his trail of victims safe from his terror. thanks to a young woman and a little dog who fought for her life -- and won. all for edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thanks for watching. i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline." 52. i couldn't make sense of it. >> a successful young couple ambushed they say in the dead of night. attack. abducted. >> we're like, wow, where she is? >> but the real question, was their story even true? >> we weren't about to substantiate anything they were saying as true. >> could this some kind of hoax?

who was really behind it all? >> this whole story could take another crazy turn. >> he said that i need to pay for what i did. hello and welcome to "dateline." denise husk yins 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 didn't appear to be alone, what happened next was so odd it would leave the detectiveses and the public scratching their heads. an unexpected break in the case would steer authorities toward an unlike suspect and truth. >> i was asleep in bed. it was about 5:00 in the morning. >> reporter: frightening doesn't

begin to describe what she went through. >> and the next thing i knew there was someone laying on top of me. >> reporter: she was instantly the losing player in someone else's game of power and control. >> their hand was over my mouth. >> reporter: if you're wondering, there was no way to fight back. >> must have been screaming. >> reporter: this woman doesn't want us to use her real name, we're calling her samantha. this was a man. >> a man. >> bigger than you? >> felt very big. strong. i couldn't move. >> reporter: september 29th, 2009. the sun wasn't up yet. in bedroom a masked intruder was holding her down. she had no idea who the man was and what he was planning. >> he said this is going to take a couple hours. i was in shock. >> reporter: 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 never met. it's a bizarre mystery that riveted california's bay area, then ripped across the country and around the world. march 24th, 2015. a young woman was missing. >> ms. huskins has blond hair and blue eyes. >> reporter: her abductors wanted money in exchange for her return. >> we're r public's help in locating here. >> reporter: it happened in vallejo, henry lee was then a reporter for the san francisco chronicle. >> i was struck by the fact that you haven't seen these kind of

cases too often. >> reporter: the kidnapped victim denise huskins had been standing with her boyfriend aaron quinn at his house in vallejo at the time both were physical therapists at a nearby hospital. aaron reported denise missing we're doing everything we can and then some to ensure her safe return. >> reporter: a huge search for denise huskins. across the country, denise's good friend ashley saw the news. >> there was an article posted online, someone sent it to me and said, oh, my god, this is denise. i started texting everybody. >> reporter: including denise. >> i tried to text her. i figured better than not doing anything. >> reporter: there was no reply. she texted another friend. >> i couldn't even believe what i was reading. >> reporter: that was pretty much the reaction the vallejo cops had to the story that

denise's boyfriend was telling them. >> we don't have all of the facts in yet. >> reporter: the story aaron told the cops that night eventually spelled out in an fbi affidavit would seem frankly preposterously, something invented by someone with too much imagination and too much free time. at 3:00 a.m. he was awaken by a bright light and electrical noise that sounded like a stun gun. then a man's voice telling them to lie face down on the bed. then he said his eyes were covered with swim goggles. which had been blacked out so he couldn't see. >> blindfolded. zip tied. >> reporter: aaron said the intruder demanded his private banking and e-mail information and put headphones on him that

played calming music along with instructions to use denise's phone to text her work and said she'd 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 and told to stay in one place and monitored by a web cam. then he said the intruders left with denise. his story sounded so implausible, police wondered if he made it up to hide something even more sinister. >> at first blush when a woman is missing and her husband or boyfriend says, oh, yeah, she was abducted, well, certainly the first thing i think maybe because of what i do for a living, the guy has something to do. >> right. what's going on here?

what's the real story. >> reporter: police treated aaron less like a victim and more like a murder suspect, they confiscated his cell phone and read his him rights. they were suspicious about why he waited 11 hours before calling 911. >> aaron quinn it took him hours, wasn't until that afternoon the vallejo police were able to talk to him. >> reporter: his mom said police polygraphed five times and held in a small interrogation room for hours. across the country, denise's friends didn't know any of this but they knew enough to be worried. >> someone being kidnapped, a lot of those stories don't end well, you don't want to think about those things but you think maybe they're not going to be alive. >> reporter: then about 33 hours after denise huskins disappeared, reporter henry lee was standing outside aaron's home when his phone buzzed, an

e-mail. >> what was chilling was that e-mail came attached with an audio file and it was an audio file there was a woman's voice. >> reporter: the soft-spoken woman on theal was about to get much stranger. what has happened to denise, was she still alive, or, was this all an elaborate hoax? coming up -- >> we still don't know where denise huskins is. >> exactly what kind of message, that encrypted recording. >> with get a tip that police are holding a news conference. that's when the bombshell came down. when "dateline" continues.

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>> reporter: denise huskins' boyfriend said she'd been kidnapped, but his story seemed hard to believe. police wondered if he'd murdered her and was now trying to cover it up. then, a day and a half after denise disappeared, a reporter received a mysterious e-mail with an audio file attached. >> reporter: 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. >> reporter: she shared obscure biographical details. >> reporter: proof of life audio trying to prove that, a, she's denise, and b, she's the kidnap victim. >> and she's aware of events that happened that day? >> to prove that, in fact, she was alive. >> reporter: so, clearly this wasn't a murder case, but was it a kidnapping as aaron claimed? found it odd that denise didn't sound at all frightened. >> she sounded absolutely calm. not distressed at all. >> not like someone in fear for their life. >> as if she was talking with a friend over coffee. i think the subject line was, wtf, what is this? >> reporter: the recording soon hit the web where denise's

friend ashley heard it. >> it was sort of reassuring she was making an audio that clearly dated that day, but also still scary because you still have no idea if the person's safe, how they're being treated. people are putting her through. >> reporter: and if denise didn't sound panicked, her friends said 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, deneka, and denise went to watch the boston marathon in 2013. they say it was denise that who remained calm that day. >> we were all scared and rocked by it, but i think of all of us, she was the best equipped to keep her cool. >> she was the one who was kind of my rock. she grabbed my hand and she was like, let's go.

>> reporter: but where was denise now? >> this is a bizarre case with a lot of twists. >> very bizarre. >> reporter: sheryl hurd covered the story. >> day two, we still don't know where denise huskins is. we're really not sure what her boyfriend, aaron quinn, is telling police. all we know is they can't find her. >> reporter: but then, the story took another whiplash turn. about 45 hours after denise was reported missing, police made a dramatic announcement. >> approximately 10:30 this morning, ms. denise huskins was located safely. >> reporter: it seemed over. denise's cousin told knbc how thrilled everyone was. >> you hear these stories all the time. you watch tv about them and you never know. i was just happy to hear that she was alive and safe and home. >> reporter: but to police and reporters, all professional

skeptics, this story hadn't smelled right from the start and denise's sudden reappearance did nothing to change that. >> she's alive, she's well and they found her. that was great, but there was still something funny going on because no one had all the answers. >> reporter: for one thing, denise turned up in huntington beach, which was 400 miles south of vallejo and which was also her hometown. she was dropped off 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 did she show up? right near her parents' house. that seemed too convenient. >> reporter: another thing, the ransom the kidnappers supposedly demanded had never been paid. denise told police in her hometown the same story 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 -- >> denise huskins disappeared. and wouldn't cooperate. wouldn't fly up in a plane

offered by the fbi to took to the police. >> after she was released? >> after she was released. >> reporter: suspicion was building. neither denise nor aaron made any public statement, but they did hire separate attorneys. >> everyone's thinking, why are they doing that? >> reporter: 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 ass back to vallejo to be a part of this news conference and that's when the bombshell came down. coming up -- >> we were not able to substantiate any of the things that he was saying. >> was this all some kind of prank? >> was there some chance that denise and her boyfriend were going to be prosecuted? >> it was a very strong possibility. >> e-mails, photos. some strange new clues are about to emerge from the shadows when "dateline" continues.

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i didn't have a clue what happened. >> reporter: even denise huskins' friends had to admit, her sudden disappearance and reappearance seemed almost unbelievable. >> the details of the story are so crazy. i just -- i really couldn't -- i couldn't make sense of it. >> reporter: neither could the vallejo police department. a day after denise came home, spokesman kenny park held a remarkable news conference. first, he spoke about denise's boyfriend aaron quinn.

>> we know that 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 that he was saying. >> and then finally this. >> provide a full detail statement on what had occurred. as of right now, we have not heard from ms. huskins. >> reporter: and then finally this. >> mr. quinn and ms. huskins has taken valuable resources from our community while instilling fear amongst our community members. so, if anything, it is mr. quinn and ms. huskins that owe this community an apology. >> reporter: after a search and about 54 hours of investigation, vallejo police had concluded the whole kidnapping story was a phony. that all of this was one of those made for california

dramas. not so much shakespearean. police seemed to think denise and aaron were for some reason only known to them seeking publicity and telling an elaborate lie. left unanswered was why anyone would want to become famous for fooling police. >> the stranger than fiction story -- >> 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 cell phone a couple of times while denise was missing from a blocked number. according to aaron's mother, police suspected aaron had somehow programmed another phone to call his own cell while he was with investigators. >> was there some chance that denise and her boyfriend were going to be prosecuted? >> it was a very strong possibility based on those public pronouncements. >> reporter: denise's friends didn't know aaron, but they had ever confidence denise was telling the truth.

>> everyone that knew or that knows her personally and actually cares about her believed her. >> reporter: the day after police branded the kidnapping a hoax, denise finally did show up at vallejo pd to tell the cops 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 e-mail. 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 was extremely intelligent. >> ms. huskins was absolutely kidnapped. we did it. we will provide incontrovertible proof. the writer claimed to be a part of a group, more than 2 and fewer than eight in number.

>> they went into details of crimes they committed. >> reporter: some of us have a tech background. stealing late model cars, according to the e-mail, 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? >> reporter: the writer admitted that the reality of the kidnapping was much more upsetting than expected. we fancied ourselves a sort of "ocean's 11" gentlemen criminals who 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 fit in until being confronted directly with denise's suffering and humanity. >> at least one of the abductors seemed to sympathize with denise.

>> reporter: and now the e-mail 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 e-mails were photos. one showed a water gun spray painted to look more threatening, at least in the dark, with a laser pointer and flashlight duct taped to it. another showed a room with cardboard partially covering a 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 hoax? >> my thought was certainly part of a prank. >> reporter: in fact, the e-mails were so cleverly written henry lee wondered if they might have been sent by an attorney hired by denise or aaron. reporters started referring to the case as "the gone girl" kidnapping. after the book and movie of a

blond, that reference infuriated denise's friends. >> when it is not accurate, it makes you mad. it was sort of like a fictional character created out of a good person. you stop being denise huskins and you start being labeled as -- denise at all they said. but to the rest of the world, denise and aaron were portrayed as liars, schemers, maybe 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 kidnapper struck again? when "dateline" continues.

hello. here's what's happening. . the food and drug administration

granted emergency use authorization to johnson and johnson's vaccine on saturday. tiger woods is in good spirits after follow-up procedures for his injuries in the rollover crash in los angeles on tuesday. woods has since moved from ucla medical center to cedars-sigh nigh medical center. now, back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline." the police and public seemed to have it all figured out they believe denise huskins and her boyfriend aaron quinn had made up their traumatic home invasion and kidnapping story for publicity the media dubbed it the gone girl mystery. but detectives were about to learn something that would shift the investigation.

another attack suspiciously similar to one denise and aaron had been describing. too similar to ignore. here's "twisted tale." >> reporter: this began as a high-tech kidnapping that sounded like a tv movie. >> we were not able to substantiate -- >> reporter: then, police announced it was really an elaborate hoax. denise huskins and aaron quinn branded as liars or attention addicts retreated from sight. >> thank you. >> reporter: and that might have been the end of it until a little over two months later, this story took another unbelievable turn. june 5th, 2015, 3:34 a.m. >> possibly have her daughter -- >> reporter: police were called to a house in dublin, california. >> locked herself in the bedroom.

>> reporter: an intruder was inside. by the time 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 that face down, get face down on your bed and don't look at me. >> terrifying? >> yes, they were terrified. >> reporter: dublin police detectives led the investigation. >> he said, we have your daughter and she's okay. >> reporter: the couple's 22-year-old daughter had been sleeping in the next room. >> she tells the parents, i'm going to tie you up. father jumps on him, says, i'm not going to let you tie me up. something's going on with my daughter. a struggle ensues on the ground. >> reporter: his wife grabbed her cell phone and locked herself in the bathroom to call 911. >> the husband yells out at her, honey, go get the gun. go get the gun. this was very smart on the

father's part because they have no gun, but he said it to scare this guy away. >> reporter: the father continued to fight until finally the intruder fled. but in the struggle, he left some things behind. zip ties for run 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 family there and the woman who answered said the phone belonged to her adult son, a man named matthew muller. >> he told me he lost it this morning. okay, where is he? we'd like to give it to him. >> he's on his way to salt lake. >> reporter: the dublin cops knew their next stop was south lake tahoe. first, they put in a call to the local sheriff to ask if there'd ever been trouble at the cabin. there hadn't but, a stolen car had just been found right near it and in the car was a driver's license for 38-year-old matthew muller.

>> i said, okay. you just kind of made my day now. now we have some more information to go on. >> reporter: with a search warrant and an arrest warrant, the dublin cops went to find matthew muller. the neighbors watched it happened. >> you know, i'm just peeking out my window, trying to get an idea what's happening. more cars are coming. my whole front area is filled with dark sedans, like something out of a movie. >> the neighbors were surprised, but maybe matthew muller was not. >> when we broke down the front door, it didn't open all the way because it was barricaded with chairs and just various household items. upon entry, i could hear my detectives screaming, get on the ground, get on the ground. your heart rate kind of jumps up. okay, he's there. >> reporter: this is muller, just after he was arrested. he did not put up a fight.

in the house the detectives found a room with cardboard on the windows blocking out the light. they searched that stolen car and found a few more items of interest. >> one was a bebe gun. one was a super soaker that was painted black with a flashlight duct taped to it. >> there were also swim goggles with tape covering the lenses. a long blonde hair stuck to the tape. and when they traced the stolen car -- >> that vehicle comes back stolen out of vallejo. >> reporter: so the dublin cops called vallejo pd and started comparing notes. >> we're showing them pictures of everything covered in the search warrant and they're showing us the pictures they had. >> reporter: photos e-mailed to reporter henry lee from that anonymous address.

shots of spray painted water pistols and a room with cardboard on the windows. >> that's kind of when the light really clicked on and we all kind of went, uh-oh, here we go. coming up -- >> ivy league, former marine. respected attorney. >> i would much more have expected matt to be sitting behind the desk in some elected capacity. >> who was this guy, when "dateline" continues. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪ with allstate, drivers who switched saved over $700. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate click or call to switch today. feel the cool rush of claritin cool mint chewables. powerful 24-hour, non-drowsy, allergy relief

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>> announcer: when the strange tale of denise huskins and aaron quinn first made headlines -- >> another bizarre twist in the kidnapping case we've been following out of california. >> reporter: the dublin police detectives found it just as puzzling as everyone else did. >> for a lot of reasons, you think the story at first blush was a very strange story. >> it was. >> does sound like it could be fabricated. >> reporter: 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 the photos of toy guns painted to look real or the

room in the suspect's home they saw during the arrest, but photos that matched henry lee. overlooked or ignored from the start -- window screens at aaron's house had been slit. the window locks drilled. and missed calls made to aaron quinn's cell phone while he was being interrogated that first night, calls that vallejo cops suspected aaron had somehow faked. turns out they were made at this intersection near muller's home. when law enforcement hacked into the car's navigation history, they found this address in huntington beach. the exact spot where denise said she had been left by her kidnapper. as they continued to investigate, detectives learned their suspect was just as unusual as the crime he was implicated in. maybe more so.

>> dealt with somebody like him, the kind of stuff that you typically see in movies. >> reporter: a california native, muller attended college. a classmate. >> i would much more have suspected matt to be sitting behind the desk in some elected capacity as opposed to sitting in a jail cell right now. >> reporter: muller married in 2002 and graduated from pomona and he graduated summa cum laude. he graduated in 2006. then stayed on as a teaching fellow. andrea was a student of muller's. >> matt as i remembered him at harvard was incredibly intelligent, hardworking, and someone who was really dedicated to the work that we were doing.

>> reporter: 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. stopped paying rent.. 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. >> didn't fit the profile of your typical guy doing home invasions. >> it doesn't, when you're looking at the type of crimes 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. >> reporter: a forensic psychologist. he has not met matthew muller. but he's read those e-mails that

were sent to reporter henry lee, lee suspected were written by a lawyer. a lawyer police now believe was matthew muller. >> what emerges from the e-mails is a complex picture of someone who needs attention, who needs to be perceived a certain way. >> reporter: for example, the way the writer of the e-mails was outraged when denise was accused of a hoax. >> so when he says, how dare you not believe ms. huskins, that she was kidnapped, what he's really saying is how dare you not believe i committed this crime and pulled it off? >> you can't see my handiwork because you lack talent, because the police here are failing miserably and they need to recognize how flawed they are and how wonderful i am. >> he is a master criminal. >> he is a master criminal, and he's running circles around everyone else. >> reporter: maybe he was. remember, from the beginning,

vallejo police apparently couldn't believe the elaborate details of the kidnapping. when aaron told them he took so long to call 911, because he was drugged and confined to a square of red tape and monitored by a webcam, 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 treated her boyfriend aaron, like a criminal. 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 -- i never doubted that there was someone who kidnapped her. >> reporter: 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. >> could matthew muller be behind this crime, too? we're about to ask him. >> opened his eyes really wide. he couldn't believe that i was bringing this up. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues flea and tick protection, and it's easy to see why. it protects for a full 30 days, prevents the infection that causes lyme disease... ...and is safe to start protecting puppies as early as 8 weeks. but your vet doesn't just prescribe it to her patients... ...she also trusts nexgard to protect her own dog. and she knows that its beef-flavored deliciousness makes it #1 with dogs. ask your vet about nexgard, and why it's #1 with pretty much... everyone. yeah, i mean the thing is, people like geico because it's just easy. bundling for example. you've got car insurance here. and home insurance here. why not... schuuuuzp.. put them together. save even more.

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matthew muller, the harvard educated former lawyer was now the main suspect in the home invasion and kidnapping of denise huskins. other similar crimes, was muller behind those too? we went behind bars to speak with him and what he told us was both surprising and disturbing. here with the conclusion of "twisted tale." >> reporter: mountain view, california, the heart of silicon valley. the headquarters of google and in september 2009 the scene of a strange and terrifying crime. >> i was asleep in bed and the next thing i knew i -- there was someone laying on top of me. their hand was over my mouth. >> reporter: the woman we're calling samantha hadn't heard the names denise huskins or

matthew muller until we contacted her. but as you'll see, the details of what happened to her seem frighteningly familiar. >> my hands were handcuffed behind my back. my feet were zip tied. then he put blacked out swim googles on me. i couldn't see. >> reporter: her captor claimed he was part of a group and the point of it all he said was money. >> gave him my social security, mother's maiden name, account numbers, my bank account number, my pin. >> reporter: as with denise and aaron, the intruder made sure no help would be coming any time soon. >> he figured out who my boss was from my e-mails and he e-mailed my boss that i was sick and i couldn't come into work that day. you're thinking, wow, this is getting more hopeless. >> reporter: she says just as denise and aaron did that she was sedated. in her case it was just nyquil. she became drowsy, but never passed out. she was completely helpless,

completely in his control when it got even worse, the intruder told her -- >> i have some bad news for you. now i'm going to have to rape you. >> reporter: she pleaded with her captor not to do it. >> his response? >> he got very quiet and he kind of muttered, i can't do this. >> reporter: and then, the man who had terrorized for hours suddenly seemed emorseful. >> he said, i'm sorry about this. you know, i've been through this too. >> reporter: he even offered some helpful home security advice. >> he recommended i get a dog so i could have protection in the future. >> so he's giving you advice >> yes. >> it's hard to believe. >> i agree.

>> reporter: the man soon left without letting samantha see his face. when she called the police, the response she received might sound familiar to denise huskins. >> did police believe you? >> i don't think so. what they told me was they thought maybe i just had a bad dream and that i had called 911 after my bad dream. >> reporter: but less than aimi palo alto. a man broke into his house and restrained the woman with zip ties and goggles. then he threatened to rape her. lieutenant zach perron believes the same person is responsible for both crimes. >> we were able to identify one suspect in the case and he's our prime suspect, matthew muller. >> reporter: muller has never been charged in either case.

we wanted to hear from muller himself. his attorney did not want muller to do an interview. however, muller agreed to see a visitor. "dateline" associate producer kayla ward spent 30 minutes talking with muller in jail through glass on the phone. no cameras, no recordings, no note taking allowed. what's your initial impression of him. >> extremely talkative. he was laughing, we were joking about the books he was reading. >> what's his answer as to whether or not he's guilty of the crimes he's accused of? >> he wouldn't deny anything, but he wouldn't say he was guilty of anything. >> reporter: she asked him about samantha? >> we recently interviewed a woman and her case matches the denise huskins and aaron quinn case. he couldn't believe that 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 can you imagine being woken up in the middle of the night, taken from your home, sexually assaulted, and then you're brave and then it is used against you by the police. there were tears in his eyes. he was very emotional about it. >> putting on a show? >> he might have been putting on a show. he's very smart. very, very smart. >> reporter: and very eager to talk about his own troubles. >> he wanted to be very clear that the last six years of his life have been spent in depression. he's had a few suicide attempts. he said he's in jail now and he's happy to be there because it's a safe place for him. a safe place for the community. >> reporter: muller did say in his professional life he'd 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 wanted to be the guy that helped people. >> so what went wrong? >> i asked him how do you feel now sitting here because you've now done the opposite, you've hurt people? he kind of just stared at me for a minute in silence and he said, i don't even know where to begin with that. he put his head down and started to cry and he said i'm so sorry. >> reporter: exactly what he was sorry for he didn't say, but muller did say he thought he was exactly where he belonged. >> he said the facts are pretty clear. i think i'll spend a few decades in jail, and i'm fine with that. >> reporter: about a year he spoke with "dateline," muller pleaded guilty in federal court to kidnapping denise huckins. he pleaded no contest in the home invasion case. he's faced no state charges,

rape, robbery, burglary and false imprisonment. he now claims he's not guilty. there's plenty we still don't know. for example, denise and aaron are convinced there was more than one kidnapper. >> do you have any reason to believe there were other people out there? >> i don't, no. >> he used "we." i believe it was to instill more fear in the victims. >> reporter: another unknown, how the victims were chosen. denise may not have been the target of the kidnapping. the e-mails sent to henry lee claimed the kidnappers were after aaron's ex-fiancee who had previously lived with him, but then 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 lawyer. >> they were innocent of their alleged crimes, yet they were painted to to world as having

been involved in a terrible hoax. >> reporter: vallejo pd so eager to talk in the first few days, has now clammed up. they sent denise and aaron each a letter of an apology, but has done nothing to correct the statements of denise and aaron as liars. they sued the city of vallejo and in march of 2018 they settled the case for $2.5 million. still no one from vallejo pd has never explained why the case went so wrong. the official department answer is, no comment. >> he said this was going to mess you up. he was right about that, wasn't he? >> it definitely messed me up for a while. >> sometimes the truest story is the one that sounds like a lie. >> why did you want to talk to us? >> if i can contribute in any

way to making sure that this is taken seriously, i lived firsthand through this and i know for a fact that it's true. that's all for edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. breaking on msnbc, back in the spotlight. former president donald trump set to take the stablg today at the biggest annual gathering of conservatives today. who's he's likely to target. plus -- >> i would bet my house. my personal house, don't tell my wife. >> the controversies erupting at the three-day conference. exactly why kevin mccarthy would bet his