American Nightmare is the Netflix show is all anyone is talking about at the moment, and it shares the stranger-than-fiction tale of Denise Hoskins and Aaron Quinn, a couple who found themselves in trouble with the law after they were victims of a break-out and kidnap - despite being completely innocent of any crime.
The couple were at their home when an intruder drugged them and kidnapped Denise, issuing a ransom for her return before eventually dropping her off near her parents’ home 400 miles away. The police publicly stated that they believed the couple had lied about the incident, with Lt Kenny Park saying: “Mr Quinn and Ms Huskins have plundered valuable resources away from our community, and have taken focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear amongst our community members.”
However, after the real kidnapper, an ex-Marine named Matthew Muller, was eventually arrested and convicted, the couple filed a claim for violating their rights and destroying their reputations, with the claim reading: “While the Vallejo Police Department focused on two unsubstantiated theories, that Aaron killed Denise or that Denise somehow faked her own kidnapping, Denise endured unimaginable terror and a violent assault.”
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The couple settled for $2.5 million in 2018. So after being vindicated, where are they now? Find out here…
The couple are very much still together and released a book detailing their experience, Victim F: From Crime Victims to Suspects to Survivors, to share their experience. The pair tied the knot in 2018, with Denise sharing the gorgeous photos on Instagram, writing: “So grateful to my husband @movement_yoda and all of our loved ones for such an incredible day and wonderful memories. A special thanks to all of our vendors who helped make the day even more unforgettable: @monarchcoveinn for the breathtaking venue and attentive service.”
They also share two daughters, aged four and one. They often share photos of their happy family life on social media.
They have also used their platform to discuss bringing the case back into the spotlight for the Netflix series, saying: “Before waking this morning we had already received countless messages/comments of people’s love and support upon the release of our docuseries today. It’s always terrifying putting ourselves out there, re-exposing ourselves publicly, but there is a greater purpose. Thank you for receiving this with such compassion and respect.”
Speaking about remaining together, they told Netflix: “I think we would have stayed together, and I think that’s why we were able to stay together. When you go through traumatic experiences, it does strip away some of the noise.
"You start realising what’s really important: our relationship with each other, and our relationship with our families and close friends. The level of exposure from this series will probably be quite a lot. But I know that when I come home, I’ll be with Denise and our girls. We have a solid bedrock, and places to go where people love us for who we are.”
They added: “Despite all the crazy things that we’ve gone through, we are the lucky ones. That’s a major reason why we continue to put ourselves out there. We are the ones that had the ability to hire attorneys who stayed by our side to help ensure that we were protected as victims. We were fortunate to have an understanding of a system that’s really confusing in the first place. So now we can take that and use it to our advantage to reach as many other people as possible.”
