Investigators say a newly revealed kidnapping a decade ago in San Ramon was tied to the Vallejo man already convicted in another kidnapping and rape just two weeks earlier — a case originally called a hoax by police — through dogged pursuit by the victims and other authorities.
The discovery of a key clue — a ladder used to plan the crime, still sitting in a ravine some 10 years later — helped break open the latest investigation into a number of home invasions, kidnappings and rapes believed to be tied to Matthew Muller, the imprisoned man whose 2015 kidnapping and rape of a Vallejo woman gained international infamy and became the subject of the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare.”
On Tuesday, El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said he now suspected that alleged crime spree dated back to 1993 when Muller was 16 years old and kidnapped and sexually assaulted his first victim. Muller is now believed to have committed at least six home invasions and kidnappings across Northern California — almost all of which were revealed in the last two weeks, including two in the South Bay and another in San Ramon.
The alleged 22-year crime spree only came into focus last year when a Central California police chief began writing to Muller after having watched the Netflix series…