The ex-husband of Sherri Papini, the California woman who faked her own kidnapping in 2016, is now accusing her of making their children sick by forcing them to inhale rubbing alcohol.
Papini “vanished” in November 2016 for 22 days until she was found several hundred miles away, dramatically covered in bruises, claiming she had been held captive by two Latina women. But the kidnapping was staged so she could reconnect with a former lover. Her case has drawn comparison to the fictional “Gone Girl” book and movie.
In 2022, she pleaded guilty to committing the hoax and her husband, Keith Papini, filed for divorce days later. Now, in a new Hulu docuseries about the disappearance of the so-called “supermom,” her ex-husband unveiled shocking revelations about her treatment of their two children.
Keith recounted a night when he was putting his daughter Violet to bed, after his wife was already in prison, he pushed to get off her bed and made “ little grunt sounds” because he was sore.
When Violet asked him if he was sick, he said she advised him to “do mommy’s trick.” When he asked what “Mommy’s trick” was, the child allegedly replied: “Well, you just breathe in this rubbing alcohol.”
Keith Papini recounted the alarming memory: “She goes to the bathroom, she knows right where the rubbing alcohol is. She wads up a thing of toilet paper and just soaks it and then hands it to me to breathe.”
When the father asked how frequently her mother used this antidote, the daughter replied: “Well, when we got sick, we did it every single day.”
“And the next thing I know, my kids are getting forensic interviews done,” the father continued.
He discovered that his ex-wife would soak rags of alcohol, put them in a Ziploc bag, and then “tie a string around their neck onto the Ziploc bag so that the fumes would ... so that they would continue to smell the fumes to make them not feel good, so that she could take them to the doctor,” Keith said.
The Independent has emailed a lawyer for Sherri Papini for comment.
The pair’s 13-year marriage ended in a contentious divorce, involving a custody battle and fighting over finances. Ahead of the docuseries’ release, Keith told People that he hadn’t spoken to Sherri outside of court proceedings.
She has since been released from prison and has not been charged in a crime related to these allegations.
