The ex-hubby of kidnapping faker Sherri Papini broke his silence to reveal how he was also fooled by his wife’s elaborate hoax.
Sherri, 41, was jailed in 2022 for a Gone Girl style plot where shefaked her own kidnappingand vanished for three weeks in 2016, lying to police and giving herself injuries to match her story.
The scheme captivated the nation and has been the center of true crime documentaries and podcasts.
Now, seven years on, her ex-husband Keith has broken his silence, telling Good Morning America: 'I think she wanted me to be her knight in shining armor and run to her.'
The pair are now locked in a drawn-out custody battle over their two children Tyler, 14, and Violet, 12.
Sherri Papini's ex-husband Keith Papini has broken his silence to reveal how he was duped by her fake kidnapping scheme
Sherri was reported missing in November 2016 when she suddenly vanished after going out for a jog.
She reappeared 'dazed, battered and bruised' three weeks later on Thanksgiving about 145 miles away from where had been last seen.
Officers discovered the 'missing' woman with a chain around her waist, multiple injuries and a brand on her shoulder.
Over the following weeks she crafted an elaborate ruse, telling officers that she had been abducted by two Hispanic women who had beaten and branded her.
But her story unraveled when officers found her ex-boyfriend's DNA on her clothes in 2020 and discovered she had been holed up with him the whole time she had been pretending to be missing.
Sherri Papini has been engaged in a brutal custody battle with her ex-husband
It emerged that her injuries were all self-inflicted to back-up the kidnapping story.
Keith spent the time she was missing desperately searching for her while also being treated as a suspect in her disappearance. After her trial and imprisonment, he was given full custody of the children.
Breaking his silence seven years on, he told Good Morning America she has never apologized to him of their children for what she put their family through: 'She has no remorse that I have ever witnessed or seen.'
Even when police accused her of lying, Sherri insisted she was telling the truth, Keith said: 'She made us believe that her story was true. Every single day she committed to the lie.'
Speaking out, he said he wants everyone to know 'how convincing' Sherri was 'all those years' and how he believed everything she said.
He said: 'I think she wanted to plan a fake kidnapping, but in her version I was supposed to find her.'
He said all he wants now is to be able to 'move past it' even though the events are 'always going to be there'.
Sherri was reported missing in November 2016, reappearing three weeks later on Thanksgiving 145 miles away from where she was last seen
Keith spent the time she was missing desperately searching for her. After her trial and imprisonment, he was given full custody of the children
He said: 'I do want to provide my children an amazing childhood, but I think it will always be there.'
Sherri is currently battling for more access to Tyler and Violet while Keith wants her to undertake a psychological evaluation and be barred from seeing them unsupervised.
She is also demanding he hand over an array of items from the marital home in Redding, among them ‘Grandpa’s truck, an inflatable water slide, a leaf blower and a smart TV'.
An expense declaration obtained by DailyMail.com shows that the petite blonde claims to have an income of just $1,000-a-month, half of which she says she pays out in rent.
She was previously awarded just $10,000 in her divorceand ordered to pay half of a $3,000 debt she racked up on a BestBuy credit card after she was arrested in April 2022.
Last week, exclusive DailyMail.com photos showed Sherri Papini, 41, locked in an embrace with her auto dealer boyfriend Shawn Hibdon, 49, following an amorous encounter in the backseat of her white Jeep SUV in a Starbucks parking lot in Orland, California, on Monday.
After an hour in the car with Hibdon, who arrived separately in a gray Hyundai with distinctive dealer plates, she emerged giggling and dressed in a pink tank and flashy tie-dye leggings.
The pair then enjoyed a smooch – having first checked the parking lot to make sure no one was watching – before leaving in different cars.
A besotted Sherri Papini was spotted sharing a passionate smooch with her new boyfriend Shawn Hibdon outside a local Starbucks in Orland, California on Monday
Papini is said to have begun dating the recently widowed businessman before her 10-month stint in prison in Victorville, California which ended last August
Hibdon has been single since losing his wife Brittany unexpectedly at the age of 36 in September 2021 and is a single father to their two sons Houston, 16, and Westley, 14.
A source told DailyMail.com the relationship began prior to her 10-month stretch at FCI Victorville, with the pair meeting in Chico – a town located an hour south of Papini's former home in Redding.
Papini briefly lived in the area after being thrown out by her ex following her arrest. Her sister Sheila also resides in the town.
Last September, besotted Hibdon was seen driving the white pickup truck bearing a distinctive Hibdon Auto Center dealer plate that picked her up from an Oakland halfway house and purchased the petite blonde a spacious home of her own in January.
Records seen by DailyMail.com show the four-bedroom property in Shingletown, California, was bought by the Orland-based businessman via a limited liability company named 33 TEN Properties LLC, which was incorporated in September 2023.
Despite Hibdon's lavish outlay on the mom-of-two, the relationship has been conducted under a veil of secrecy with Papini making no mention of who paid for her new house in family court documents and instead saying she rents the property for $500-a-month.
According to Zillow, the market rent for the custom-finished property, which sits on a private three-acre lot, would be more than six times what Papini claims to be paying at $3,294 per month.
Prior to the tryst, Papini had made an appearance in court where she exchanged frosty glances with ex-husband Keith who is opposing her demand to be granted further access to their children.
But the cloak and dagger antics didn't stop at Starbucks: intent on hiding her brand-new Jeep from Keith, the mom-of-two left it in the lot belonging to her lawyer Chase Kinney before hitching a ride with her for the short journey from the office to court.
Although the Jeep could not be seen outside the lavish Shingletown home Papini lives in when DailyMail.com visited last week, the gray Hyundai driven by Hibdon to the romantic rendezvous was briefly seen parked on the driveway.
Hibdon has been single since losing his wife Brittany unexpectedly at the age of 36 in September 2021 and is a single father to their two teenage sons
Papini's ex-husband Keith – with whom she shares children Tyler, 11, and Violet, 9 – filed for divorce in April 2022 and sought to maintain sole custody after her August 2023 release
Hibdon is a prominent man in the Northern California town of Orland where he owns a successful car dealership that he previously ran with his wife.
According to an obituary for Hibdon's deeply religious spouse Brittany, the mom-of-two died 'unexpectedly' in September 2021, leaving behind sons Houston and Westley.
It goes on to describe how she was known for her 'encouraging and uplifting' social media posts and for her healthy lifestyle, while noting that she was heavily involved in the local community and charity projects.
The obituary for the pretty blonde concludes: 'The hashtags on her Facebook profile sum it up well - #BrittanyForThePeople, and #BoyMom.
'Her impact on this world cannot be understated, nor can our love for her.'
The new twist in the long-running saga comes ahead of a new Hulu documentary about the case and features a lengthy interview with Papini's ex-husband Keith.
Called 'Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini', the three-part series is released on June 20 and details Keith's battle to uncover the truth about Papini's disappearing act.
