The man who pleaded guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Northern California woman in a case that became known nationally as the “Gone Girl” kidnapping has now been charged with additional burglaries and assaults from previous years, prosecutors announced announced Monday.

Matthew Muller — who pleaded guilty in the 2015 kidnapping and sexual assault of Denise Huskins — was charged in connection with two other home invasions in 2009, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said.

In the first attack, on Sept. 29, 2009, Muller allegedly broke into a woman’s home in Mountain View, tied her up, forced her to drink a mixture of drugs and told her he was going to rape her, prosecutors said. The woman “persuaded him” and Mueller then allegedly suggested she get a dog and fled the scene, prosecutors said.

Weeks later, on Oct. 18, 2009, Muller allegedly broke into a Palo Alto home, bound and gagged a woman and forced her to drink NyQuil, prosecutors said. “He then began attacking her before he could be persuaded to stop,” prosecutors said. “Mueller gave the victim crime prevention advice and then fled.”

While “pursuing a new lead,” investigators sent all evidence from both crime scenes for further examination, and thanks to “advances in forensic DNA testing,” Muller’s DNA was recovered from straps used to bind one of the victims, prosecutors said on Monday with.

Muller — who was serving a 40-year sentence in a federal prison in Arizona on charges dating back to 2015 — appeared in court in San Jose, California, for his arraignment on Monday.

He was charged with two counts of first-degree burglary with intent to commit rape, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a subsequent news conference. Mueller faces a risk of life in prison on both counts, he added.

“When, God forbid, a serious and terrible crime is committed, as in these two cases – a man breaking into a woman’s home and tying her up to rape her – we want to solve that crime as quickly as possible.” “We failed to do that in this case,” Rosen said, commenting on the 15 years it took law enforcement to identify Muller as a suspect in the 2009 crimes. “Were these two investigations handled perfectly? No, they were not handled perfectly. However, we were able to resolve these cases and obtain justice in this case.”

Rosen also announced that Muller’s hearing is scheduled for January 17 at 9 a.m.

“If the defendant pleads guilty to these crimes, I will be grateful,” the prosecutor said. “I am grateful that the victims do not have to go through more pain and trauma.”

On March 23, 2015, Muller broke into a home in Vallejo, where he drugged and tied up Huskins and her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, prosecutors said.

He kidnapped Huskins and took her to a cabin in South Lake Tahoe, where he sexually abused her, prosecutors said.

Quinn went to the police, who began to consider him a suspect.

After two days of captivity, Muller drove Huskins to Southern California and released her.

After Huskins was released, the couple was accused of a hoax, and the case sparked a media storm fueled by claims that the case mirrored the book and movie “Gone Girl.”

Muller was arrested for Huskins’ kidnapping in June 2015 when he was identified as a suspect in a home invasion in Dublin, California.

Muller pleaded guilty to Huskins’ kidnapping in 2016 and her sexual assault in 2022, prosecutors said.

The case became the subject of the Netflix documentary “American Nightmare,” released earlier this year.