Perfect Wife confuses true crime fans with edited Sherri Papini photo

Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini has left a number of viewers confused by an unexplained, edited photo of the woman at the center of the case – but there’s a simple explanation. 

There’s plenty of new true crime to dive into this month, one of the most talked-about being Hulu’s new three-part documentary on Sherri Papini, the woman who faked her own kidnapping in 2016. 

Though the case has been covered far and wide, the doc shares plenty of new details, from Sherri’s alleged treatment of her children to the identity of “Smegma” (which turned out to be a nickname she gave to her fake kidnapper).

But focus has now turned to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-moment from Episode 2 involving Shasta County blogger Tim Scarbrough, whose posts poking holes in Sherri’s story went viral when the investigation was still active. 

While discussing the “red flags” he noticed at the time, an image of Sherri is shown on screen in which her nose is enlarged. 

Taking to Reddit, one viewer wrote, “I’m watching this documentary with my roommate and all of a sudden this picture pops up and she has a giant nose? Randomly in Episode 2 and it’s not explained. 

“I’m so confused about it. Can someone please explain? I can’t stop laughing about it. We even rewinded and restarted and it was still there?”

“I literally scrambled to Reddit to see if anyone else noticed this LMAO,” said another, while a third added, “I am glad I am not the only one. I thought my eyes were seeing nonsense. Had to rewind it several times and pause it.”

A fourth chimed in, “I’m watching right now and had to rewind to make sure I saw it correctly. I laughed so hard I’m so happy this post exists.”

But there’s a pretty simple explanation – the edited Sherri Papini photo was shared online when details of her story came into question. Her nose has been enlarged to mimic Pinocchio, alluding to the fact that she’s lying. 

“Somebody else (not the doc) made that meme on a message board about the mystery,” explained one Redditor. “The creator was saying there were too many things not adding up and Sherri was lying (like Pinocchio).”

Another commented, “Pinocchio’s nose because they were calling her a liar.”

Elsewhere in the thread, true crime fans have recommended watching Perfect Wife, despite apprehension due to how much the case has been covered. 

“I wasn’t going to watch this since I know the story but what do you think of it… is it good?” asked one, to which another replied, “I thought I knew the story too but the doc was really well done. It definitely explained a lot more than I thought I knew.”

A third added, “Riveting stuff. I really feel for the husband, he’s literally just trying to protect his family.”

And a fourth chimed in, “It was honestly so good. In general as a story, it’s one of the craziest and most compelling things I’ve ever seen, and my wife and I watch this stuff religiously. 

“As a doc it’s very professionally done and is super engaging. It also really deserves being three episodes. Some docs are stretched too thin and drag in parts. This absolutely does not, gripping start to finish.”

For more true crime, look at our deep dive into Tell Them You Love Me on Netflix, how to watch the Herb Baumeister documentary, and whether Ashley Madison’s Sam and Nia Rader are still together. You can also check out the new TV shows coming to streaming this month.