Denise Huskins tells her story in new Netflix series(Image: Netflix)
A ‘heartbreaking’ 3-part Netflix true crime documentary that left viewers with ‘tears in their eyes’ remains an essential watch two years on from its release.
When it comes to true crime content, there’s few streaming platforms that offer as much variety as Netflix has. The boom in the genre arrived when they released Making a Murderer all the way back in 2015.
In the 10 years that have followed, the streaming giant have released cultural touchstones such as Tiger King, The Tinder Swindler and Don’t F**k with Cats, which all sparked major conversations among viewers.
Back in 2015, 29-year-old Denise Huskins was taken from her home in Vallejo, California in the dead of night. Her boyfriend Aaron Quinn was woken by an armed intruder, who kidnapped Huskins and later demanded $17,000 for her safe return.
Denise Huskins from the American Nightmare Netflix docuseries(Image: Netflix)
Police arrived on scene to find blood on the walls, zip ties, toy guns and bizarrely a blow-up doll. Quinn was soon at the centre of the investigation, being interrogated for 48 hours while the real culprit demanded their money.
However, Huskins reappeared just over 48 hours later, 400 miles away in Huntington Beach, CA, near her father’s house. She appeared unharmed, but later revealed that she had been raped twice by her kidnapper.
Despite compelling evidence, police incorrectly felt the couple’s version of events sounded too far-fetched and could have been a hoax. The public soon branded the case ‘The Gone Girl Kidnapping’, noting similarities to Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel that was adapted into a film by David Fincher.
Three months later, a man named, Matthew Muller, was arrested in connection with an attempted robbery at a property around 40 miles from the couple’s home.
With police noticing similarities between the attempted robbery and the kidnapping, it eventually turned out that Muller, 41, had been stalking the couple before the break-in and kidnapping.
Muller pleaded guilty in court, where he was told by Huskins: “You flopped me around the bed like a rag doll. 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.
“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.”
The kidnapper was sentenced to 40 years in prison on federal kidnapping charges before later being sentenced to 31 more years for two counts of rape along with robbery and false imprisonment charges. Huskins and Quinn went on to sue the police and won a $2.5 million defamation settlement.
Those who have watched the documentary have left lots of flowing reviews on IMDB to explain why this is a series everyone should take the time to watch.
@kosmasp said: “The editing is terrific, the twists keep coming like in a regular movie … I do not watch too many of these … but I did not regret binging this.” @misscharlietaylor added: “A great documentary, if not incredibly frustrating.”
@lisagalianomorais wrote: “I thought Netflix did an amazing job with this one but this team (same as the Tinder Swindler) is terrific at what they do and how they do it and I, for one, am looking forward to see their work. Time flew by so it means you can see this easily while you become invested in the couple’s life. I even shouted at my TV.”
@PalmBeachG commented: “So happy for the new ‘hero detective’ who wasn’t in the good ‘ol boys club to follow through with evidence without wavering to get justice for the victims, and for the victims to follow it through to the end for other women and their daughters sake too. Great Netflix doc for a change.”