California mom Sheri Papini is convinced she fakes her temptation with a strange hoax that evoked comparisons with a girl in the book-turned-movie, and has changed her story once more.
Papini, who disappeared while running near Reading, California in November 2016 and died 22 days later, claimed she was invited and abused by two masked Hispanic women in 2022 who admitted to creating elaborate lies in a plea bargain.
However, the 42-year-old claims that she was actually lured and accused her ex-boyfriend James Reyes of being her aider, claiming that she was lured to him while she was trying to end the emotional events.
Papini's hassle is airing in the new documentary Sherri Papini: Cated In a Lie with the discovery of the investigation. In it, Papini has conducted her first camera interview since admitting it was a hoax three years ago, claiming she is ready to ultimately tell the full story of what happened in 2016.
Papini's original story
Keith Papini, then-Papini's husband, reported that she had gone missing on November 2, 2016, and began a statewide search for her stay-at-home mom. Three weeks later, on the US Thanksgiving, Papini was found alone on a California interstate suffering from injuries such as rashes, bruises, ligature marks and “brands” on her right shoulder.
After Papini was discovered by police, she wore a mask, spoke Spanish, hugged her at the muzzle, and elaborately talked about how she was chained to her closet by two women who branded her with hot tools. She also added that the women played Mariachi's music and mostly gave them tortillas and rice.
File – A file photo of a “missing” sign in Reading, California, resident Sheripapini is seen near the location where the mother of two is believed to have been first gone missing while jogging. In March 2022, Papini was arrested in 2016 on charges of forging her invitation. She signed a plea bargain on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.
Andrew Seng/AP Photo
The story changes
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Prosecutors said Papini was found in the body and clothing of a man and woman, and the male DNA led investigators to his ex-boyfriend Reyes.
Reyes confirmed to authorities that Papini asked him to pick her up from her home in Reading and was with him during the period when she went missing. His account was confirmed in cell phone records obtained in December 2015 by investigators who had already shown secret communication between the two humans.
At the time, Reyes admitted to FBI agents that he was only trying to help his ex-girlfriend, using wood burning tools to brand his shoulders and throwing a hockey puck on her legs, but insisted that that was Papini's idea and that he planned “everything.”
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“I didn't invite her. She was just a friend who was just asking for help. She was trying to escape from her husband,” he told investigators.
Plea bargain
In 2022, it was revealed by Papini's lawyer that his client had accepted a plea agreement and she admitted that she had created a hoax.
“I am deeply ashamed of myself for my actions. I am extremely sorry that it caused all the good people who had suffered unnecessary for my family, friends, and all the good people who had suffered unnecessary for my talk, and that I made a statement through a statement through a lawyer in 2022.
In exchange for his confession, Papini pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and false statements as part of a plea bargain. She was initially charged with 35 felony charges.
In September 2022, she was sentenced to a year and a half in prison, and was released under three years of supervision after completing her sentence. She served just under 11 months in prison.
A new story
Papini has been linked to Reyes in the investigation and although authorities knew she was with him when she claimed she had been accused of being accused by a woman, Papini now says it was Reyes who invited her and tortured her physically and psychologically.
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She says she was afraid of what her husband would do if she learned about the relationship, so she created her story about a masked woman to cover up her relationship with Reyes.
She says that she invited him to Reading to end their long-distance incident shortly before Reyes invited her.
“I remember being temporarily awake at the back of the vehicle and not having my eyes open,” she says. “And the next time I woke up, he was out of my car and inside, it was dark. He was trying to help one hand walk under my arm. An injury occurred.
In her interview, she says she still fears Reyes and feels she is forced to come up with a hoax because he was threatening her, and she says she is watching whether she named her lure and the abuser.
“I lied about James' identity for several reasons. First and foremost, I was in danger. I was afraid of James. “Add to that, I couldn't tell my husband that I was having an affair.”
“James took me off the chain,” she told camera. “I said, my husband is trying to find me. He'll never stop looking for you. You need to let me go. He was like, 'Well, too much has happened.' So it all became my hideaway.
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