American Nightmare: The true story of Denise Huskins kidnapping

In March 2016, a year after their ordeal began, the couple filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Vallejo, accusing the city and members of its police department of “a vicious and shocking attack on two victims of a terrifying home invasion, kidnapping, and rape,” and of creating “a destructive nationwide media frenzy” by publicly accusing the couple of faking the crime.

According to the couple’s lawsuit, “the City of Vallejo privately offered a self-serving and halfhearted apology” via letter after Muller’s arrest, but refused “to publicize this apology, opting rather to protect their own self-interest at the expense of the rights of these two innocent victims.”

The couple later announced that the city later agreed to pay a $2.5 million settlement, saying in a statement quoted in local media at the time: “What happened to us should not happen to anyone.”

In 2021, Vallejo police apologized for how the couple was treated and said it appeared that a promised public apology never took place — but Quinn told ABC7 that the department “only apologized after major news outlets reached out” as the couple published a book on their ordeal.

The public apology, published by ABC7, said the case had not been “publicly handled with the type of sensitivity a case of this nature should have been handled with.”

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