What Netflix's American Nightmare leaves out
Note: The following article contains discussion of rape and sexual assault that some readers may find upsetting.
The very aptly titled American Nightmare on Netflix captures the horror ordeal Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn lived through in 2015 after their home was broken into in the middle of the night and Denise was abducted.
The three episodes take us first through the harrowing events from Aaron's perspective, then Denise's and then through Misty Carausu, a detective from Dublin, California, who was crucial in linking kidnapper Matthew Muller to the case.
Working with the creators of the hit Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, Denise has said it was a "long journey" to "finding the right team" to share their story in the new docuseries, which exemplifies the snap judgements and tunnel vision we can fall prey to.
Sharing the trailer on her Instagram account, Denise wrote: "Perhaps more importantly, it’s a story of hope when all feels lost. I believe anyone who’s overcome a trauma can connect with different parts of this series and what we went through."
The docuseries packs in chilling details of the case, which was initially likened to the kidnapping hoax plot of Gone Girl, all while Denise was being held captive and feared for her life.
One of the questions left unanswered by American Nightmare and the case as a whole is whether Muller was alone when he broke into the couple's California home at 3am.
Denise previously told ABC News that after her hands and feet were bound during the break in, she noticed two pairs of legs in the bedroom. Although nobody else has ever been linked to the attack, the couple still believe there were others involved in the break in.
"There were things that happened that we saw, that we heard. It just would have been impossible to have been done by one guy,” Denise said. "There are other people out there. That’s something that we’ve had to live with and somehow make peace with."
The couple's ears were covered with headphones, through which Muller played pre-recorded messages referring to Aaron and his ex-fiancé Andrea by name. It later emerged Muller had been spying on the couple with drones before he broke in, but it has not been made clear why they were targeted.
The first episode of the docuseries details how Aaron went to the Vallejo police station for questioning. He said he was given prison clothes to wear once officers had taken his own clothes while gathering DNA samples.
The FBI also became involved in the case and gave Aaron a polygraph exam at his request, as he desperately tried to prove his own innocence. Yet while the lie detector results were inconclusive, Aaron was told he had failed the questioning.
Aaron told ABC's 20/20 programme that amid exhaustion and anxiety over Denise, he began to question his own sanity. "I thought maybe I did have a schizophrenic breakdown," he said.
Meanwhile, the police were convinced there was no real kidnapper while Denise was being held captive. She said Muller kept her blindfolded with blacked-out swimming goggles and told her he was part of a criminal syndicate with three other members, each of whom were responsible for a different part of the organisation.
One of the aspects of the case covered in less detail in the docuseries is that of the trials in both federal and state courts, during which Denise testified in excruciating detail in front of her attacker.
In chilling testimony, Denise bravely recounted how Muller twice set up cameras and sexually assaulted her. She said of the harrowing assault: "I told myself, no matter what they do, I'm not going to beg and scream. If it is the last moments that I am going to be living, I am just going to stay calm and be grateful for the life I had.
"You flopped me around the bed like a rag doll," she said to Muller. "The only way I got through it was to picture that it was Aaron that I was with, and that will haunt me for the rest of my life."
Denise testified about the "hell" the couple survived, telling the court that while captive she repeatedly thought she would be murdered and still suffered nightmares about the abduction.
Muller, a Harvard-trained but disbarred lawyer and a former Marine, represented himself during the Solano County case and he fired his public defender, CBS reported at the time.
He said during the trial that he was "sick with shame" over the "pain and horror" he inflicted and told prosecutors that he suffered from bipolar disorder and was taking medication when he kidnapped Denise.
During the 20/20 special, Denise went on to recall reuniting with Aaron after picturing him "every moment" she was held captive. "I kept just visualising what that feeling must be like to finally feel safe in his arms again," she said. "When he knocked on that door and I opened it, we just embraced ... we were crying and holding each other."
Aaron added: "I knew our lives had changed forever and we'd go through more struggles but at least we had each other."
In the years since the ordeal, Denise and Aaron have written a book – Victim F: From Crime Victims, To Suspects, To Survivors – and advocated against victim blaming and unconscious bias in policing.
Denise and Aaron married in Monterey, California and chose Dierks Bentley’s 'Riser' as the first song at their wedding. Aaron said they made the was a song "very much about overcoming a tragedy and rising like a phoenix from the ashes".
American Nightmare is available to stream on Netflix.
Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct. If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.
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