More Sex, Lies and Depravity (2013)

[bunniefuu]

- Where would you like to start?

- I... have no idea.

- Okay. So on November 2, 2016,

what happened?

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- The missing mother of two,

Sherri Papini,

went for a run,

and she didn't come home.

The community of Redding,

California,

is still very much on edge.

- Police in California

are working around the clock

to get to the bottom

of an alleged kidnapping.

- Several experts tell us

that this has all the telltale

signs of human trafficking.

-

Until we identify the suspects,

the public should

remain cautious.

- On November 2nd of 2016,

we received an email

from a family friend

that Sherri Papini was missing.

A mother went on a jog

and never came home.

Well, in the newsroom, you get

a lot of missing people reports

and initially, it felt like

the other missing people cases,

But after a few hours,

it seemed different.

More people were calling

the newsroom,

and it was being spread

like wildfire on social media.

People were coming forward

and telling us

that Sherri was someone

who was devoted to her husband,

she was devoted

to her children.

- Sherri used to work

in telecommunications,

but she ultimately decided

to leave work

and stay at home

and raise their two children.

- They're a working-class

family. Keith works at Best Bu

He was part of the computer

squad there, the Geek Squad.

- It looked like Sherri

had a great life.

Those photos of her

with her children,

and her and Keith lovingly

looking into each other's eyes,

they painted a picture.

They painted a narrative

of somebody who did have it all.

- Sherri fit the profile of who

the media and the public

often "care about"

when it comes to missing people.

She was white.

She was blonde.

She seemed to have

this perfect life,

a perfect marriage,

perfect children.

- Some members of

the community say

they aren't taking

any chances and safety

is at the forefront

of their minds.

- The FBI was involved

from the very beginning.

We had multiple agents

that were working hand in hand

with the Shasta County

Sheriff's Office.

- We just tried to figure out,

was it a kidnapping?

Did she run off somewhere?

- We do not have any persons

of interest or suspects

that have been identified

in the investigation so far.

- We all know,

watching the news,

that many times,

when a woman disappears,

it's her significant other.

It's her husband

or her boyfriend.

So people did have questions

about Keith.

What's their relationship like?

Have they been fighting?

Have they been separated?

Initially, yeah, I think

everybody wondered,

was Keith involved?

- So police, when they

examined Sherri's cell phone,

discovered that there had been

some angry texts back and forth.

There had been arguments,

and they'd been through a rough

patch a few months prior.

- Everybody had an opinion

on what their relationship was.

There was just

so much information that--

that it was good,

and it was bad.

- So of course,

when Sherri went missing,

they wanted to talk to Keith

and find out

whether he could have anything

to do with her disappearance.

And they had Keith

take a polygraph test.

- He was very cooperative

in that respect,

and his information

was checked out.

- There's something really

innocent, in a way, about Keith.

You see him in interviews

with law enforcement,

kind of making jokes

and having a little bit of this

"aw, shucks,"

folksy personality.

It really makes you think

that he's just--

he's just a regular guy.

- So I'm going to go off script

just a little bit here.

We have a mini crisis

in our town.

This doesn't happen,

where somebody comes and pleads

with the city council

to help find their loved one.

So it was unusual.

He would like

to reach out to see

if there's anybody

who can help him find his wife.

Mr. Papini.

- Thank you for giving me

this opportunity.

Um, I'm Keith Papini.

Sherri is my wife.

And I'm just trying

to do everything I can

to get her face everywhere,

her name out to everybody.

- The community

really rallied around Keith

and the entire Papini family.

They went out on search parties

People donated money

and really tried to help

as much as they could

to bring her home.

- Obviously, a lot of tips

started coming in,

from all aspects

ranging from

"Was it a convicted sex offend

that may have abducted her?"

"She just left willingly?"

- Sherri and Keith,

on the outside,

seemed to have

this perfect marriage.

But there was a lot more

going on than met the eye.

- The investigation

definitely started to turn,

because they were starting

to get things from her phone.

They found a lot

of text messages

with people who were not

her husband and men's names

that were concealed

under the name of women.

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- The first person that

investigators wanted to speak to

was a man

named Donovan Miske.

And this was a man

Sherri had been texting

for the previous five years.

- He said Sherri

was very forthcoming

about complaining

about her husband.

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- She was painting

a picture of Keith

that would cause others

to be empathetic towards her.

- The law enforcement looked

into some of these stories

that were told about

Keith's abusive nature.

No evidence was ever found.

- Every person had

a different opinion of Sherri

that we talked to--

all of her close friends,

all of her acquaintances.

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- So behind the scenes,

the clues were really starting

to stack up for investigators.

As a member of the media,

that information

was not shared with us.

For us, she was

still the supermom,

and everyone was concerned

about her safety.

We waited for some clue,

some development,

and it came...

[claps]

Out like a lightning bolt.

No one saw it coming.

for a missing Shasta County search

mother continues tonight,

and Action News Now

has live team coverage.

- Sherri was gone for 22 days.

Her community came together

to try to find her,

but they also were

living in fear.

As far as they knew,

Sherri had been kidnapped,

and did this mean

that there was an active,

you know,

kidnapper and criminal

at large who could come

after other people?

- Several people are

calling 911, saying,

"There's this crazed lady

along Interstate 5.

She needs help.

We need some help out here."

- The people calling

were reporting

that she looked frantic.

This was someone desperately

looking for help,

for someone to stop

along the side of the road.

- Keith called me about 4:00

that Thanksgiving morning.

He was frantic.

He was yelling, saying

that Sherri had been found.

Very, very excited.

- We are very ecstatic

to report

that Sherri Papini

has been located.

We learned that she was released

by her captor on a rural road

near I-5 in Yolo County.

- It was a Thanksgiving miracle

People had gotten the holiday

miracle they were looking for.

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- When she was initially found

on the side of I-5,

there was a chain

around her waist,

and she was zip-tied

to the chain.

- The California Highway Patrol,

Yolo County Sheriff's Office,

and medical personnel

responded to assist.

Sherri was freed

from her restraints,

transported to an area hospital,

and treated for her injuries.

- Every mark on her body

was a potential clue.

All of those clues in those

first early moments

at the hospital

were really, really vital.

- She looked dramatically

different.

She had bruises upon bruises.

She had a burn on her arm.

Her long hair

had been cut off.

And she just looked

so frail sitting there.

- At that point, what changed

for investigators is,

now they had--

this missing person shows up,

and she has this

incredible story.

So that changes everything.

- So we contacted her

at the hospital.

She was very emotional,

upset, crying.

- So Keith came into the room,

because at that point,

we weren't able to interview her

based on her emotional state.

- [crying]

- Having a family member

participate in an interview

is not standard procedure

for police investigations.

But they didn't have

a lot of options.

She was not going

to talk to them,

but she was willing

to talk to Keith.

- She said that she was

on a run in her neighborhood

when an unknown-type SUV

drove in front of her,

turned around, came back,

and she was confronted

by two Hispanic females,

one of which had a handgun,

ordered her into the vehicle.

- Her conversation with Keith--

I wouldn't even describe it

as a story.

It was more just kind of

throwing out

little bits and pieces.

So she kind of would give

a little bit of information,

but she would also give, like,

why she couldn't remember.

- The reason that

she had been taken,

which she had overheard

the kidnappers say--

someone wanted to buy her,

and she had been taken

to be delivered to a buyer.

In essence, human trafficking.

- Perhaps most terrible of all,

she had a branding

on her right shoulder,

where her skin was seared

with a branding iron,

the word "exodus."

She said the branding was meant

to appeal to the buyer.

- Her kidnappers

apparently suggested

that the man who was buying

her was a police officer.

- She also said

when she was confronted

by the kidnappers

at gunpoint, she crouched down

put her cell phone on the side

of the road with her earbuds,

and snatched some hair out

of her head with the cell phone

to perhaps send a message

to Keith

that she was being taken

against her will.

- It seems really unlikely.

When you are in a crisis,

survival mode is fight

or flight,

not "How can I leave

some clues?"

- She actually says many, many,

times, "I'm sorry,

I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

And this, to me, was very odd,

because why would a victim

of an abduction apologize?

found alive in what

some are calling a miracle.

- During her captivity,

Sherri Papini

had lost so much weight,

she was down to 87 pounds,

her body covered in bruises,

severe burns, red rashes,

and chain markings.

- Keith called me up not very

long after she'd been found,

and they came over to my house.

She had all the body language

of somebody with PTSD.

I worked in the ER for 12 years,

and I've definitely seen PTSD.

And I totally believed

her, 100%.

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- Law enforcement was

very tight-lipped with us

about what they were looking at.

We now know those investigators

had so much reason

to be suspicious

of what she was telling them.

- A few days

after Sherri reappears,

she and Keith sit down

with law enforcement.

And it's really remarkable

to see footage

from these interviews.

- You're in control.

If you need to take a break,

say when, and we'll go out there

and all

that kind of stuff, okay?

- I feel like sometimes

it's easier...

with my eyes closed.

- Sure.

- Is that okay?

- Absolutely. - She said

the kidnappers told her

that a cop wanted to buy her.

And so here, in her home,

are two cops

wanting to talk to her,

which made her very,

very uncomfortable.

I think she saw Keith

as her protector.

- I don't know you guys.

I don't know

if you're in my corner.

I know my husband.

I know my husband's

in my corner, but, um,

you know,there was

a lot of other things.

And I know that you guys know

everything about everything.

- Yeah.

- That's embarrassing and...

- Well--

- Yucky, and that's weird

for me. That's weird for me.

- No one's perfect.

No one does everything right.

[chatter] - There was a lot

of kind of chitchatting

and really trying to make

her feel comfortable.

- So before all of this,

I watched those shows.

I watched those shows.

And I, you know-- and I've read

Elizabeth Smart's book.

- She's admitting to having

an interest in true crime shows.

She's almost dropping clues

about what's really going on.

- On November 2, 2016,

what happened?

-

Stretched a little on the porch,

like I usually do.

Started running. I see a vehicl

go past Sunrise Drive,

and then it backs up.

And I immediately have that

feeling of "Oh, that was weird."

- You're doing good, Sherri.

- I...

walked towards

where the vehicle had backed up

and then she opened the door.

And then I saw

the small revolver.

- She told us a mask

was put over her head,

or a bag of some sort,

and then she was placed

in the back seat of the vehicle.

- Do you remember any music

as you were driving around?

- Yes.

- In the car?

- Mariachi music.

- Hmm.

- She described being placed

in a room that she described

as a raised foundational house.

- The first day with the zip

ties, getting out of them,

because they were behind--

they were behind my back.

So I pulled them.

I did one of these moves.

And that's what this scar

right there is from,

is the very beginning,

when I got them off.

And I bit them,

because I couldn't--

because Keith and I have even

tried this move before,

the whole, you know,

power through it and bust it.

And I tried that

and was unsuccessful.

And--and it cut right here.

So then I just chewed it off,

and I cut my lip right here.

And then I busted them.

Um, and then it was like--

I tried the door.

I could tell that the door

had a deadbolt at the top,

so I couldn't open the door.

- She talks a lot, so it sounds

like a lot of detail,

but if you actually look

at what she's saying,

it isn't helpful to them at all.

- She described--

she was kept in a single room

with the window boarded over.

There was a closet in the room

that had a metal pole,

to which she was chained.

- Let's draw the whole room.

- There was this pole--

stupid pole--

that was attached here.

Came down, like, all the way up.

-- --ing pole is the only reason

why I was there.

The cable was here.

And it made a turn.

Sorry for swearing.

At all times, there was a bucket

in the, um, closet.

That's what I used

to go to the bathroom in.

- What about the bathroom?

What's that look like?

- There was a cr*ck in the tile.

It was a light-colored tile

that was speckled.

It was always hands on the wall.

It was a really

high-pressured shower,

with just your standard

cheapie shower head.

- I would describe her

being annoyed

at things very inconsistent

with being an abducted person,

not talking about the urgency

to escape

or the fear

of not being rescued.

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- Investigators first

interviewed her at her home

November 28,

and then the next day,

they interview her another time

at another location.

Her story is slowly coming out.

She told investigators

she wasn't quite sure why

or how they cut her hair.

- After she cut it,

she had it in her hand.

I was down.

She was over me, and she said...

"I'm gonna send it

to your mother."

- She was very specific about

the different personalities

of the two captors.

The younger person she saw

as a more sympathetic person.

- I feel like the bigger

one enjoyed it,

and the little one did not.

The things like the burn,

cutting my hair,

the burn on my arm,

the chain, the lock--

that was all

from the bigger one.

- When the police ask her

about the brand on her shoulder

which is one of the most

singular gruesome details,

Sherri kind of deflects

from their conversations.

- My head was on the table.

I feel like I was in and out,

because the pain

was so excruciating,

um, in between, from--

and I apologize, guys,

but I--from my implants.

They--it was all of my weight

directly on them, also.

- These are male investigators.

And so, consciously or not,

she's drawing attention

to her breast implant surgery

in, perhaps,

an effort to get them

to change the subject.

- She said after three weeks,

suddenly, she heard the gunsho

And after that point,

she never heard

from the older captor again.

The younger one said,

"Let's go."

She was taken to a car,

driven for an unknown

period of time.

At some point, the car stops,

the door opens,

and she's told to get out.

It very quickly came to an end.

- Why did they decide

to release her?

In many ways, it almost left

everyone with more questions

than answers.

of abducting her

- Good afternoon.

- So after Sherri reappeared,

law enforcement

give a press conference.

And it's the first time

that they reveal

that she'd been kidnapped

by two Hispanic women.

And so immediately,

the public is freaked out.

- Shasta County,

historically speaking,

has been primarily Caucasian.

At the time of Ms. Papini's

discovery,

Shasta County was already

lathered up to hate Latinos.

Certainly, with Mr. Tr*mp

going into office,

it sort of exacerbated

some bigotry

and out-and-out racism.

After she had been discovered,

from a variety of sources,

we started hearing reports

of an alleged hate manifesto

from Ms. Papini.

And this was when she was

in high school.

- It was published

under her maiden name.

This author makes some

pretty disturbing statements.

"I used to come home in tears

"because I was getting

suspended from school

"all the time for defending

myself against the Latinos.

"The chief problem was that

I was drug-free, white,

and proud of my blood

and heritage."

- It's really, really

r*cist and ugly.

The detectives asked

Sherri about it.

- My life wasn't perfect

before this. Um...

it's just an awful feeling,

that all of the--

all of everything,

and the made-up things.

It's just a disgusting,

yucky feeling

of what it's doing

to my family.

- Obviously people are drawn

to conclusions,

that you're reporting

two Hispanics did this.

You wrote some-- I'm assuming--

did you write the blog?

- No.

- Both Sherri and her family

unequivocally deny

that she had anything

to do with it.

But it's a curious detail.

And then, on top of that,

when she accused two Hispanic

women of kidnapping her,

she was tapping into

this age-old narrative

that we have in this country

that white women need to be

protected from non-white people.

- Law enforcement want to hear

what she has to say.

But this undercurrent

is starting to build

because they have so much

information they're collecting

about the legitimacy

of her story

and how it's stacking up.

[dramatic music]

- I observed Sherri did a lot of

sort of unintended admissions.

And one great example is,

she says,

"It's easier for me to remember

with my eyes closed."

- I feel like sometimes

it's easier with my eyes closed.

- Sometimes it is beneficial

to close your eyes.

But if you're lying,

it's way easier to lie

if you're not looking

somebody in the eye.

- And I know that you guys know

everything about everything.

- I call that fishing.

She needs to know what they know

so she can come up

with a response.

- I've read Elizabeth

Smart's book.

- She just happened to say that

she read Elizabeth Smart's book

Elizabeth Smart was abducted

in Salt Lake City.

Elizabeth Smart was secured

by her abductor

with a cable and a lock.

Sherri Papini said she was

secured with a cable and a lock

Elizabeth Smart said

that she was made

to use the bathroom in a bucket

- At all times, there was

a bucket in the, um, closet.

That's what I used to go

to the bathroom in.

- Sherri Papini

exhibited these sort of cluster

of deceptive body language.

She would groom her hair.

She was scratching a lot.

She was covering her face

with her hands.

She would put her head down

on her knees.

I am reading between the lines

from my own experience,

but I will say this.

It is also valuable,

with someone

who is lying to you,

to get them to tell you the lies

as completely as possible.

- You're doing good, Sherri.

- I think they did

a pretty good job of making her

believe they were in her corner.

[tense music]

- Sherri returned home

Thanksgiving Day in 2016.

By spring of 2017,

law enforcement has talked

to Sherri a couple of times.

But all the while,

there are certain pieces

to the story

that don't quite add up.

But they're not quite sure

yet what that answer is,

and it's going to take more time

to find out

what really happened.

- Within a few months

of her returning home,

Sherri was entering therapy

to talk out

what had happened to her.

As a victim of a crime

in California,

she was eligible

for the Victims Compensation

Fund to get public funds

to undergo therapy.

- I believe the total figure

that she received was, like,

$30,000 worth of therapy

or something.

- Throughout this process,

Sherri was still in contact

with investigators,

providing them with snippets

of details

that might come to mind

with the passage of time.

She remembered a type of table

that she had been laid on

for the branding process.

Keith was looking up tables

on the Internet

and providing them to her

and investigators

to try to narrow down

the type of table

that was in that place

where she was held.

- Keith seems to really want

to be a partner

to law enforcement

and really help them solve

the case as much as possible.

- Today, a break in the case.

Two sketches

of Papini's kidnappers.

- Almost a year

into the investigation,

we get the release

of the composite sketch.

- One female captor

is described as a 5'5",

20 to 30 years old,

with a medium build

and curly dark hair.

The other woman is between 40

and 50 years old,

around 5'7",

with straight black hair.

- After the terrible

descriptions

of the alleged abductors

came out,

Latinos in Shasta County

pretty much went underground.

The impact was tremendous on

the Hispanic Latino community.

- Just as they get that

information, another bombshell

is dropped by law enforcement.

- Although Sherri claims she was

abducted by two Hispanic women,

this morning,

investigators revealing

she had male DNA on her clothing

when she was found.

- It was not Keith's DNA.

It was an unknown male.

That seems to be at odds

with Sherri's version of events

that she had been kidnapped

by two women.

- She had not told a story

about a man involved

in her kidnapping,

yet there was male DNA

on her underwear.

What sense does that make?

Nearly a year later,

there are still no arrests.

- It was now a big question

the police had to solve.

So Sherri is telling everyone

she was kidnapped by two women,

but DNA from the clothing

she had belongs to a man.

Then what happened?

[suspenseful music]

At this point, in 2017, we don'

really know what was going on.

- During that time, she wasn't

going out in the public much.

She was staying

inside the house.

- Publicly,

Keith was as supportive.

But man, if you are Keith,

you must have a lot

going on in your mind

about who your wife is.

Over two long years go by

without any breaks in the case.

They are not able to find a hit

on that DNA sample.

- That DNA was scrutinized

at every available level.

We were able to get to a point

where we could do

the familial DNA searches.

- A couple of years later,

through family connections,

they find out that a former

boyfriend, James Reyes,

might be the person

linked to that DNA.

They lived together in Southern

California about 10 years prior

So investigators have to head

to Costa Mesa, California,

to talk to James Reyes.

- James's interview

with law enforcement

was not made public

until very recently.

After so many years of mystery

behind what happened,

it was really stunning

to hear all of the details.

- James Reyes is this laid-back

Southern California dude,

playing hockey,

working at the hockey shop.

They say, "We can tell

you're nervous."

He goes, "No, no, no.

I'm not nervous."

- They did have to do

some convincing to James

'cause he wasn't telling them

the truth in the beginning.

- After 50 minutes of him

saying,

"Oh, I don't have anything

to help you,"

they confront him and say,

"Look, you need to tell us what

happened with Sherri Papini."

- When I first heard

that interview,

it kind of boggled

my mind a little bit.

All of the missing puzzle pieces

to the case

finally snapped into place.

- I mean, the lengths

he went to assist

Sherri in this crazy hoax

was--was pretty extraordinary.

- In the audio of their

discussion with James,

you can hear them

going around the apartment

and recognizing the similaritie

with the place

that Sherri has described.

- James told investigators

that he helped

Sherri commit acts

of self-harm.

- Technically, he was involved,

but it doesn't seem

that he played any part

other than the patsy.

- So the ex-boyfriend's account

of how she had started

to harm herself

and the things that she

was doing matched up exactly

with the physical evidence

that we had in the case,

and that physical evidence

was not put out to the public.

- He didn't really remember

what it was

that was branded

onto Sherri's shoulder,

but Sherri told law enforcement

that the branding on her

right shoulder said "exodus."

We don't know what, if any,

personal significance

"exodus" had to Sherri,

but exodus can be understood

as a reference

to the biblical book

that describes an escape

from bondage.

One of the more

interesting revelations

James tells investigators

is that during the three weeks

Sherri stayed with him,

they never had

a physical relationship.

- DNA can come

from several sources.

It doesn't always have to, you

know, include sexual contact.

Because it was a transfer

of some sort,

we didn't understand

how the transfer occurred.

- So to put it into perspective

here is an ex-boyfriend

who drives 8 to 11 hours nonsto

to pick her up,

and then turns around and does

that drive all over again,

lets her stay in his bedroom

while he's sleeping

on the couch,

helps her as she inflicts

harm on herself,

and kind of--

to put it crassly--for what?

Sherri has a very

particular pattern with men.

She would create a dynamic

in which she is sort of the

proverbial damsel in distress,

and men can be

her white knight.

And maybe that is what was

going on with James.

- Ultimately, one day, she says,

"I want to go see my kids.

I want to go home.

Take me back."

- So when Sherri decided

that she wanted to go home,

prior to leaving,

she asked him to go

and get some chain

and some zip ties.

- She told him to pull over.

He did.

She jumped out of the car.

There was no communication

after that.

He really didn't know

what happened

after she left that day.

- One by one by one,

James debunked

all of Sherri's lies.

She didn't go out for a jog.

She had planned

to leave with James.

She did not get

brutally tortured

and branded by two kidnappers.

All of her injuries

were self-inflicted.

And most importantly,

she wasn't kidnapped.

- If James' story is true,

Sherri has made up the biggest

lie a lot of us have ever heard

and carried it out

for a number of years.

They need to confront Sherri

with James Reyes's story.

- In August of 2020,

days after investigators speak

with Sherri's ex, James Reyes,

they bring Sherri and Keith

back in for another interview.

At this point, law enforcement

have spoken to Sherri

and Keith countless times

over the years,

but finally,

they have the evidence

they need to confront Sherri.

- Come on in. [chatter]

- When you're doing

a confrontational interview,

you've got to keep

any rapport you have built.

You want the person

to keep talking to you

and tell you the truth.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

- The FBI showed

Sherri evidence

of the apartment

of her ex-boyfriend.

And we had photographs of it,

and we wanted to ask her

what she thought

of those photographs.

- They're very clear.

You know, "If you lie to us,

that's a crime."

And then they start laying out,

piece by piece,

the tidbits of information

they've collected.

- Keith is starting

to really get excited.

He even stands up.

You can see that Sherri

is not that excited.

- She sits up very alertly now,

and she's kind of

on the edge of her seat,

wanting to know what they know.

- He is saying,

"This is what you drew.

This is what you drew."

- We showed another picture of

the closet that was very unique.

Keith was exuberant and

couldn't control his emotions.

She wanted to dismiss it

because it wasn't the same.

It seemed different.

- A lot of their questions

are answered with "I don't know.

I don't know. I don't know."

But that fits her pattern.

- Where Sherri was

drastically nervous,

Keith right next to her,

who's been a part of the

investigation the whole time,

was jumping up and down.

It was a unique thing to watch.

- I don't know if "deer

in the headlights"

is an apt description,

but it's that.

She--she freezes.

[tense music]

- So Sherri Papini

and the Shasta County

Sheriff's detectives

and her husband, Keith.

- As they continue to confront

her with these facts,

it's becoming crystal

clear to Keith

that she is not

telling the truth.

- When the detectives

are asking,

"Do you want Keith in the room?"

they are basically saying,

"because you now know

we know the truth."

- She is stuck.

And then she does something

that is really,

really common

with deceptive people.

She gets right face

to face with him.

She's starting to att*ck him.

- So she was telling Keith,

"I don't want to point

the finger"

at that captor who let her go.

So she was still

keeping up this story.

- You can hear in his voice

the desperation.

He's asking why.

He wants an explanation.

He wants to understand.

- He seems pretty baffled.

It's a stunning moment,

because it's--

it's among the first times

we see him start to realize

that the woman he loves,

the woman he married,

has been keeping a really

huge secret from him.

- It's interesting, comparing

this interrogation

to some of the earlier ones.

You know, back in 2016,

when she was first

talking to law enforcement,

Sherri seems pretty convincing.

- I know my husband.

I know my husband's

in my corner.

- Like a rational person

who has suffered

this really

traumatic experience.

But four years later, suddenly,

whatever rational

clear-headedness

she evoked at first

is starting to disappear.

And you see someone

that is rapidly losing control,

and that's a really

stunning thing to watch.

- They were very clear,

telling her,

"This is the point of no return.

"This is where this

investigation changes forever."

- Keith seemed shocked,

that he was trying to process

what they were

presenting to him.

He seemed to be leaning away

from her, laid in his chair,

kind of reclined.

Not closing the distance.

- So investigators

are telling Sherri

that they know

she's been lying,

and one by one,

they are meticulously refuting

each of the lies

she's told them over the years.

- Basically, the Earth

just opened up,

and it's getting ready

to swallow her.

- And it's at this point

that you have to wonder,

what is Sherri going to say now

that she's been confronted

with all of her lies?

- At this point,

we're all waiting

for what Sherri's

going to do next.

- And now she's starting

to come up with her plan.

"I can't believe

James is involved."

So she's taking

what they're saying,

and she's twisting it

to fit her narrative

that James is the abductor.

- Investigators have

pretty ironclad proof

that she's been lying.

And--and rather than admitting

then and there,

she just keeps doubling down,

doubling down.

It's really shocking,

actually, watching it,

because you just feel like here

is this person painted

into a corner.

And they know

there's no way out,

and yet they just kind of grasp

at whatever straws they can.

And it just no longer

makes any sense.

- So Keith steps

out of the room.

So at that point,

you wonder, watching,

is she going to come clean

without her husband there?

[sobbing]

[sobbing]

[sobbing]

[sobbing]

- I am the worst liar

in the world.

I cannot fathom what was

going through her mind.

But I think Sherri

always thought

she was ahead of the game.

She was a very gifted person

at telling tales.

And I think maybe,

at that point,

she thought she could still

carry on the narrative.

- She was told again,

and she continued this lie.

She continued this behavior,

even confronted with all of

the information that we had.

- He seemed like he was

kind of b*ating himself up

for having followed through

and tried to help her

solve this mystery.

So he was almost shellshocked

at that point.

- It makes you wonder

whether Keith was,

in some ways, the perfect spous

for someone like Sherri,

someone who perhaps was prone

to trusting people,

to seeing the good in people,

and perhaps leaving himself open

to being manipulated by someone.

- At this point, it's reasonable

to think

that this might be

the end of their relationship.

But as we know,

in a story like this one,

full of so many twists

and turns,

what actually happened

was not necessarily

what you would expect.

view,

when Sherri is confronted by

law enforcement over her lies,

Keith tells the investigators

that he doesn't want Sherri

to go home with him.

He doesn't want her

around their children.

But as far as we know,

they went home

and continued about their lives

- During that interim time,

we are working

with the prosecutors

to continue to collect evidence

to further corroborate

the ex-boyfriend's story.

And so it's just

a very laborious process.

- So it's 2022. It's six years

after Sherri first went missing.

- We really weren't following

the Sherri Papini story anymore.

And then suddenly, in early

2022, the bombshell news.

- It was a shocking kidnapping

that turned into

an even more shocking hoax.

- A lot of folks will remember

the case of Sherri Papini.

Investigators saying

she faked all of it.

- So on March 3, 2022,

Sherri Papini was arrested

in downtown Redding, California,

by FBI and

Shasta County Sheriff's Office.

- Sherri Papini now faces

several charges,

including lying

to federal agents.

- There were a lot of people

who were outraged

that they had invested

five years,

you know, of goodwill

and prayers towards this woman.

- I feel bad for our community,

that, you know,

we are so trusting,

and we got behind her 100%.

She just was a con artist.

- Because of Ms. Papini's lies,

the Latinos in Shasta County

went into sort of

a self-protective mode.

There's still a palpable fear

related to the choices

that Ms. Papini made.

- So as far as the public knew,

she sticks to her g*ns

and insists

that she was kidnapped.

But that's what made

what happened

next all the more shocking.

- Of course, we thank everyone

for all the work they did.

But we're sorry.

We're going to try and fix this.

- Sherri pleaded guilty

and admitted to having made

the whole thing up.

It was a stunning twist to hear

someone just give it all up

and say,

"You're right. I was lying."

Based on what her defense

attorney has claimed,

what Sherri herself

has admitted to,

there were some pretty

significant mental health issue

going on.

Sherri tried to put some of

the blame on her behavior

to a troubled childhood

and upbringing.

And so it's hard to know

what exactly is true

and what's just another

one of Sherri's lies.

after she admitted

she faked her own kidnapping.

- "People" magazine

obtained this statement

from Keith Papini today.

He said...

- So although the public though

that Keith was supporting her

through the ongoing effects

of what had happened,

in reality, their marriage

was starting to crumble.

[soft music]

- Well, I've known

this judge for decades,

and he is a fair man.

And as far as we're concerned,

whatever punishment he chose

is what we're going

to live with.

- Redding mother of

two Sherri Papini

was sentenced for her

kidnapping hoax back in 2016.

18 months in federal custody.

- Her sentence includes

$300,000 in restitution.

The restitution refers

to the amount of money

Sherri received

from the California

Victims Compensation Board.

It also refers to the resources

spent by law enforcement

trying to investigate

and solve her case.

- And it's validating,

for all the work

that was put into this case,

for everybody to know

that our time wasn't wasted.

Somebody is being held

accountable for their actions,

which is-- which is important.

It feels--feels nice.

- I mean,

there's a thousand questions:

the question

of what her end game was.

Yes, it seems like a cry

for help and attention,

but what would drive someone

to go to this extreme

is still a big mystery.

- I think, as much

as we can speculate

why Sherri behaved

the way she did,

we'll probably always

come up a bit short.

After her sentencing, her

defense attorney spoke to me,

and the analogy he made

was to a su1c1de.

He tried to compare

the unknowableness of a su1c1de

and not being able to

really know what was going on

in someone's mind that

would drive them to do this.

Because although Sherri did not

actually take her own life,

metaphorically,

she took her own life.

She took her reputation,

her family, her relationships,

and just kind of

threw them all away.

- [sobbing]

Please. Please!

- I think Sherri did

what she did to get attention.

I think that her need to get

attention just became greater,

and greater,

and more dramatic.

And it--it's completely

spun out of control.

- So before all of this,

I watched those shows.

I watched those shows.

And I, you know--and I've

read Elizabeth Smart's book.

- I cannot think

of one person

that was not manipulated

or lied to by her.

And while there are victims

in this case,

Sherri Papini

is not one of them.

- And I know that you guys

know everything.