Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn, the couple whose kidnapping case inspired the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare,” won the California District Attorneys Association’s 2025 Witness of the Year Award.
In March 2015, former U.S. Marine Matthew Muller broke into Huskins’ home and tied up Huskins and Quinn. Muller then took Huskins to a cabin in South Lake Tahoe and sexually assaulted her before releasing her two days later.
The case gained media attention when Vallejo police said they suspected the kidnapping was staged by Quinn, generating comparisons to the novel and film “Gone Girl.”
Huskins and Quinn have since worked with the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office to help reform law enforcement interview techniques to prioritize transparency and fairness, according to a press statement from the office.
The statement called the award a “powerful and long-overdue recognition for two individuals whose courage and resilience are helping change the criminal justice system.”
In 2017, Muller was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the kidnapping, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He has since been additionally sentenced to seven more years in prison for a case involving the kidnapping of three people near San Ramon and life in prison for a pair of home invasion and sexual assault cases in Palo Alto and Mountain View.
“What Denise and Aaron went through was horrific, but the way they were treated afterward made it worse. They were treated as suspects instead of survivors,” said El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson on Thursday. “Their persistence and grace helped bring justice — not just for themselves, but for others who might never have had a voice.”
Huskins and Quinn labeled the award “a testament to how far the justice system has come in the past 10 years.”
“Despite what happened to us, this really restores our faith and belief in the justice system,” they said. “It encourages us to keep moving and pushing forward — not just for our case, but for other advocacy efforts. We want to be part of building safer, more just communities.”