On Thursday, Zachery Otis Matthews fell to the floor of Kristine Larson's family home, not once but several times, overcome with emotion. Larson's body had been identified that morning as that of the young woman found strangled in a burning car in Minneapolis.

It was all that Matthews, the father of Larson's 2-year-old son, could do to contain himself. Her parents and siblings rallied around the 21-year-old St. Paul man with tears and hugs, and shared his grief.

On Sunday, St. Paul Park police stopped by the Larson residence to take Matthews in for questioning.

Within hours, police were back on the phone to the slain woman's mother. They now had a confession, according to the family. Matthews, police told the family, was Larson's killer.

"The family is shocked and horrified," said Michelle Sveiven, Larson's older sister. "We never would have suspected. He had the child at the time (of Larson's disappearance), and he was at my mother's home, grieving with all of us ... falling down to the floor, crying. We all comforted him. He comforted us."

Matthews was being held without bail Monday at the Hennepin County jail in connection with the murder of Larson, police said. The Hennepin County attorney's office was reviewing the case for possible charges. St. Paul Park police did not return Pioneer Press calls seeking comment on the reported confession.

Larson, 19, of St. Paul Park, left home shortly after 2 p.m. Wednesday, telling her mother she was taking a friend to a nearby SuperAmerica and then to pick up her son, Darion, from Matthews' house on St. Paul's East Side.
Matthews called several times after that, worried that she had never arrived, her family said.

At 8 p.m., a resident in the 2200 block of 24th Avenue South in Minneapolis' Seward neighborhood saw a Buick on fire in her rear alley driveway.

The woman sought help from a neighbor, Jim Haefemeyer, who grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out a small fire in the car's front seat. He then pulled Larson's body from the back seat, but it was obvious she was already dead, Haefemeyer said Friday.

Police the next day confirmed that the person in the car was Larson and contacted the family about 4 a.m. According to Sveiven, Larson's stepfather then drove to St. Paul to pick up Matthews and Darion, who had spent the night. Matthews then stayed at the Larson family home.

Sveiven described Larson as a trusting sister who was just beginning to map out her future. She had her son at 16, forcing her to transfer to an alternative learning school, from which she graduated this summer, her family said.

She was taking bartending classes with her stepfather and had talked of becoming a nurse or therapist. She doted over Darion and planned to take him Christmas shopping Wednesday.

Kristine Larson's family said she maintained an on-again, off-again relationship with Matthews. The couple lived in St. Paul for the first half of this year before she moved back in with her mother about six months ago.

Sveiven said that on one occasion this summer, Matthews had perched over the railing on St. Paul's Wabasha Bridge, threatening to jump, until Larson coaxed him back and physically pulled him to safety.

"Five months ago, she saved his life. And now he took hers," Sveiven said.

To all appearances recently, however, the pair seemed to be on an upswing, and Larson had begun dropping her son off with Matthews almost daily. On the Sunday before her death, the three went to the Children's Museum in St. Paul.

On Dec. 10, Matthews posted a short message on Larson's Web page on the social networking site MySpace.com, asking her to contact him because he missed her. On Dec. 18, a day before her death, he posted a picture of a rose with the message, "Just Dropin (sic) by to show some Love. To My Friend."

Matthews maintains several pictures of himself with Larson on his MySpace.com page, where he describes himself as married.

There is also a poem, apparently dedicated to her:

"I miss her too, now I got D and I dont know what to do, live my life n let the day go thru make him smile cuz she would want him to."

After the killing, Matthews last week in an e-mail exchange with a Pioneer Press reporter asked not to be contacted regarding Larson's death.

His unedited response to a request for an interview, dated Saturday at 7:48 a.m.:

"Kristine was more than a friend to me, she was my life, and above all my son's mother. I dont want media ... (bothering) any of our friends asking questions about this because we know no more than u do. So im asking you nicely dont bother grieving people, dont send me anymoer messages. Dont waste your time tryint to talk to me."

Matthews' criminal history includes an arrest March 8, 2005, in Washington County on suspicion of assault, trespassing, property damage and obstructing the legal process. He was booked into the Washington County jail and released two days later on his own recognizance.

On June 27, 2005, he was booked into the Ramsey County jail for 10 hours on a warrant for first-degree armed robbery, and then transferred to another facility.

It was unclear from court records available Monday if he was tried or convicted in either case.