The mother of ‘Gone Girl’ kidnapper Matthew Muller is defiantly standing by her son – even as he faces fresh charges.
Joyce Zarback told the DailyMail.com, ‘We’re doing fine. I love my son. I think he’s incredible.’
The 79-year-old retired English teacher gave her implausibly tone-deaf comment after notorious rapist Muller, 47, was hit with two more shocking felony charges on December 30.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Hall of Justice in Santa Clara, California, on Monday, January 6.
The Ivy-League educated and decorated former marine is currently serving 40 years behind bars at a Tuscon, Arizona federal prison for rape and false imprisonment after the nightmare kidnapping of Denise Huskins, now 39, in March 2015 – which detectives initially insisted was a hoax.
Police were forced into an embarrassing about-face when it emerged Muller had indeed kidnapped Huskins from the home she shared with boyfriend Aaron Quinn in Vallejo, California, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Muller broke into the residence where he drugged and tied up the couple. He kidnapped Huskins, brought her to his family’s cabin in South Lake Tahoe and sexually assaulted her.
Quinn told police his girlfriend was being held for an $8,500 ransom. They in turn accused him of murdering her and using the kidnapping story as a cover-up.
Police were forced into an embarrassing about-face when it emerged Matthew Muller (pictured) had kidnapped Denise Huskins from the home she shared with boyfriend Aaron Quinn in Vallejo, California, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco
Muller broke into the residence where he drugged and tied up the couple (pictured)
Notorious rapist Muller, 47, was hit with two more shocking felony charges on December 30
Two days later, Muller drove his victim to Huntington Beach 420 miles south of Vallejo where she managed to escape and made her way to family members.
Observers noted the events had similar plot traits to director David Fincher’s 2014 blockbuster psychological drama ‘Gone Girl,’ starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, based on the Gillian Flynn novel.
The harrowing ordeal of Huskins and Quinn was turned into an engrossing Netflix documentary, ‘American Nightmare,’ which debuted on the streaming service in January last year.
Meanwhile, prosecutors with Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office have said Muller is also responsible for two more crimes both strikingly similar to the infamous 2015 home invasion.
The first, an assault and attempted rape of a woman in her 30s during a burglary, occurred in September 2009.
It is alleged that Muller, a Harvard Law School graduate, broke into the victim’s home in Mountain View, northern California, 37 miles south of San Francisco.
According to prosecutors, she awoke to find a masked intruder who thrust her head down into her bed. The man told her he was committing an identity theft robbery.
The assailant handcuffed the woman and also bound her ankles with ‘some sort of Velcro restraint.’
Two days later, Muller drove his victim to Huntington Beach 420 miles south of Vallejo where she managed to escape and made her way to family members
Huskins and Quinn, both physical therapists, have since married
Today, the couple live in a charming California coastal town with their two young daughters
Leaving his terrified victim bound, he made several phone calls over the course of her two-hour ordeal.
At one point, Muller carried her downstairs, then took her upstairs again to her bedroom. He forced the woman to drink Nyquil and used her own cell phone to text her employer which said she was calling in sick and would not be at work.
Muller, said authorities, threatened to rape the woman but she ‘persuaded him against it.’ He then left the residence – but not before suggesting she get herself a dog for company.
The following month, it is also alleged in the latest court filing, Muller targeted a home in Palo Alto, seven miles north of Mountain View.
According to a police report of the incident, he broke into the property – again wearing a mask – with a sleeping woman inside.
He tried to disguise his voice by speaking in a ‘low growl’ and at the same time restrained her ankles and arms with fabric fasteners. He put plugs in her ears and covered her eyes with surgical tape.
Again, he forced the woman to drink Nyquil and threatened to rape her – but relented when she told him about a previous sexual assault she had suffered.
Muller ‘gave the victim crime prevention advice, then fled,’ according to prosecutors, and warned her not to call the police.
Muller kidnapped Huskins, brought her to his family’s cabin in South Lake Tahoe and sexually assaulted her
The harrowing ordeal of Huskins and Quinn was turned into an engrossing Netflix documentary, ‘American Nightmare,’ which debuted on the streaming service in January last year
Pictured:
A new investigation was opened by the Santa Clara County District Attorney after Muller’s DNA was found to be on straps used to bind one of the victims. He was charged with two felony counts of committing a sexual assault during a home invasion for both of the 2009 crimes.
‘The details of this person’s violent crime spree seem scripted for Hollywood, but they are tragically real,’ DA Jeff Rosen said. ‘Our goal is to make sure this defendant is held accountable and will never hurt or terrorize anyone ever again. Our hope is that this nightmare is over.’
Muller apparently maintained his unquenched lust to terrify women when he targeted Huskins six years later.
He pleaded guilty to kidnapping in the ‘Gone Girl’ case in 2016 and to the sexual assault of Denise Huskins in 2022.
Yesterday, DailyMail.com revealed that the couple have been assisting authorities as prosecutors push forward with the latest charges.
‘We continue to work with law enforcement to see this case is fully investigated,’ Huskins told DailyMail.com.
Huskins and Quinn, both physical therapists, married and today live in a charming California coastal town with their two young daughters. They sued the Vallejo Police Department for defamation and reached a $2.5 million settlement.
The couple sued the Vallejo Police Department for defamation and reached a $2.5 million settlement
DailyMail.com revealed that the couple have been assisting authorities as prosecutors push forward with the latest charges
‘We continue to work with law enforcement to see this case is fully investigated,’ Huskins told DailyMail.com
They said on American Nightmare that in addition to the trauma they went through, they feared losing their jobs due to the false allegations by police that they had fabricated the kidnapping.
‘You go through something like that, and every moment, every ounce of energy is about ‘How do I live to see another second?’ That is all you can think about,” Huskins told ABC News. ‘The last thing that you’re thinking about is, “If I do survive, I need to make sure that I’m believable.”’
Muller left the Marines in 1999 after tours in Japan and the Middle East. He attended community college in California then studied at Harvard Law School from 2003, graduating with a Juris Doctor in 2006.
In 2009 he moved back to the Golden State and began working for immigration law firms in San Francisco. His law license was suspended in 2013 for non-payment of dues.
In 2017, he was disbarred in California for failing to do correct work for clients and finally barred from working in federal immigration courts in 2017 after he pled guilty in the Huskins case.
Zarback’s latest comment to DailyMail.com about Muller strikes a different tone than a 2017 interview with the Sacramento Bee when she said, ‘I feel horrible that it is my son who is the person who started this.’
She told the outlet that he didn’t date when he was at high school because he was overweight and was bullied.
His parents divorced in 1995 when he was a high school senior. Instead of college, Muller joined the Marines and played trumpet in the Corps band.
In the same interview, Zarback described her son as ‘strong-willed.’ She and her husband wanted Muller to attend college but ‘he had made up his mind.’
Superior Court Judge Hector Ramon ordered Muller to return to court on January 17 to enter a plea. He faces life behind bars if convicted of the latest charges.
