the ransom was due.

"Today is a fabulous day for Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn," said Miss Huskins' attorney Doug Rappaport at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

"Nearly four months ago we told you she was innocent, that she was the victim of a violent crime ... Today there is vindication."

The couple has maintained that the kidnapping was not a hoax and have demanded the police apologise and admit they got it wrong.

FBI Special Agent Jason Walter said in the affidavit that newly uncovered evidence - including a pair of swim goggles and a lock of blond hair - led him to conclude there was probable cause that suspect Muller kidnapped Ms Huskins.

A search of a stolen Ford Mustang connected to the suspect uncovered a water pistol with a flashlight and laser attached to it, as well as a lock of long blond hair stuck to a pair of goggles, he said.

The goggles are similar to those that Ms Huskins says she was forced to wear during the alleged kidnapping.

In the 2014 thriller Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher, the main character fakes her own kidnapping because of a vendetta against her husband.

But Monday's revelations suggest that Miss Huskins was unfairly compared to the film's fearsome antagonist, who is played by Rosamund Pike.

The FBI affidavit also reveals that Mr Muller served as a US Marine from 1995 to 1999 and then attended Harvard University. He suffered from mental health problems and was diagnosed in 2008 with bipolar disorder, it added.

Muller began practising law in May 2011 but was disbarred following disciplinary charges.
His lawyer said Mr Muller intends to plead not guilty to both the kidnapping charges and the home invasion robbery.

- The Telegraph