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– Weekend Edition – VOLUME 174 • ISSUE 4 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2025
DA’s second look at ‘American Nightmare’ case uncovers new crimes
SUPES TAKE THE OATH
Odin Rasco Senior staff writer
An El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office reinvestigation into the 2015 home invasion and kidnapping made nationally known by the 2024 Netflix documentary “American Nightmare” has uncovered additional crimes committed by the now-convicted Matthew Muller. In 2015, Muller drugged and tied up Aaron Quinn and Denise Huskins (now Quinn) in their Bay Area home; Denise was transported to a cabin in South Lake Tahoe owned by Muller’s mother, where she was sexually assaulted and kept captive for two days. Though Aaron contacted the Vallejo Police Department when he came to, detectives did not believe his story, instead theorizing Aaron had killed his girlfriend. “They use pseudoscience to train detectives with outdated interview techniques that use deception,” El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson told the Mountain Democrat Tuesday, Jan. 7. “When a detective believes the person they are talking to is lying to them, they go into a multi-step interrogation process which is inherently psychologically coercive. Well, that’s what they did in this case and it resulted in law enforcement not believing any scenario because they thought the victims didn’t
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VERN PIERSON behave like they should have.” Even after Denise’s return to her parents’ home two days after the kidnapping and subsequent report to law enforcement, police refused to listen. Vallejo Police Department officials held a news conference claiming they had found no proof of kidnapping and stating the incident was a hoax. An FBI agent is said to have told Aaron to watch the film “Gone Girl,” a story about a woman who faked her own kidnapping, because he believed it was similar to Denise’s story. That quip has followed the case since, with some news outlets referring to the case as the “Gone Girl” story even after investigation into a home invasion in Dublin in 2015 led to evidence that proved Denise and Aaron had been telling the truth the whole time. “Do not call it the ‘Gone Girl’ case,” Pierson told a group gathered at a press conference in Seaside on Tuesday. “That name is a derogatory term that should never have been used.” Pierson, who has worked to fight against the same outdated detective interview tactics that led police to fail to believe Denise and Aaron, met the couple at a law enforcement event where they had been invited to speak. The Quinns were insistent Muller had been involved in more crimes than the ones he had been convicted of. Knowing they had ■ See NEW CRIMES, page A9
Photo by Shelly Thorene
El Dorado Superior Court Judge Vicki Ashworth administered the Oath of Office to newly elected and re-elected El Dorado County supervisors at a swearing in ceremony at the Board of Supervisors chambers in Placerville on Jan. 7. Left to right, District 3 Supervisor Brian Veerkamp, District 2 Supervisor George Turnboo, Honorable Vicki Ashworth and District 1 Supervisor Greg Ferrero. Veerkamp returns to the board having previously served eight years as a supervisor with his last term ending in 2020. Turnboo was reelected to a second term by his constituents and Ferrero is a first-time supervisor, taking the seat previously held by John Hidahl.
Public invited to check out new fire rigs News release The El Dorado County Fire Protection District and Diamond Springs-El Dorado Fire Protection District will host a series of open houses to welcome three new fire engines and a ladder truck to the communities. El Dorado County Fire Protection District recently accepted and equipped three new 2024 Pierce Enforcer Type-1 fire engines that will be serving at fire stations in Placerville, Diamond Springs and Shingle Springs. These new engines will contribute to an overall more reliable fleet of modern fire suppression vehicles. Some new features of these fire engines include improved Tak-4 independent front suspension for better handling and maneuvering, and HAAS Alert Responder-to-vehicle collision mitigation technology. HAAS Alert provides real-time digital alerts to drivers that an emergency vehicle is approaching. These fire engines are also the first cleancab fire engines in the
Mountain Democrat photo by Odin Rasco
The El Dorado County Fire Protection District recently announced it has acquired new fire engines, including this one seen at Sacramento Street fire station in Placerville. The public is invited to check out the new equipment at upcoming events. district, which will keep breathing apparatus that are potentially laden with carcinogenic or toxic byproducts due to their exposure to fires. The new ladder truck is a 2024 Pierce Enforcer 107-foot Ascent Heavy-Duty Aerial Truck. This vehicle replaced a
35-year-old ladder truck. The ladder truck was partially funded by a $600,000 contribution from the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. The ladder truck will be stationed in Shingle Springs. The open houses will occur as follows: • Station 25, 3034
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