Harvard law grad pleads guilty to kidnapping in case once considered a hoax
A Harvard law grad has pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping for abducting a California woman from her boyfriend’s home in March 2015 and seeking payment of a ransom.
Matthew Muller, 39, pleaded guilty on Thursday in a plea deal in which federal prosecutors will seek no more than a 40-year sentence, report the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. A former immigration lawyer, he was on involuntary inactive status when he was charged.
The woman, Denise Huskins, told police that the attack began when she and her boyfriend were awakened by a blinding light. Their attacker drugged and blindfolded them, and placed Huskins in the trunk of their car. The attacker drove Huskins to a home in Lake Tahoe, kept her there for two days, and sent the boyfriend emails demanding ransom. Huskins was eventually released near her family’s home.
Police at first believed Huskins’ story was a hoax, but the FBI later announced that Muller was the kidnapper. Police linked him to the crime when a cellphone linked to Muller was dropped in a different home invasion.
During the hearing on Thursday, Muller said he is taking psychiatric medication but he understood the proceedings. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 19.
