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==External links== |
==External links== |
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*[http://santekimes.webs.com/ Offical Santé Kimes website] |
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*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/women/kimes/16.html Court TV article on Sante and Kenny Kimes] |
*[http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/women/kimes/16.html Court TV article on Sante and Kenny Kimes] |
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*[http://www.biography.com/notorious/crimefiles.do?action=view&catName=Partners+in+Crime&profileId=259638 The Biography Channel - Notorious Crime Profiles Sante Kimes] |
*[http://www.biography.com/notorious/crimefiles.do?action=view&catName=Partners+in+Crime&profileId=259638 The Biography Channel - Notorious Crime Profiles Sante Kimes] |
Revision as of 20:39, 2 February 2011
Sante Kimes (born July 24, 1934) is an American felon who has been convicted of two murders, along with robbery, burglary, conspiracy, grand larceny, illegal weapons possession, violation of anti-slavery laws, forgery and eavesdropping.
Criminal behavior
Born Sante Singhrs in Oklahoma City, to a mother of partial Dutch decent and an East Indian father. Kimes spent the better part of her life fleecing people of money, expensive merchandise, and real estate, either through elaborate con games, arson, forgery, or outright theft.[1]
According to the book Son of a Grifter by her son Kent Walker, she committed insurance fraud on numerous occasions, frequently by committing arson and then collecting for property damage. She delighted in introducing her husband as an ambassador - a ploy that even gained the couple access to a White House reception during the Ford administration. And she sometimes even impersonated Elizabeth Taylor, whom she resembled slightly. He also alleges that she committed many acts of fraud that were not even financially necessary, such as enslaving maids when she could easily afford to pay them and burning down houses she could have easily sold.[2]
She frequently offered young, homeless illegal immigrants housing and employment, then kept them virtual prisoners by threatening to report them to the authorities if they didn't follow her orders.[3] As a result, she and her second husband, alcoholic motel tycoon Kenneth Kimes, spent years, and squandered his fortune on lawyers' fees, defending themselves against charges of slavery. Kimes was eventually arrested in August 1985 and was sentenced by the U.S. District Court to five years in prison for violating Federal anti-slavery laws[4] . Her husband took a plea bargain and agreed to complete an alcohol treatment program; Ken, Sr. and their son, Kenny, lived a somewhat normal life until Sante was released from prison in 1989. Ken, Sr. died in 1994.
Murders
David Kazdin was a former partner, who had threatened to expose prior misdeeds. His body was found in a dumpster near Los Angeles airport in March of 1998. He had been shot to death.
In June 1998, with her son Kenny, Kimes perpetrated a scheme whereby she would assume the identity of their landlady, 82-year-old socialite Irene Silverman, and then appropriate ownership of her $7.7 million Manhattan mansion. Despite the fact Silverman's body was never found, both mother and son were convicted of murder in 2000, in no small part because of the discovery of Kimes' notebooks detailing the crime and notes written by Silverman, who was extremely suspicious of the pair. During the trial for the Kadzin murder Kenneth Kimes confessed that after his mother had used a stun gun on the sleeping Silverman, he strangled her, stuffed her corpse into a bag and deposited it in a dumpster in Hoboken, New Jersey. [5]
Kenneth also confessed to murdering a third man, banker Sayed Bilal Ahmed, at his mother's behest in The Bahamas in 1996,[6] which had been suspected by Bahamian authorities at the time.[7] Kenneth testified that the two acted together to drug Ahmed, drown him in a bathtub, and dump his body offshore, [8] but no charges were ever filed in that case.
Sante Kimes denies any involvement or knowledge of the murders, and claims that Kenneth's confession was solely to avoid the death penalty.[9]
Trials
The Silverman trial was unusual in many aspects, namely the rare combination of a mother/son team and the fact that no body was recovered. Nonetheless, the jury was unanimous in voting to convict them of not only murder but 117 other charges including robbery, burglary, conspiracy, grand larceny, illegal weapons possession, forgery and eavesdropping on their first poll on the subject.[10] The judge also took the unusual step of ordering Kimes not to speak to the media even after the jury had been sequestered as a result of her passing a note to New York Times reporter David Rhode in court. The judge threatened to have Kimes handcuffed during further court appearances if she persisted and restricted her telephone access to calls to her lawyers. The judge contended that Kimes was attempting to influence the jury as they may have seen or heard any such interviews, and that there would be no cross-examination as there would be in court. Kimes had earlier chosen not take the stand in her own defense after the judge ruled that prosecutors could question her about the previous conviction on slavery charges.[11] During the sentencing portion of the Silverman trial, Sante Kimes made a prolonged statement to the court blaming the authorities, including their own lawyers, for framing them. She went on to compare their trial to the Salem Witch Trials and claim the prosecutors were guilty of "murdering the Constitution." When the statement was concluded the presiding judge responded that Mrs Kimes was a sociopath and a degenerate and her son was a dupe and "remorseless predator" before imposing the maximum sentence on both of them.[12]
In October 2000 while doing an interview, Kenny held Court TV reporter Maria Zone hostage by pressing a ballpoint pen into her throat.[13] Kenneth Kimes' demand was that his mother not be extradited to California, where the two face the death penalty on charges that they killed David Kazdin. After three hours he was subdued. In March 2001, Kenny Kimes was extradited to Los Angeles to stand trial for the murder of David Kazdin. Sante Kimes was extradited to Los Angeles in June 2001. During that trial in June 2004, while he was facing the death penalty, Kenny changed his plea from "not guilty" to "guilty" and implicated his mother in the murder in exchange for a plea deal that his mother not receive the death penalty if convicted. The sentencing judge in the Kazdin case called Mrs. Kimes "one of the most evil individuals" they had met in their time as a judge.[14]
Imprisonment
Sante Kimes is currently serving a sentence of 120 years at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York. On her prisoner papers, Sante's projected release date is on March 3, 2119. Additionally, Kimes and her son were each sentenced to life for the death of David Kazdin in California.
References
- Notes
- ^ McFadden, Robert (July 14, 1998). "A FAMILY PORTRAIT: A special report.; A Twisted Tale of Deceit, Fraud and Violence". New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- ^ Take a Son to Work David Plotz, The New York Times 5/20/2001
- ^ Cohen, Adam. "The Landlady Vanishes". Time. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- ^ Woman convicted in isle slavery held in N.Y. missing-person case Honolulu Star-Bulletin 7/11/1998
- ^ Murderer Reveals New Details In Slaying of Socialite in 1998 Thomas J. Luek, The New York Times, 6/24/2004
- ^ Kimes, Son Get Life Sentence in L.A. Murder Reuters/Washington Post 3/22/2005
- ^ Suspects in a Disappearance Have Been Running for Years The New York Times, 7-10-1998
- ^ Associated Press/The Union Democrat, 6/23/2004
- ^ I loved Irene, Sante insists Michelle Caruso, New York Daily News, 7/24/2004
- ^ Mother and Son Guilty of Killing A Socialite Who Vanished in '98 David Rhode, The New York Times, 5/19/2000
- ^ Sante Kimes Chastised by Judge Over Contacts With News Media David Rhode, The New York Times, 5/17/2000
- ^ Mother and Son Are Given Life Sentences Katherine E. Finkelstein, The New York Times, 6/28/2000
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/11/nyregion/kenneth-kimes-takes-reporter-as-a-hostage.html
- ^ Life Terms For Pair The New York Times, 3/22/2005
- Further reading
- An autobiography by Kimes' older son, Kent Walker, reveals many facts about his mother, her personality, and her crimes from his point of view. His book, Son of A Grifter, (ISBN 0-06-103169-0), was a national bestseller and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Fact Crime book in 2002.