‘American Nightmare’ rapist convicted in 1993 Folsom kidnapping cold case
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- Matthew Muller pleaded guilty to a 1993 Folsom kidnapping and sexual assault case.
- Muller was previously featured in the Netflix docuseries "American Nightmare."
- Muller received 11 years to life, adding to sentences for other violent sexual crimes.
A man who became famous after the Netflix documentary series “American Nightmare” detailed how he repeatedly drugged a Vallejo couple and raped a woman in South Lake Tahoe in 2015 was convicted Wednesday in a separate Folsom kidnapping and sexual assault case.
Matthew Muller, 48, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges related to ordering a young man and women out of their tents near Folsom Lake in 1993 before tying up the man and leading away the woman to sexually assault her, the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office announced in a Thursday news release.
Muller was 16 at the time.
The case went cold but local officials later found evidence linking Muller to the crime. Muller confessed to law enforcement, the DA said.
Muller was sentenced to 11 years to life in state prison for the Folsom crime.
Muller, a Harvard lawyer, former Marine and Sacramento County native, was already serving consecutive lengthy prison sentences for kidnapping and raping a woman in March 2015, and for two felony charges of assault with intent to commit rape during a first-degree burglary in Santa Clara County. He was sentenced in March to two lifetime state prison terms.
“This case is a powerful reminder that the pursuit of justice never ends,” Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said in a statement. “Matthew Muller’s admission to the horrific kidnapping and sexual assault of a young girl in 1993 brings long-overdue justice for the victims.”