Vindicated 'Gone Girl' victim and her boyfriend hit out at cops who called them liars - after the arrest of Harvard lawyer who 'kidnapped her using a water pistol'

  • Denise Huskins and boyfriend Aaron Quinn fronted press conference Monday after the FBI revealed an arrest had been made in kidnapping
  • Huskins was abducted from her Vallejo, California, home on March 23
  • Matthew Muller, 38, has now been charged with the kidnapping
  • Muller attended Harvard Law and worked as a professor at the college before becoming a lawyer until he was disbarred last year
  • The FBI made the connection after discovering a pair of goggles in Muller's trunk that matched those Huskins had said were used in her kidnapping 
  • Huskins, 29, was dropped off one day after she was kidnapped in her hometown of Huntington Beach
  • Quinn, 30, was allegedly tied up and monitored by the kidnappers, which is why he could not go to police for 12 hours
  • Many believed the kidnapping was a hoax, and even law enforcement officials called it an 'orchestrated event' 

The woman accused by police of orchestrating her own kidnap - mirroring the film 'Gone Girl' - has spoken through her lawyer to hit out at officers for 're-victimizing' her after a former Marine and Harvard University professor was arrested for the crime.

Matthew Muller, of Orangeville, California, allegedly kidnapped Denise Huskins and tied up her boyfriend in a bizarre plot that was initially publicly labeled a hoax by police.

The FBI caught Matthew Muller, of Orangeville, California, after finding a pair of swim goggles in his car that had long blonde hair matching his victim attached to them. 

Huskins - who was taken from her home in Vallejo on March 23 after a group of individuals entered the house and tied up her boyfriend - said through her lawyer that she was pleased that the 'psychopath' who allegedly kidnapped her was now in custody.

Furthermore, the arrest seems to have vindicated Huskins and boyfriend Aaron Quinn.

'Today is a fabulous day for Denise Huskins,' attorney Douglas Rappaport said, describing her as a 'courageous woman' who had been 're-victimized' by the behavior of the police, NBC reported.  

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Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, who police suspected of hoaxing a bizarre kidnapping plot, front a press conference on Monday night

Denise Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn, who police suspected of hoaxing a bizarre kidnapping plot, front a press conference on Monday night

The couple, pictured at the end of the conference, were accompanied by their lawyer, Douglas Rappaport, left

The couple, pictured at the end of the conference, were accompanied by their lawyer, Douglas Rappaport, left

Matthew Muller, who is the suspected kidnapper

Matthew Muller, who is the suspected kidnapper

Neither Huskins or Quinn spoke at the press conference. Their lawyers said they needed to preserve their case against Muller.

They also hinted that the couple might sue for police claiming that they lied about what happened, saying both are struggling to get work in light of the incident. 

'Mr. Muller could spend the rest of his life in prison and it’s not going to resolve the issue,' said Daniel Russo, Quinn’s attorney.

'What I want is for the Vallejo PD to do their job.

'Go out, find out if there are other guys out there and make sure that next time this happens they think before they talk.'

Huskins was set free just one day after she was taken in the town she grew up in, leading many to speculate that the entire incident had been staged much like the popular novel and film Gone Girl.

Huskins said she was sexually assaulted twice during the kidnap, according to federal documents. 

Muller was originally arrested on June 8 

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the FBI arrested Muller at his South Lake Tahoe home in relation to a home invasion robbery in the area, and as they investigated the case began to notice similarities between that incident and the kidnapping of Huskins.

On June 29 he was still in custody and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest in connection to the kidnapping.

Muller is being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. 

It was also revealed that Muller attended Harvard Law and worked at Kerosky, Purves & Bogue law firm in San Francisco.

He lost his license to practice in 2014, and as of next week will be disbarred according to the State Bar of California

Muller failed to file proper documents in the case of one of his clients, and after that did not return the money he was paid according to the State Bar. 

NBC is reporting Muller is also a former Marine who is bipolar and suffers from what police call 'Gulf War Illness.'

The FBI has made an arrest in the March 23 kidnapping of Denise Huskins (above second from right with her mother and two brothers) in Vallejo, California

The FBI has made an arrest in the March 23 kidnapping of Denise Huskins (above second from right with her mother and two brothers) in Vallejo, California

Police had said that Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn (above) made up the kidnapping

Police had said that Huskins and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn (above) made up the kidnapping

In addition, Muller worked as a professor at Harvard from 2006 until 2009, and according to an interview in The Harvard Law Record was married at one point.

It is not known if Muller is still married. 

He detailed his life in an interview with Military Time, saying that before he served he was 'a classic smart but lazy high school student.'

He was stationed in japan during his service, and upon returning home attended community college before enrolling at Pomona where he graduated summa cum laude before going off to Harvard Law School. 

The FBI made the connection after discovering a pair of goggles in the truck of Muller's Mustang that matched those Huskins had said were used in her kidnapping.

Upon closer inspection, authorities found a long piece of blond hair stuck to some duct tape on the goggles, just like Huskins' hair. 

Investigators also found a 'super soaker type of water pistol that had been spray-painted black and had a flashlight and laser pointer taped to it'.

It is not known if any other individuals have been arrested at this time, though Huskins claimed she was kidnapped by at least two men. 

She also said she was twice sexually assaulted during the kidnapping. 

The case was compared by many to the film Gone Girl (above) in which a woman fakes her kidnapping

The case was compared by many to the film Gone Girl (above) in which a woman fakes her kidnapping

In an email sent earlier this year, the individuals who claimed they were responsible for the kidnapping demanded an apology from the police for calling the entire incident a hoax.

It is not known if Muller, 38, was involved in writing or sending this email. 

Huskins, 29, was allegedly snatched from her home by kidnappers who tied her boyfriend up on March 23, then released one day later 400 miles away beside her parents' home.

After her 'release' police accused them of staging the kidnapping – a claim they both strongly denied.    

In April, Lt. Kenny Park, the spokesman for the Vallejo Police Department, said that the kidnapping of Huskins, which triggered a statewide search that involved 100 volunteers, 40 detectives and numerous FBI agents, was  an 'orchestrated event.' 

The aforementioned email had demanded that the police make clear that neither Huskins or her boyfriend Aaron Quinn - who was with her at the time she was allegedly kidnapped but waited 12 hours to call police - will face any criminal charges.

As for the main reason behind the kidnapping, the group wrote; 'The Mare Island kidnapping was a training mission to test means and methods that would be used on higher net worth targets.' 

The kidnappers then compared themselves to the cast of Ocean's 11, the famous caper film that starred members of the Rat Pack when it premiered in 1960 and Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and George Clooney in the 2001 remake.

It is not the first email the alleged kidnappers had sent the paper either, also reaching out to them on March 24 with an audio file of Huskins to prove she was still alive one day after being taken from her home in Mare Island.

She eventually turned up in Huntington Beach, where both of her parents live, just a few hours later.

One email the group sent was 9,000 words long, and detailed why the group kidnapped Huskins, and how they went about taking her from her home.

The group consists of three members the emails claimed, and they also claimed they were behind a recent string of burglaries and car thefts in the area.

They claimed that they drilled holes in the window of Huskins and Quinn's home to gain entry, and then used squirt guns with 'strobe flashlights and laser pointers' attached to them to make it appear as if they were firearms.

They say they played 'calming music' as they went about the abduction, and put monitors on Quinn, 30, so they could make sure he did not go to police.

A news crew reports from the house in Vallejo, California, where Denise Huskins was kidnapped in March

A news crew reports from the house in Vallejo, California, where Denise Huskins was kidnapped in March

They then said they put Huskins in the trunk of Quinn's car and drove off with her.

In the end however, they said it was a case of mistaken identity, and they did not mean to take Huskins, thinking that someone else would be in the house.

They say that is why they decided to drop her off in Huntington Beach, and that they were 'horrified at what we had done.'

As for the ransom they requested, what police believe to be a rather paltry $8,500, the group said: 'We chose $8,500 because it was below the $10,000 reporting threshold, and far enough below that it likely would not be flagged as part of a structured transaction under that prong of the reporting law.'

Attorneys for both Quinn and Huskins claimed throughout the aftermath of this ordeal that their clients had confirmed aspects of this email, and that they had sent photos of the holes drilled in the window that the kidnappers used to gain access to prove that whoever sent this note is telling the truth.

Huskins' attorney, Doug Rappaport, said that the reason police called the incident a hoax is because the kidnappers used 'sophisticated computer skills' that neither they or the FBI could 'comprehend.' 

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