Sherri Papini’s Ex-Husband Breaks Silence After Kidnapping Hoax

Keith Papini, the ex-husband of Sherri Papini, has spoken out for the first time since Sherri’s arrest in 2022 for fabricating her kidnapping. The shocking case, which captivated national attention, began in 2016 when Sherri claimed she had been abducted, beaten, and branded by two Hispanic women. Her dramatic story unravelled in 2022 when the Department of Justice revealed that Sherri had been staying with an ex-boyfriend while the nation frantically searched for her.

“She made us all believe that her story was true; every single day she committed to the lie,” Keith Papini said in an interview with Good Morning America while promoting the upcoming documentary Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini. Keith discovered Sherri was missing after she failed to pick up their two children from daycare. He found her phone and earbuds abandoned on a road a mile from their home and immediately contacted the police. Sherri’s return home 22 days later raised suspicions due to the lack of a clear motive for her supposed kidnapping.

At the time of her return, Keith fiercely defended Sherri against sceptics. “We are not going to allow those people to take away our spirit, love or rejoice in our girl found alive and home where she belongs,” he said. “I understand people want the story, pictures, proof that this was not some sort of hoax, plan to gain money or some fabricated race war. I do not see a purpose in addressing each preposterous lie.”

In his recent interview, Keith admitted that he had doubts about Sherri’s story from the beginning. “When I pulled back the curtain and I saw her and I saw the look in her eyes, I felt in that moment that she was lying,” he told GMA’s Matt Gutman. “It wasn’t until when I really got close and I could just see the amount of injuries, bruises, burns to her body, and it was a shock to me. I remember thinking, how horrible of me to even think that she could’ve done this to herself.”

In 2022, Sherri signed a plea deal admitting that the kidnapping was a hoax. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison for mail fraud and lying to a federal officer but was released after serving ten months. Following her guilty plea, Keith filed for divorce. In a peculiar twist, Sherri recently made headlines again when she was mentioned in Eminem’s latest song, “Houdini.”

The release of Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini is expected to shed more light on the case, providing deeper insights into the hoax that gripped the nation and the lasting impact on those involved.