night, attack, abducted. >> we're like, wow. where is she. i didn't have a clue what happened. >> but the real question. was their story even true? >> we were not able to substantiate any of the things that you are saying. >> they branded that couple as liars. >> could this be some kind of hoax? who was really behind it all. >> normal people don't do things like this. >> this whole story could take another crazy turn. >> he said, i know that i need to pay for what i did. >> hello, and welcome to "dateline". denise huskins and her boyfriend aaron quinn went to sleep one night, blissfully unaware that they would wake up to a living nightmare. an armed stranger in the bedroom and he did it appear to be alone. what happened next was so odd, it would leave detectives and the public scratching their heads. was this real life or fiction? and an unexpected break in the case would steer authorities to an unlikely suspect and the truth. here's josh mankiewicz with "twisted tale". >> i was asleep, in bed. it was about 5:00 in the morning. >> frightening doesn't begin to describe what she went through. >> and the next thing i knew, there was someone laying on top of me. >> she was instantly the losing player in someone else's game of power and control. >> their hand was over my mouth. >> if you're wondering, there was no way to fight back. >> i must have been screaming. >> this woman doesn't want us to use her real name. we're calling her samantha. and she sharing with us things she's told to very few people. >> this was a man? >> man. >> bigger than you? >> felt very big. strong. i couldn't move. >> september 29th, 2009. the sun wasn't up yet. and in samantha's bedroom, a mask intruder was holding her down. she had no idea who than then was or what he was planning. >> he said, well this is going to take a couple hours. i was -- i think just in shock. >> the details of what happened to samantha are not only frightening, but also deeply strange. she's come forward because she believes her long night of terror may shed light on a different case. in a different town. with victims she's never met. it's a bizarre mystery that riveted california's bay area. then rippled across the country and around the world. march 24th, 2015, a young woman was missing. >> miss huskings stands at five foot seven a, hundred 50 pounds. she's got blonde hair blue eyes. >> her abductors wanted money in exchange for her return. >> we are treating this as a kidnap and ransom and were questioned the public health and locating her. >> it had 30 files north in san francisco on this in the city of san francisco. >> i immediately was struck with the fact that you don't see these kind of cases too often. and this crime victims did not strike me as someone who would usually be targeted. -- arizona who reported to these missing. >> we're doing everything we can and then some to ensure her safe return. >> police dogs and dive teams racing part of a huge search for denise huskings. across the country, her good friend, but actually saw the news. >> there was an article online, someone send it me and said, oh my goodness, this is in denise. aaron started to test everybody. >> including denise. >> i tried to text her, i figured better than not doing anything. >> there was no reply, so she tested another friend, danika. >> i could not believe it i was reading, they're not even seem real. >> that was pretty much the reaction the cops had to the story that her boyfriend was telling them. >> we have a lot of information still to sift through, we don't have all of the facts in yet. >> the story that aaron told the cops that night eventually still spelled out in an fbi affidavit, who seemed frankly preposterous. something invented by someone with too much imagination, and too much free time. aaron quinn said he and denise huskins were asleep at his house, when at about 3 am, he was awakened by a bright light, and an electrical noise that sounded like a stun gun, and then a man's voice telling them to lie face down on the bed. aaron said the man told denise to bind aaron's hands and feet. then, he said his eyes were covered with swim goggles, which had been blacked out so he could not see. >> he has been blindfolded, zip tied. >> aaron said the intruder demanded his private email and information, and then put headphones on him that played calming music along with instructions to use denise's phone, to text her work and say she would be out for a couple of days. and to let his work know the same. aaron also claimed he was given a mixture of nyquil and valium to knock him out, and to stay in one spot in his living room, that was outlined in red duct tape, and monitored by a web cam. then he said the intruders left with denise. his story sounded so implausible, police wondered if he had made it up behind something even more sinister. at first blush, when a woman is missing, and her husband or boyfriend says oh, yeah she was abducted, well one of the first things i think, because of what i do for a living is the guy is involved. >> in these types of situations, always look at the significant other. is he a suspect? is he making it up? what is going on here? what is the real story? >> police treated aaron less like a victim, and more like a murder suspect. they confiscated his cellphone, and read him his rights. they were suspicious about why he waited 11 hours before calling 9-1-1. >> aaron quinn it took him hours. it was not until that afternoon that vallejo police were able to talk to him after he came forward. >> aaron's mother later told us police polygraph him five times. he was given jail clothing, given little food or water and held in a small interrogation room for hours. across the country, denise's friends did not know any of this, but they knew enough to be worried. >> i mean, someone being kidnapped, to be honest, a lot of those stories do not end well. and you don't want to think about those things, you think they are not going to be alive. >> then, about 33 hours after denise disappeared, reporter henry lee was standing outside aaron's home, when his phone buzzed. >> it was chilling, this email came attached with an audio file, and this audio file, there was a woman's voice >> hi, this is denise huskins. >> the soft spoken woman on the recording said that she was denise. this very strange tale was about to get much more strange. >> what had happened to denise? was she still alive, or was this all an elaborate hoax? >> coming up. >> we still do not know where denise huskins is. >> that cryptic recording, exactly what kind of message was it? >> she sounded absolutely calm, not terrified, not distressed at all. >> not like someone who is worried for her life? >> as if she was talking to a friend, over coffee. >> then we get a tip that police are holding a news conference, that is when the bombshell came down. >> when dateline continues. hey jim! can we talk about casual fridays? oh sure. what's up? get fast, powerful cough relief with robitussin, and find your voice. ♪robitussin♪ i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. teeth sensitivity is so common. it immediately feels like somebody's poking directly on the nerve. i recommend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpaste goes inside the tooth and calms the nerve down. and my patients say you know doc, it really works. my a1c was up here; now, it's down with rybelsus®. his a1c? 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[coughs] when caroline has a cough, she takes robitussin. so, she can have those one on ones again. hey jim! can we talk about casual fridays? oh sure. what's up? get fast, powerful cough relief with robitussin, and find your voice. ♪robitussin♪ >> denise huskins's boyfriend said she had been kidnapped. his story seemed hard to believe. police wondered if he had murdered her, and was now trying to cover it up. then, a day and a half after denise disappeared, reporter henry lee received a mysterious email, with an audio file attached. >> hello, this is denise huskins. i'm kidnapped. otherwise, i am fine. >> she talked about the day's biggest news, a german airliner had gone down. >> earlier today, there was a plane crash in the alps, 150 people died. >> she shared obscure biographical details. >> my first concert with bethany and her mom, to blink -182, bad religion. >> it was a proof of life audio trying to prove that she was alive, and yes she was the kidnap victim. >> and she was aware of events that happened that day? >> and she was aware of events that happened, to prove that she was in fact, alive. >> so clearly, this was not a murder case. but, was it a kidnapping, as aaron claimed? we found it odd that denise did not sound at all frightened. >> she sounded absolutely calm, not terrified, not distressed at all. >> not like someone in fear for their life? >> as if she was talking to a friend, over coffee. i shared it with my editors, colleagues working the story, the subject line was like wtf, what is this? >> it soon hit the web, where denise's friend, ashley heard it. >> it was sort of reassuring, she was making an audio, with a clue from that day, but also still scary, you still have no idea if the person is safe, how they are being treated, you know, what people are putting her through. >> and if denise did not sound panicked, her friends say that made perfect sense. after all, the three of them had already lived through what should have been the most traumatic event of their lives. ashley, danika and denise, went to the boston marathon in 2013. they say it was denise who remained calm that day. >> we were all scared, we were all rocked by it, but i think of all of us, she was probably the best equipped to keep her cool. >> she was the one who was kind of, my rock. she grabbed my hand and said, let's go. >> but where was denise now? >> this is a bizarre case, with a lot of twists? >> very bizarre. >> cheryl hurd covered the story, for nbc station kntv. >> so day number two, we still don't know where denise huskings is. we still don't really know what her boyfriend, quinn, is telling police. all we know is they cannot find her. >> but then, the story took another whiplash turn. about 45 hours after denise was reported missing, police made a dramatic announcement. >> at 10:30 this morning, miss denise huskins was located, safely. >> it seemed over. denise's cousin told knbc how thrilled everyone was. >> you hear the stories all the time, you watch tv, you never know, i was happy to hear she was alive, safe and at home. >> but to police and reporters, all professional skeptics, this story had not smelled right from the start, and denise's sudden reappearance did nothing to change that. >> she is alive, she is well and they found her. that is great, but there was still something funny going on, because nobody had all of the answers. >> for one thing, denise turned up in huntington beach, which was 400 miles south of vallejo, and was also her home town. she was dropped off right by her mom's house. >> she was not released out of state, she was not released in the desert. she was not released in the middle of california. where does she show up? right near her parents house, and that seemed to convenient. >> another thing. the ransom that the kidnappers supposedly demanded had never been paid. denise told police in her hometown the same story that her boyfriend had told up north, about the swim goggles, the nyquil, the threat of electric shock. but then, when vallejo police wanted to question her. >> she disappeared, she will not cooperate, she would not fly up in a plane offered by the fbi to talk to the police. >> after she was released? >> after she was released. >> suspicion is building. neither denise nor aaron made any public statement, but they did hire separate attorneys. >> everybody is thinking, why are they doing that? >> lots of questions, and not many answers. but then, less than 12 hours after denise reappeared. >> then, we get a tip that police are holding a news conference. so i jump in the car, the photographer and i, and we haul back to vallejo to be part of this news conference. >> let me know when you guys are ready. >> that is when the bombshell came down. >> coming up. >> we were not able to substantiate any of the things that he was saying. >> why is this all some kind of prank? >> is there some chance that denise and her boyfriend would be prosecuted? >> it was a strong possibility. >> emails, photos, some strange new clues are about to emerge from the shadows when "dateline" continues. born odors. you'll need vinegar, a large salad bowl and... oh, hi! have you tried new tide fabric rinse? it works after your detergent to fight deep odors 3 times better than detergent alone. i love that. try new tide fabric rinse. generalized myasthenia gravis made my life a lot harder. but the picture started changing when i started on vyvgart. vyvgart is for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis who are anti-achr antibody positive . in a clinical trial, vyvgart significantly improved most participants' ability to do daily activities when added to their current gmg treatment. most participants taking vyvgart also had less muscle weakness. and your vyvgart treatment schedule is designed just for you. in a clinical study, the most common side effects included urinary and respiratory tract infections, and headache. vyvgart may increase the risk of infection. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or symptoms of an infection. vyvgart can cause allergic reactions. available as vyvgart for iv infusion and now as vyvgart hytrulo for subcutaneous injection. additional side effects for vyvgart hytrulo may include injection site reactions. talk to your neurologist about vyvgart. in order for small businesses to thrive, they need to be smart, efficient, savvy. making the most of every opportunity. that's why comcast business is introducing the small business bonus. for a limited time you can get up to a $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. yep, $1000. so switch to business internet from the company with the largest fastest reliable network and that powers more businesses than anyone else. learn how you can get $1000 back for your business today. >> i did not have a clue what comcast business. powering possibilities. happened. >> even denise huskins's friends had to admit, her sudden disappearance -- and reappearance -- seemed almost unbelievable >> the details of the story are so crazy, i really could not make sense of it. >> neither could the vallejo police department. the day after denise came home, a spokesperson kenny park held a remarkable news conference. first, he spoke about denise's boyfriend, aaron quinn. >> and the statement that mr. quinn provided was such an incredible story, we initially had a hard time believing it. and upon further investigation, we were not able to substantiate any of the things he was saying. >> and then about denise herself. >> miss huskins would be happy to indicate she would meet with police detectives, and provide a full, detailed statement on what had occurred. as of right now, we have not heard from her. >> and then finally, this. >> mr. quinn and miss denise huskins have plundered valuable resources away from our community, while instilling fear amongst our community members. so if anything, it is mr. quinn and miss huskins who owe us enemy the apology. >> after a search and about 54 hours of investigation, vallejo police concluded the whole kidnapping story was phony. all of this was one of those made for california dramas, not so much shakespearean as kardashian. police seemed to think that denise and aaron, were known only to them, seeking publicity and telling an elaborate lie. left unanswered was why anyone would want to become famous for fooling the police. >> the stranger than fiction kidnapping story involving a young california couple. >> remember, no ransom was ever paid. aaron told police the kidnappers took his bank information, but no one tried to access his accounts. someone did try to call aaron's so for a couple of times while denise was missing, from a blocked number. according to aaron's mother, police suspected that aaron had somehow programmed another phone to call his own cell phone, while he was with investigators. >> was there some chance that denise and her boyfriend will be prosecuted? >> it was a strong possibility, based on those public pronouncements. >> denise's friends did not know aaron, but had every confidence that denise was telling the truth. >> everybody who personally knows and cares about her, believed her. >> the day after police branded the kidnapping a hoax, denise finally did show up at vallejo p. d., and told the cops that they were wrong. she said that not only had she been kidnapped, she had also been raped. that same day, reporter henry lee received another email, a long message, soon followed by more, supporting denise's claim that this was no hoax, from a person claiming to have been one of the kidnappers. >> they were very articulate, clearly written by someone who is extremely intelligent. >> miss huskins was absolutely kidnapped. she was kidnapped, we will provide proof. the rhetoric claimed to be part of a group, more than two, and fewer than eight in number. >> they go into extreme lengths about, the series of crimes that they have pulled, from car thefts, break ins, home invasions, you name it. >> some of us have a tech background, and are very good at overcoming electronic anti theft measures, stealing late model cars. according to the email, the group decided to try kidnapping because, we wanted something with a high payout, that we only had to do once or a few times. >> what is going on? why are you apparently confessing? >> the writer admitted that the reality of the kidnapping was much more upsetting than expected. >> we fancied ourselves a sort of "oceans 11", gentlemen criminals. we only took stuff that was insured from people who could afford it. the horrifying reality of what we had become, and what we were doing did not set in until being confronted directly with denise's suffering and humanity. >> at least one of the abductors seemed to sympathize with denise. >> now, the email said they were angry that denise was being accused of making the whole thing up. >> we will not stand by and see the life of a really good person ruined. attached to the emails were photos. one showed a water gun, spray painted to look more threatening, at least in the dark, with a laser pointer and a flashlight duck tape to it. another showed a, room with cardboard partially covering the window where denise was supposedly held. was this visual proof of denise and aaron's story, or an elaborate deception? >> you thought, legit or more of a hoax? >> i thought it was certainly part of it prank. >> in fact the emails were so well written, henry lee wondered if they might have been sent by an attorney, hired by denise or aaron >> the so-called "the gone girl" case. >> they started to refer to the case as the "the gone girl" kidnapping, after the book and movie about a young blonde who fakes her own appearance. that reference infuriated denise's friends. >> you know, when it is not accurate, it makes you mad. it was sort of like a fictional character, created out of a good person. so then suddenly, you stop being denise huskins, and you start being labeled as the "the gone girl". >> that was not denise at all, they said. but to the rest of the world, denise and aaron were portrayed as liars, schemers, maybe even criminals themselves. that is, until the next big twist. >> coming up. >> he said, we have your daughter. >> another story as strange and eerie as denise and aaron's >> terrifying? >> yes, they were terrified. >> had the mysterious kidnappers struck again? when "dateline" continues. picture. but this is my story. 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(♪♪) look at what is happening right now. after some seven weeks of war, temporary cease-fire between israel and hamas is now in effect. the pause in fighting began at midnight eastern time just a half hour ago, this is part of a deal to release 50 of the more than 200 hostages held right now. kidnap during the october 7th terror attacks in southern israel. officials from qatar says the first group is set to be released later today. and now back to dateline. >> welcome back to "dateline". i'm andrea canning. the police and the public seemed to have it all figured out. they believe that denise huskins and her boyfriend, aaron quinn had made up their dramatic home invasion and kidnapping story for publicity. the media even dubbed it the "the gone girl" mystery, based on the fictional story of a woman who faked her own disappearance. but detectives campos and alvarez were about to learn something that would shift the investigation. another attack, suspiciously similar to the one that denise had been describing. too similar to ignore. here is josh mankiewicz with "twisted tale". >> this began as a high tech kidnapping that sounded like a tv movie. >> we were not able to substantiate any -- >> then, police announced it was really on elaborate hoax. >> denise huskins and aaron quinn, branded as liars or attention addicts retreated from site. >> thank you. >> that might have been the end of it, until a little over two months later. this story then took another unbelievable turn >> june 5th, 2015. 3:34 am. >> they can possibly have her daughter. >> police were called to a house in dublin, california. an intruder was inside. >> the husband possibly has a head injury, we're having trouble -- >> when the police arrived, the man was gone, leaving behind a shaken family with a frightening story. the woman told police that she and her husband woke up in the early morning hours, to find a man standing at the foot of their bed, a flashlight shining in their faces. >> he told them, get face down on your bed, do not look at me. >> terrifying? >> yes, they were terrified. >> dublin police detectives miguel campos and michel alvarez led the investigation. >> they said, we have your daughter, she is okay. >> the couple's 22-year-old daughter had been sleeping in the next room. >> he tells the parents, i'm going to tie you up. the father jumps on him, and says i'm not going to let you tie me up, something's going on with my daughter, he struggles, he goes on the ground. >> his wife grabbed her cell phone and locked herself in the bathroom to call 9-1-1. >> because when i was out of her, honey, go get the gun! go get the gun! now, this was very smart on the father's part, because they had no gun but he had to say anything to try to scare this guy away. >> the father continued to fight, until finally the intruder fled. but in the struggle, he left some things behind. zip ties, for one. and what turned out to be the key to the case, a cell phone which led the dublin detectives to a home near sacramento. they called the phone there, and the woman who answered the phone belong to her adult son, a man named matthew muller. >> he said, he lost it this morning. we said, where is? we would like to give it to him. >> she says, he's on her way to the lake tahoe cabin. >> the cops knew their next stop was south lake tahoe first, they put in a call to the local sheriff to ask if there had ever been trouble at the cabin. there had not, but a stolen car had just been found right near it. and in the car was a drivers license for 38 year old matthew muller. >> i said okay, you just kind of made my day now. now, we have more information to go on. >> with a search warrant and an arrest warrant, the dublin cops went to find matthew muller. the neighbors watched it happen. >> you know i am just peeking out my window, trying to get an idea of what is happening. more cars are coming. my whole front area is filled with dark said dance, like something out of a movie. >> the neighbors were surprised but maybe matthew muller was not. >> when we broke down the front door, it does not open all the way, because it was barricaded with chairs and various household items. and upon entering, i could hear my detectives screaming get on the ground, get on the ground! and your heart rate kind of jumps up like, ok, he is there. >> this is matthew muller, just after he was arrested. he did not put up a fight. in the house, detectives found a room with cardboard on the windows, blocking out the light. they searched the stolen car, and found a few more items of interest. >> there was a bb gun, and a super soaker, with black paint, and duct tape. >> if you were in the dark, and saw a shape and the boldness of it, absolutely it looked real. >> they were also swim goggles with paint covering the lenses, a long, blonde hair stuck to the tape. and, when they traced the stolen car? >> that vehicle, it comes back stolen. >> so the dublin cops called vallejo p. d. and started to compare notes. >> we are showing pictures of everything we recovered, the search warrant, they are showing us pictures that have been sent to them. >> those would be the photos, email to reporter henry lee from that anonymous address. shots of spray-painted water pistols, and a room with cardboard on the windows. >> but is when the light really clicked on, we all kind of went, oh no, here we go. >> coming up. ivy league, former marine, respected attorney. >> i would much more have suspected matthew muller to be sitting behind a desk in some capacity. >> who was this guy? when "dateline" continues. new emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? 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[music playing] [coughs] when caroline has a cough, she takes robitussin. so, she can have those one on ones again. hey jim! can we talk about casual fridays? oh sure. what's up? get fast, powerful cough relief with robitussin, and find your voice. ♪robitussin♪ >> when the strange tale of denise huskins and aaron quinn first made headlines -- >> another bizarre kids twist in a kidnapping case we've been following out of california. >> police detectives found it just as puzzling as everyone else did. for a lot of reasons, you sort of think, that the vallejo story at first glance was a very strange story. >> it was. >> it does sound like it could be fabricated. >> but now they found themselves working a home invasion that seemed to link the man they had arrested, matthew muller, to the alleged kidnapping of denise huskins. not just just the photos of toy guns painted to look real. but the room in the suspect's home they saw during the arrest. that matched the photos sent to henry lee. there was more. significant clues pointed to a real kidnapping. that vallejo cops seemed to have over looked or ignored from the start. the window locks were drilled. and the missed calls made to aaron quinn's cellphones while he was being interrogated that first night. calls the vallejo cops suspected had aaron somehow faked. turns out they were placed from this intersection right near muller's cabin in lake tahoe, where dublin police later found that stolen car. when law enforcement hacked into the cars navigation history, they found this address in huntington beach. the exact spot where denise said she had been left by her kidnapper. as they continue to investigate, detectives learned their suspect was just as unusual as the crimes he was implicated in. maybe more so. >> having dealt with someone like him, it's just the kind of stuff that you typically see in movies. >> a california native, muller served in the u.s. marine corps where he was a trumpet player. he then attended pomona college. alex was a classmate. >> i would much more have suspected matt to be sitting behind the desk in some elected capacity, as opposed to being sitting in a jail cell right now. >> muller married in 2002 and graduated from pomona, summa cum laude, a year later. his next stop is another place you might have heard of, harvard law school. he graduated in 2006 then stayed on as a teaching fellow. andrea was a student of muller 's at harvard's immigration and refugee clinic. >> matt, as i remembered him at harvard, was incredibly intelligent, hard working, and someone who was really dedicated to the work that we were doing. >> after harvard, muller moved back to california and practiced immigration law in san francisco. but soon, muller's life seemed to go off the rails. in 2013, he lost his privileges to practice law and was eventually disbarred. he got divorced, stop paying rent. in 2014, he filed for bankruptcy. it's not clear what went wrong. his defense lawyer says muller suffers from bipolar disorder. he's unimposing, nearly forgettable. certainly, not someone to fear. he doesn't really fit the profile of your typical guy who is doing a home invasion. >> if you're looking at typical home invasions, it doesn't. but when you're looking at the type of crimes that he's committing, it does more fit the profile. >> it seems to be done for the thrill of the crime. the thrill of the game. >> glenn lipson is a forensic psychologist. he has not met matthew muller. but he has read those emails that were sent to reporter, henry lee. emails that lee suspected at the time were written by a lawyer. a lawyer police now believe was matthew muller. what emerges from the emails is a complex picture of someone who needs attention. who needs to be perceived a certain way. >> for example, the way the writer of the emails was outraged when denise accused of a hoax. so, when he says, how dare you not believe miss huskins that she was kidnapped was then saying that how do you not believe that i pulled it off? >> you can't see my handiwork because of your lack of talent. because the police here are failing miserably and they need to recognize how flawed they are, and how wonderful i am. >> he's a master criminal. >> he's a master criminal and he is running circles around everyone else. >> maybe he was. remember, from the beginning, vallejo police apparently just couldn't believe the elaborate details of the kidnapping. when aaron told them he took so long to called 9-1-1 because he was drugged and confined to a square of red tape and monitored by a web cam, they didn't buy it. and when denise wouldn't get on that plane to talk to vallejo pd, they thought it was because she had something to hide. she says it was because she was afraid the cops would treat her as they had treated her boyfriend, aaron, like a suspect. now, everything was about to change. three months after vallejo police accused denise and aaron of concocting a hoax, the fbi announced that matthew muller was the prime suspect in denise 's very real kidnapping. >> i was glad to know. and i never doubted that there was someone who kidnapped her. >> neither did the woman we're calling samantha. to her, denise's story was very real. >> coming up -- >> my hands were handcuffed behind my back. my feet were zip tied. >> could matthew muller be behind this crime, too? 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"dateline" associate producer kayla ward spent 30 minutes speaking to muller in jail, through glass, on the phone. no camera, no recording, no note taking allowed. >> what is your initial impression of him? >> extremely talkative. it was like he was in his element. >> >> what is his answer to whether or not he was guilty about the crimes he was accused of? >> he would not say, he would not deny anything, but would not say he was guilty of anything. >> she asked him about samantha. >> i said we recently interviewed a woman. and her case matches denise huskins's and aaron quinn's case. he opened his eyes, really wide, like he could not believe i was bringing this up. >> but, he denied knowing anything about samantha's case, or the one in palo alto. then, kayla asked about denise huskins. >> he looked at me intensely and said, could you imagine being woken up in the middle of the night, taken from your home, sexually assaulted and then, you are brave, and it is used against you by the police? and, they were tears in his eyes, he was very emotional about it. >> putting on a show? >> he might have been putting on a show. he is very smart, very, very smart. >> and very eager to talk about his own troubles. >> he wanted to be very clear, the last six years of his life have been spent in depression. he has had a few suicide attempts. he said, you know, he is in jail now, happy to be there because it is a safe place for him and the community. >> muller did say in his professional life, he always wanted to do good for others. >> he told me, my hope for my life was that my primary identifier would be helping people, i want to be the guy that helped people. >> so, what went wrong? >> i asked him, how do you feel now, sitting here? you have now done the opposite, you have hurt people. and he kind of just stared at me for a minute, he was silent. and then he said, i don't even know where to begin with that. and he kind of put his head down, started to cry and said, i am so sorry. >> exactly what he was sorry for, he did not say. but matthew muller did say he thought he was exactly where he belonged. >> he said, the facts are pretty clear. you know, i think i will spend a few decades in jail, and i am fine with that. >> about a year after he spoke with dateline, he pleaded guilty in federal court to kidnapping denise huskins. he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, he also pleaded no contest to the home invasion. in 2018, muller faced new state charges of kidnapping for ransom, rape, robbery, burglary and false imprisonment. there is plenty we still do not know. for example, denise huskins and aaron quinn are convinced that it was more than one kidnapper. >> do you have any reason to believe there were other people out there? >> i do not, no. he used we, i believe to instill more fear in the victims. >> another unknown, how the victims were chosen. denise may not have been the target of the kidnapping, the email sent to henry lee claimed the kidnappers were after aaron quinn's ex fiancée, who had previously lived with him. but they grabbed up denise instead. denise huskins and aaron quinn will live forever with the emotional scars of their ordeal, home invasion, kidnapping and then public humiliation, their attorney jim wagstaff. >> they were innocent of the crimes, but repainted in the world is having a bit involved in a terrible hopes. >> vallejo police department, so eager to talk in those first few days soon clammed up. but they did send denise huskins and aaron quinn each a letter of apology, but so far, has made no public statement to correct the image of these two as liars and publicity hounds. denise and aaron sued the city of vallejo, and in march, 2018, they settled that case for two and a half million dollars. it took years and the new police chief to publicly admit their mistake. in june 2021, the chief issued a statement acknowledging the case wasn't handled with sensitively. he also extended his deepest apology to denise and erin for how they were treated. he said to you, right at the and, i'm sorry about this this will mess you up. >> yes. >> he was right about that, wasn't he? >> yes, yes it definitely messed me up for quite awhile. >> sometimes the truest story sounds almost like a lie. why did you want to talk to us? >> if i can contribute to any way to make sure that this is taken seriously, and to basically say this is not a hoax, i lived firsthand through this and i know for a fact that it is true. >> that's all for this edition of dateline. i'm andrea canning. thanks for watching. andrea canning thanks for watching. >> >> hello, i'm andrea canning and this is dateline. >> manson has come to represent the malignant side of humanity. these