‘American Nightmare' kidnapper Matthew Muller just got another life sentence
Muller, 48, pleaded no contest to one count of aggravated kidnapping in the San Ramon case and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole by Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge David Goldstein.
'American Nightmare' kidnapper gets 2 life sentences for Bay Area home invasions, sexual assaults
The conviction stems from a crime that took place just weeks after Muller's now-infamous abduction and sexual assault of Denise Huskins in Vallejo. That case, initially dismissed by Vallejo police as a hoax, garnered national attention and resulted in a $2.5 million settlement for Huskins and her partner, Aaron Quinn.
The San Ramon home invasion remained unreported for nearly a decade until Muller confessed during a multi-day interview with authorities in Tucson, Arizona.
Investigators, using a rough diagram Muller drew and Google Maps, identified the home he described. Muller admitted entering through a second-story window using a ladder, which was later found in a nearby ravine.
In the spring of 2015, Muller held two men and a woman hostage, demanding $37,000 in ransom. Fearing retaliation, the victims did not report the incident until after Muller's confession.
'It's a shame it has taken 10 years to correct the mistakes made in the original investigation that permitted Muller to terrorize two additional families,' said El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson.
Muller has now been convicted in multiple counties for a string of home invasions and sexual assaults dating back to 1993.
He is currently serving a 40-year federal sentence in Tucson and will not be eligible for parole until his late 80s or early 90s.
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‘Amy Bradley Is Missing,' But the Netflix Docuseries Filmmakers Think They Know Where She Is
If you're planning a nice family cruise vacation this summer, don't watch Amy Bradley Is Missing on Netflix until after you've safely disembarked in your home port. In 1998, 23-year-old Amy Bradley vanished from the cruise ship she and her family were vacationing on. A full search of the ship revealed nothing, leading officials to believe Bradley likely either jumped or fell overboard on the way to Curaçao. But a body is never found, and over the span of decades, multiple people report seeing Bradley alive on the Dutch Caribbean island (as well as an alleged sighting in Aruba). Evidence that Bradley may have instead been trafficked off of the boat — and potentially through the help of one of the ship's entertainment staff — only gets weirder from there. 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It has to feel like we have something that's non-derivative. On a human level, which I separate from the industry level, if you met this family the way we did, you look at them, you talk to them, you walk into their garage where they still have her [Mazda] Miata shined up with gas in it, and you really want to help. What we have found over the course of these years of doing these shows is that when it comes to true crime, mystery and the unsolved, these platforms can actually do good. I know that's mind boggling, but they can. They can move the needle, and that was what we wanted to do. PHIL LOTT This is a case that has existed in the true-crime-o-sphere, but it also exists in the fear of every parent. It's super relatable. We've all crammed into a room on a vacation trying to save a few bucks. So they're all crammed in this room, and then just the horror of waking up and finding that one of you is missing, and for good or for bad, no one seems to be listening — or at least not enough for a parent who's just lost their child. I mean, this is terrifying. You do want to solve it because of the the time that's passed — the family has a commitment to that cause. Every single day they wake up and it's as real as it was yesterday. But also, you have this very human idea that you want to help in some way to sort of mitigate the pain this family has been experiencing every single waking hour. There are two ways a documentary can help: The filmmaking process could undercover new evidence, and/or the film could elevate the case to a level that demands (more) action. Which one were you primarily aiming for when starting this docuseries? MARK It depends on the story. With [This Is the Zodiac Speaking], we really felt like we could solve it, as crazy as that sounds. 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I had [Amy's mom] Iva Bradley calling me every day, saying, 'All of our eggs are in your basket. We're relying on you to find her.' That's quite a responsibility. So the hope is that having this be on a platform like Netflix brings them one step closer. And I really believe it will. It sounds like you believe she's alive. MARK Phil, me or you? LOTT You go for it. MARK Phil doesn't have the guts to say this. (Both laugh.) I got to the point on this show where I became close enough with the people. Of course, we remain objective, and we were objective through the whole process. There are enough reasons to believe all of these things are possible. That's what makes it compelling. But Brad, [Amy's] brother, says, 'I have to cling to the hope.' He's like, 'I'm not saying it's definitely this, definitely that — but I have to cling to the hope.' I've kind of gotten to the point where I have to believe she's alive. And people will judge me for that. 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We go into these things calling bullshit. So as you go, 'Ooh maybe we're wrong,' it's an evolution. It's a process. I don't understand how people could deny the photo (advertising a prostitute in Curaçao who looks a lot like Amy Bradley would today) … MARK You'd be surprised. I think a lot of people don't believe the photo could be her — not because it doesn't look like her, not because the characteristics don't match up, just because the scenario is so hard for them to follow through with. The most compelling part to me is that the woman was positioned in exactly the way that would hide each of Amy's identifying marks: her birthmarks and tattoos (one Tasmanian Devil and a butterfly). MARK That part really made us scratch our heads, too. The other piece that's hard to ignore is how seriously the FBI took that photo. It wasn't like they were like, 'Oh, whatever,' they really did chase that down. They analyzed the bed frame, tried to figure out where it was made. 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