Muller Held Over For State Trial On Kidnapping, Rape Charges
VALLEJO (CBS SF) -- Matthew Muller, who was sentenced in federal court last year to 40 years in prison for the bizarre kidnapping of a Vallejo woman from Mare Island in 2015, was ordered Wednesday to stand trial in Solano County Superior Court on six felony charges in connection with the same case.
Judge Kim P. Tam held Muller, 41, over for trial for kidnapping for ransom, two forcible rapes, first-degree robbery of an inhabited dwelling, first-degree residential burglary and false imprisonment by violence.
Muller represented himself in court at the preliminary hearing, sitting in a three-piece suit and bound by shackles. He is scheduled to re-enter pleas to the charges Feb. 25.
In September 2016, Muller pleaded guilty in federal court to a federal kidnapping charge. The Solano County District Attorney's Office filed the state charges against him on Jan. 26, 2018.
Muller is being held under no bail in Solano County Jail.
The nationally publicized saga involving Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn included a defamation of character lawsuit they filed against the Vallejo Police Department, which initially said the kidnapping was a hoax. Police later apologized to the couple.
Muller didn't cross-examine Quinn or Huskins, but he made it a point to tell the court that he was tricked by investigators early on.
Prosecutors in the federal case said Muller drove Huskins in the trunk of his car on March 23, 2015, held her hostage for two days and made ransom demands totaling $15,000.
During the emotional testimony, Huskins told the court that Muller sexually assaulted her twice as she was wearing goggles. She said at one point, he taped her eyes shut.
"The one thing I wouldn't let him take from me was how I reacted. I wasn't going to let him see me cry or get hysterical, and so I performed. My eyes were closed. I pretended like it was Aaron," she said.
Huskins was released near her family's home in Huntington Beach on March 25.
Muller was arrested in South Lake Tahoe on June 8, 2015, after evidence, including a video of Muller and Huskins, was found at his mother's home.
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