Criminal Activity
Sante Kimes was born in July 1934 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Throughout her youth, Sante had a very unstructured life due to the fact that she was raised in foster homes and orphanages for most of her childhood. In her young adult years, she served as a prostitute and made a living off of larceny and thievery. However Sante's life changed when in the mid 1950's she met a millionaire motel owner by the name of Kenneth Kimes Sr. Together the two owned multiple residencies, including homes in Las Vegas and Hawaii. Despite having a surplus of money after marrying Kenneth, Sante Kimes continued her criminal career and treated her criminal habits as “A game of Monopoly." In 1961, she was arrested for the first time after committing a petty theft offense in Sacramento. According to acquaintances, Sante was an obsessive thief who continued stealing after being released from jail. While on a trip to Hawaii, Sante Kimes stole a car from a dealers lot. Although she was never caught, her confidence in stealing caught up to her when she was arrested for trying to steal a $6,500 mink coat in Washington. In 1975, Sante and Kenneth Kimes had a son, Kenneth Kimes Jr. After Kenneth Jr. was born, it is said that Sante and her husband began committing a series of white collar offenses ranging from forgery to credit card fraud. However it was not until 1985, that Sante and Kenneth Sr. were convicted of a very serious crime. While living in Mexico City, Sante and her husband were arrested on slavery charges after several of their maids complained to the police that they had been beaten and imprisoned in the Kime's household. As a result, Sante served five years in federal prison, while Kenneth Sr. served three years imprisonment. Kenneth Sr. later died in 1991. After the death of her husband, Sante Kimes began teaching her son, Kenneth Jr., the tricks of the trade. The two began traveling all over the country committing a multitude of white collar crimes. The Kimes family eventually became wanted in multiple states for committing forgery, credit card fraud, and property fraud. In the mid to late 1990's Kenneth and Sante began killing anyone who got in their way. |
Synopsis
Sante Kimes and her son, Kenneth Jr. were arrested in 1998 after they were prime suspects for the murder of several victims: Syed Bilal Ahmed, David Kazdin, and Irene Silverman. Among the three murder victims, the one case that gained the most media spotlight was the disappearance of Irene Silverman, an 82 year old socialite who had mysteriously gone missing after last being seen in her million dollar mansion in New York. Although Silverman's body was never found, it is believed that Sante and her son, Kenneth Jr. dismembered her body and disposed of the remains in trash bags. Due to the fact that the victim's body was never found, the court case was very complex. However, when police received a warrant to search the Kimes's luggage bags and automobiles, they found guns, plastic handcuffs, fright masks, tapes of Ms. Silverman’s telephone conversations, Silverman's keys, a small jar of Flunitrazepam, a sleep-inducing drug, and a fake deed to the Silverman home. In court, it was proven that Sante and Kenneth (Jr.) Kimes were scheming a plan to illegally seize Irene Silverman's $10 million dollar mansion in New York City. In 2000, the mother and son killers were convicted for killing both Irene Silverman and David Kazdin. Granada Hills businessman David Kazdin (pictured above) agreed to let Sante Kimes put his name on the title of her Las Vegas home. But in December 1997, desperate for cash, Sante allegedly took out a $280,000 loan on the house and forged Kazdin's name on the application, committing property fraud. When the bank sent him notices for money owed, Kazdin realized he was being scammed, and he refused to go along with Sante's alleged plot. On March 13, 1998, his body was found in a garbage bin near the Los Angeles airport.
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Sante Kimes (more recent picture)Sante Kimes died in 2014. She is coined as the most notorious con-artist in American history.
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Irene SilvermanSante and Kenneth Kimes planned on illegally seizing Silverman's $10 million mansion in New York through fraudulent actions. Somewhere along the line, Sante and Kenneth decided it was necessary to murder Silverman.
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Page By:
Steven Camporese