Matthew Muller, the prime suspect in a California kidnapping that’s become known as the “Gone Girl” case because police initially believed the victim faked the crime, agreed to tell a reporter a few things “off the record” in a jailhouse interview. One of those things was apparently that he did it, Wired’s Kevin Poulsen reports.

Back in March, a 29-year-old Vallejo, Calif., woman disappeared from her home, and her boyfriend was left tied up and drugged with a note demanding a ransom for her return. Suspicion initially fell on the boyfriend, but when the victim returned two days later and refused to cooperate with investigators, authorities thought she may have staged the whole thing, a la Gone Girl. Which brings us up to this week, when a real suspect has been charged with the “hoax” kidnapping.