Woman who admitted to kidnapping hoax undergoes polygraph in explosive new tell-all
Coming clean hasn t been easy for Sherri Papini In the California mother of two was sentenced to months in prison for faking her own kidnapping so she could go back to an ex-boyfriend Her disappearance resulted in a three-week multi-state search before she surfaced on Thanksgiving Day in Now the -year-old is reenacting her disappearance and taking a lie detector test in the Research Discovery ID true crime docuseries Sherri Papini Caught in a Lie KIDNAPPING HOAXER SHERRI PAPINI INSISTS SHE WAS 'TORTURED' FOR WEEKS IN FIRST INTERVIEW SINCE DISAPPEARANCE She really did not want to do either one of those things but I think she saw this as her one shot at getting her story out and she was going to do whatever it took director Nicole Rittenmeyer stated Fox News Digital We made sure that we were in close contact with her therapist Rittenmeyer explained We had safe words in scenario she couldn t handle stuff She had emotional endorsement and humans were there for her so she could get a hug Despite Papini s hesitations she ultimately agreed to do both for the docuseries and have it filmed She's now alleging that she was the victim of a violent kidnapping The lie detector test was conducted by polygraph expert Brett Bartlett a retired police officer with years of experience in law enforcement In the docuseries Bartlett informed Papini that he supposed her when she claimed that she was not free to leave her former boyfriend James Reyes home and that she didn t ask him to brand her on her right shoulder When Papini was required if she planned to trip to Southern California with Reyes she reported no However Bartlett informed her Your body is telling me otherwise I remember making a plan with James announced Papini Leading him on So that we could talk I kept telling him that I craved to be with him There was a lot of leading him on to keep him interested Rittenmeyer disclosed Papini was very anxious after cameras stopped rolling FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME SQUAD ON X She was very mad at herself for not being as forthcoming revealed Rittenmeyer I was feeling like she was holding back and the polygraph broke it open On Nov Papini s husband Keith Papini broadcasted his wife missing after he discovered she wasn t home and hadn t picked up their children from daycare Her purse and jewelry were left behind An extensive search for the missing mom ensued It wouldn t be until Nov that an emaciated Papini was spotted by a driver miles from her home She was covered in bruises burns and rashes and was still bound by restraints The flesh on her back was still blistered with a blurred branding and her long blonde hair had been cut short Papini recounted officials two masked Hispanic women forced her into an SUV at gunpoint and held her captive Investigators began to question Papini s story They later discovered evidence that would contradict her stories In reality personnel announced Papini was staying with Reyes nearly miles away from her home and had hurt herself to back up her false statements Papini eventually confessed that it had all been a hoax and she was staying at Reyes apartment the entire time she was missing SIGN UP TO GET THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTERIn the docuseries Papini revealed she had an emotional affair with Reyes after being unhappy with her marriage and feared losing her children But the kidnapping wasn t consensual she claimed Reyes DNA was unveiled on the clothes she was wearing when she was recovered Rittenmeyer disclosed this is the first time Papini is publicly sharing this account She never shared it with anyone except for us and very close members of her family noted Rittenmeyer This is going to be the first time Shasta County sheriffs will hear this story when they watch it with the rest of the viewers Fox News Digital reached out to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office Keith s attorney and Reyes for comment According to the docuseries Reyes vehemently denies kidnapping and abusing Papini He maintains that any harm he inflicted on her was done at her direction the docuseries shared He has not been charged with any crime in connection with Sherri s disappearance When questioned by FBI agents Reyes claimed that Papini planned everything including the decision to use a wood-burning tool to brand her shoulder He passed a polygraph test GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUBKeith s lawyer stated the docuseries that any statements of severe abuse manipulation and lying are false and disproven by a mountain of documentary evidence and objective indisputable facts In the docuseries Papini claimed that the descriptions she gave of the two masked Hispanic women were supposed to represent Reyes mother She hoped investigators would use it to track down Reyes without her saying he abducted her But Rittenmeyer described Papini that Reyes mother was Irish OK I ve met her twice Papini responded It had very little to do with his mother and her ethnicity It was about trying to get them to alert them to his identity without saying his name out loud Quite frankly I don t give a f k whether she s Hispanic or not It was about James It wasn t about her Rittenmeyer mentioned that the docuseries will detail a specific personality disorder that she has I went into this understanding that the conventional wisdom about Sherri is that she s a sociopath a narcissist who faked a hoax kidnapping to get attention noted Rittenmeyer CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP But there are certain techniques that Sherri s personality manifests that are very theatrical and can feel performative And so given what we understand about her I think it s basic human nature to be incredibly skeptical I did not trust anything she announced to me If she explained me my mother loved me I was going to get a second and third source because even as her lawyer says she s a convicted liar WATCH DR PHIL CALLS OUT SHERRI PAPINI FOR CACKLING AS SHE LIED ABOUT BEING CHAINED What I learned is that her particular form of personality disorder results in a lot of pleasing Rittenmeyer continued There s an effort to please which served us well when we did reenactments and the polygraph because she didn t want to do those things but she did them We assume people lie because they re trying to deceive because there s financial gain or something that they re trying to get over on us And in the event of her personality disorder she lies as a protective mechanism It s like default She s gotten a lot of therapy and she s a lot better than she used to be But there was so much more nuance to her and why she did the things that she did and what drove her to do them In Papini accepted a plea bargain with prosecutors and acknowledged she made up the story that prompted the frantic search That same year Keith filed for divorce I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so very sorry for the pain I ve caused my family my friends all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me she announced in a announcement at the time I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done The plea agreement called for Papini to pay restitution topping But nowadays Papini is adamant that she was a victim Haven t you ever lied And then has the lie been blown up Papini reported in the docuseries Rittemeyer mentioned that Papini now out with her story is working on being a better person I do think the person I interviewed is very different from the one Shasta County interviewed disclosed Rittenmeyer She went through it She served her time She s done a lot of therapy If there s a lesson to take away from this film I think it s don t lie You kickstart events and you re going to spiral horrifically out of control
