Suspect pleads not guilty in Vallejo 'Gone Girl' kidnapping case
VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- The suspect at the center of the Vallejo kidnapping entered a not guilty plea and asked for a jury trial Monday. A federal court judge also decided 38-year-old Matthew Muller will be fully shackled for all future court appearances.
"You're always concerned when you're going after the FBI looking at evidence," Matthew Muller's attorney Thomas Johnson said.
Johnson will get a look at the FBI's evidence over the next month.
Once a Harvard educated lawyer, Muller faces life in prison if found guilty on a federal charge of kidnapping.
Huskins was sexually assaulted and held for ransom for several days.
Vallejo Police called the March kidnapping a hoax, Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn liars, after Denise re-appeared in Huntington Beach a few days later.
"When they make a statement like that, they're kind of stuck with it," Steve Reed, a Muller family friend, said.
Reed is Matthew Muller's close family friend and a former police officer himself. He questions that move by law enforcement. He's been at every federal court appearance lending support.
VIDEO: Vallejo kidnapping suspect investigated for other attacks
"This is national exposure. The family is devastated," Reed said.
The case may have never made it to federal court had it not been for another crime. Muller entered a no contest plea in Alameda County Superior Court in connection with a June Dublin home invasion. Muller left his cellphone behind -- a mistake that led investigators to him in South Lake Tahoe along with a treasure trove of evidence linking him to the Vallejo kidnapping.
Muller's attorney says he'll move to get key cellphone evidence dismissed. Investigators didn't have a warrant to search the cellphone Muller left behind.
"It's an integral part of our defense," Johnson said.
Johnson withdrew the same motion in the Dublin case in exchange for Muller's potential 11-year sentence to be served at the same time as any federal prison time he could get.
