Update: Sherri Papini’s husband files for divorce, child custody after she pleads guilty to hoax
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Hoodwinked: Sherri Papini kidnapping hoax series
Click the arrow below for more coverage on Sherri Papini and the kidnapping hoax that garnered nationwide attention.
Keith Papini, who loyally stood by his wife’s side for six years as Sherri Papini maintained she had been kidnapped, filed for divorce Wednesday, two days after she pleaded guilty to charges that the whole thing was a hoax.
Online records in Shasta County Superior Court say Keith Papini filed for “dissolution with minor children” on Wednesday and that a hearing is set for May 9.
“Now that I have learned the truth as reflected in the plea agreement that she has made with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Sacramento, I must act decisively to protect my children from the trauma caused by their mother and bring stability and calm to their lives,” Keith Papini wrote in an affidavit filed in court. “Both I and especially our children were traumatized by her disappearance, and I spent much time and money trying to find my wife.
“The trauma inflicted on our children at the unexpected loss of their mother was heartbreaking.”
The Papinis have two children, ages 9 and 7 and Keith Papini is requesting sole custody of them. He wrote that his wife is staying with a relative in Chico and has not seen the children since April 4. He said she had missed one scheduled visitation.
When Sherri Papini was released from the Sacramento County Main Jail last month following her arrest, she assured the children that the arrest was a mistake, her husband wrote, but they have since learned she lied.
“The fact that their mother lied to them on such a major issue is something they and I are having a hard time dealing with,” Keith Papini wrote. “I do not believe she is in a position to provide good parenting and it would be inconceivable to thrust the children into that chaotic situation.”
Papini is asking the court to allow him to decide when she can see the children, and he noted the intense media scrutiny the family has faced, as well as anonymous messages, hate mail and death threats.
“I believe the record is clear the Sherri has some significant mental health issues that I do not believe are resolved or fully understood,” he added.
Sherri Papini’s attorney, William Portanova, who was with her when she pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to lying to the FBI and mail fraud, declined to comment Friday.
Keith Papini appeared to have supported his wife throughout the six-year saga that began in November 2016 with her disappearance from Redding. She was found three weeks later wandering a Yolo County road on Thanksgiving morning with a chain around her waist and one arm and various injuries.
Supported Sherri Papini
In an ABC interview on “20/20” after she was found, Keith Papini described the ordeal of her disappearance and his belief she had been kidnapped.
“I knew she was taken,” he told ABC at the time.
Sherri Papini, 39, told authorities at the time that she had been abducted at gunpoint by “two Hispanic women” who had abused her and forced her to listen to loud music before the younger of the two released her.
The FBI and Shasta County officials continued to investigate the case and ultimately determined Papini’s planning of her disappearance began in December 2015 and that she had not been abducted. Instead, court papers say, she was taken from Redding by an ex-boyfriend who allowed her to live 600 miles south in his Costa Mesa apartment during her disappearance.
‘Were you kidnapped?’
She admitted as much Monday to Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb in a Zoom court hearing during which she told the judge she was “very sad. I feel very sad.”
“Were you kidnapped?” Shubb asked.
“No, your honor.”
“Did you lie to government agents when you told them you were kidnapped?”
“Yes, your honor.”
Shasta County Sheriff’s Capt. Brian Jackson said in an interview in Redding on Thursday that Keith Papini appeared skeptical throughout the ordeal.
“I don’t think he believed anybody,” Jackson said. “It was like, you know, ‘Show me. Show me some proof.’”
Jackson wasn’t aware Thursday of a divorce filing.
“Everybody has their choice of what they want to do to forgive,” he said. “And if that’s his choice, then God bless him.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 7:40 AM.