Keith Papini
Appearances
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
it never occurred to me at first that people would think it was me and then you know when you step back and you kind of look at this from an outside perspective i'm sure you'd be oh it's it's the it's the husband i remember family members were like you need to you need to get a lie detector test and you need to get this and this because they're they're saying all these mean things about you i never cared what other people were saying
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
It is very difficult for me and for my family. I would never wish this feeling upon anybody. It is taking its toll on me.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I'm just wondering about her health. Are they feeding her? Is she hot? Is she cold?
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I was like, no problem, let's hurry up and get this over with. It's a crazy feeling just going through that.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
These tests, they don't tell you if it's a big lie or a small lie. They just know, like, when you're lying.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I knew, obviously, it had nothing to do with it, and I didn't care. I looked past all that.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
There was no idea or thought that if I think could work, that I was not going to try.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
For me, I was going to do everything I could to get my wife back.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
911, what is your emergency? So I just got home from work and my wife wasn't there, which is unusual.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
My cell phone rang. I didn't pick up the first call. I was just getting done shaving. I didn't recognize the number. Immediately after that, my home phone rang. I pick it up and it was a very mixed emotion. It was my wife screaming in the background. I'm panicked, but I'm happy because at this point, this is the first time I've heard her voice. I know she's laughing. And I hear screaming.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Found her phone and it's got like hair ripped out of it, like in the headphones. So I'm like totally freaking out thinking like somebody like grabbed her. What's your wife's name? Sherry, S-H-E-R-R-I.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
So then I get the phone and, oh my God, honey. And of course she's screaming. It's very emotional. And I love you, I love you, I love you. Oh my God, you're here, you're back. Where are you? And then the phone gets like taken away from her, like super quick.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
The paramedics were the first people to tell her Happy Thanksgiving. It just blew her mind, and then she's like, oh, it's Thanksgiving night? And they said, no, it's Thanksgiving morning.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
One of the officers kind of braced me and put his arm around me and he said, you know, prepare yourself.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Okay, what's your last name? Yes, Papini, P-A-P-I-N-I. And your first name? Keith.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
The bruises were just intense. Her hair, everybody knows Sherry. She's always had very long, blonde hair. And, you know, they chopped it off. She lost almost 15% of her body weight in 22 days. That is traumatic physically. It made me sick that there is people out there that could do something like this.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
We have to do this and we have to catch these people. Let's just answer everything they want to know.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
That first day, you were supposed to have been in the car for a while. Is that right?
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
He hugged her, and my wife, obviously, very emotional, and started crying. And she said, I'm so happy. And my son, of course, is like, you don't cry when you're happy. And my wife said, when you're this happy, you cry. Then it was two-year-old Violet's turn. She just said, mommy, and just took off running. And she picked her up, and then we all went to the ground for a big family hug.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
In my darkest hours, I obviously explored any possible outcome, you know. Could she have just left? I mean, there's no evidence. And then, as everybody will tell you, no, she couldn't have. I knew it in my heart.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
When lights are off, when doors shut, when she hears certain sounds, I mean, it's something that I don't know how to deal with, and we'll need somebody that, you know, can help her through that from a professional standpoint.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
They were a very nice couple, sweet, sweet young people. She's just very kind-hearted and different from other girls that I have dated throughout the years. She's just so down to earth.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
We have a unique story. Years later, we kind of reconnected, and I remembered that I kept her notes that she wrote me. I took her out on a date, and I handed her a box, and of course it was like all our little love notes back and forth.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Yeah, yeah. No, like we were always meant to be, for sure.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
It was a little cold in the morning, but it was a nice day. I went to work, and I didn't get home until around 5 o'clock.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I looked in a few different rooms, and I couldn't find anybody. So I thought, OK, maybe they're outside. I looked around outside and couldn't find them.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Then I called our daycare type place. First thing I said is, what time did Sherry pick up the kids today? And when she said the kids are here, that was like, something is wrong.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
It's about a mile away, actually, near our mailbox. I wasn't looking for a phone. I was looking for Sherry. When I didn't find Sherry, I parked, and I got out. And now I'm looking for a phone because it's saying it's here, it's here.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I knew something was wrong. My first thing was somebody took her.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I remember hiking, looking for evidence, looking for Sherry. Then we start to see some birds circling. They're like, you know, there's a lot of birds starting to circle over there. And I just went to my knees and I thought, am I really, am I really hiking out here to look for my wife? And do I even want to, I don't want to find her right now, but I do want to find her.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
One of my good friends came over and just, you know, hugged me and let me cry on her shoulder for a little bit. That was a tough one for me that day.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Fortunately, I have an amazing family and amazing friends, and they really, really came to the rescue on that, kept them happy.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I told him I had something important to tell him, and he jumped up on the couch with me, and he knew something was up. And he said, Dad, you can tell me anything. For a little four-year-old to say that, I wasn't prepared for that, and I just said, uh, Son, you know, Mommy went running and she didn't come home and we just held each other. And I said, she said, are you looking for her?
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
And I said, everybody in the whole world is looking for her right now. And I said, we're gonna find her and we're gonna get her back.
20/20
Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I don't like to think too much about it because You know, I just assume that I'm going to get a phone call any second or she's going to, you know, show up at my house.
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
We have reached out to James Reyes for comment, but have not heard back. The Shasta County Sheriff's Office fully investigated James, corroborated his story with a polygraph, cell phone records and witnesses, and has cleared him of any crimes. The sheriff's office declining to comment on Sherry's latest allegations, saying, quote, we are choosing to focus on current public safety matters.
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Keith, a couple of times you said her face, her poor face.
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I will say that no, it's not on her face, no. She lost almost 15% of her body weight in 22 days. That is traumatic physically.
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Sherry Pippini arrested on charges that she allegedly lied to federal agents about being kidnapped. News breaks that the mother of two has been arrested.
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
And over the next six years, investigators would piece together how Papini had lied about everything, from her fictional abduction to injuries which were largely self-inflicted. DNA from her clothing eventually leading them to her ex-boyfriend, James Reyes.
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Authorities say Papini's allegations of abuse against her husband were unfounded and that James Reyes had no knowledge of her plan. And with Reyes's cooperation, investigators now believed they had solid proof Sheriff Papini's kidnapping was a hoax.
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
I sat down with Keith Papini nearly eight years after I first met him to hear how he says he was fooled by Sherry's lies for so long. So many people watching this would wonder, was his spidey sense going off? Didn't he notice that something was off?
20/20
The After Show: Sherri Papini: Where the Truth Lies
Sherry was sentenced to 18 months and was ordered to pay restitution. She served just under a year in federal prison and is now free.