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World's Most Evil Killers S04E06
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00:07The 5th of July, 1998, Manhattan, New York.
00:1482-year-old Irene Silverman vanished, never to be seen again.
00:19She'd been brutally attacked in her home, tasered, then strangled,
00:24in a bid to fraudulently seize the title to her multi-million dollar property.
00:30It was an act of the most grotesque malevolence.
00:33They dumped the body in a dumpster.
00:36It is such a brutal act.
00:39The two killers were a mother and son duo.
00:4323-year-old Kenny Kimes and his 63-year-old mother Sante.
00:48She was a con artist who would stop at nothing to keep her crimes under wraps.
00:53Most of her victims were obstacles, as far as she was concerned,
00:57that needed to be got out of the way.
00:59There was something innately evil about her.
01:03Over the course of two years, Sante Kimes coerced her son Kenny into committing three murders.
01:10She transformed him into a really evil person like her.
01:16She was like a black widow, and he became that way too.
01:19Even their own family were wary of them.
01:22Mom has always been dangerous, but when Kenny became her partner, she became really dangerous.
01:31Driven by greed, they duped innocent victims out of thousands of dollars and brutally killed three people to maximize their
01:40ill-gotten gains.
01:41Making Sante and Kenny Kimes two of the world's most evil killers.
02:09Wealthy New York socialite Irene Silverman vanished on the 5th of July, 1998.
02:17Her killers, Sante and Kenny Kimes, had already been linked to crimes in five separate U.S. states, following a
02:25trail of fraud and suspected murder.
02:29Former NYPD detective Tom Hovergum was investigating Irene's murder.
02:35They thought they were untouchable.
02:37They thought they were smarter than everyone else, especially Sante.
02:42Kenny physically did it, but she gave the orders.
02:45Make no mistake about it.
02:48By sheer coincidence, on the same day as the murder of multi-million dollar heiress Irene, the police already had
02:56a sting in place at a local hotel to capture the Kimes for other crimes they'd been linked to.
03:03They later found out that they were being arrested for the bad check on the car, and that was a
03:08big relief to them.
03:08But little did they know we were also investigating them for Irene Silverman's murder.
03:14The Elizabeth Taylor lookalike and master of disguise Sante Kimes fooled victims across the U.S. during her outlandish 43
03:24-year crime spree.
03:26She used her powers of persuasion to gate-crash parties with the rich and famous, including U.S. Vice President
03:34Gerald Ford.
03:36She had at least 22 aliases, all kinds of different social guilty numbers, all kinds of different passports.
03:45She was a million faces.
03:49She lies so relentlessly to everyone.
03:51It's a complete construct.
03:57She knew how to make you feel like the most important person in the world.
04:01It was fun.
04:02Everyone loved her.
04:03She was the life of the party.
04:05As evil as she is, my mom was a walking contradiction.
04:09Her nature is evil.
04:11And the problem was that she was good at it.
04:14She was a coercively controlling manipulator.
04:18Some people, in going after that sense of power and that sense of control, will stop at nothing to achieve
04:23it.
04:25Say, honey, give a smile.
04:27Oh, jeez.
04:31Sante Kaim's story begins on July the 24th, 1934, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
04:40She was born Sandra Singers and had a brother and two sisters.
04:45It was the time of a global economic downturn, the Great Depression.
04:50Families like Sante's, who lived off the land, were struggling to feed themselves due to an intense drought in America's
04:58south.
04:59There's a lot of poverty in society at this point in time.
05:02And this is something that she would always be very conscious of throughout her life.
05:07She came from quite a poor background.
05:10Her father was East Indian.
05:12Her mother was a Dutch migrant.
05:15And it's said that she experienced quite a lot of racism.
05:18But it's very difficult to know what's true and what's fabrication, because this woman was good at creating histories that
05:26didn't exist.
05:28Somehow they ended up in Los Angeles.
05:32And her father, my grandfather, was kind of a con artist, too, from all you can think of now.
05:39She left my grandmother on the streets in L.A., basically, basically homeless, as far as we know.
05:45It was tough.
05:47She was very conscious early on of the huge disparity in wealth between people like her and people like the
06:01Hollywood set.
06:02And so she became very conscious early on of the need to achieve some kind of material wealth.
06:09And, of course, she became obsessed by it.
06:12Desperate to escape her poverty, at the age of 13, Sante, or Sandra, as she was baptised, was given a
06:19lucky break.
06:20An L.A. theatre owner took a shine to her and arranged for their childless sister to adopt Sante.
06:28The story goes that, actually, her mother and her sister were quite happy to wave her off, because she was
06:33quite a handful.
06:34And I think, with this new mum and dad, she would have been doted on.
06:37So I think any kind of narcissism that was developing in her would have been exacerbated even more.
06:45The young Sante was now living in Nevada and moving her way up in the world.
06:51Her adopted father had a well-paid job in the army, and she was focused on getting good grades at
06:58school to climb up the social ladder.
07:01She was terrified of being poor.
07:05She was scarred by her childhood.
07:09She's been described as quite pushy, quite overbearing.
07:13And it's said that she had only one female friend during her school days.
07:18And this female friend was somebody who really looked up to her.
07:22And this is quite significant for me, because when you have a case of somebody who is a narcissist, you
07:28often have a codependent.
07:30With her friend Ruth, she decided to move back to California, where they enrolled in journalism at college.
07:38It was in Santa Barbara where Sante first tried her hand at fraud, using the name of Ruth's future father
07:45-in-law, Bruce.
07:47Bruce started getting all these bills, and what Mom had done is gone down to the local department store and
07:52charged thousands of dollars to his name for makeup, perfumes, clothes, and stuff like that.
07:59And that was the first thing that I knew of that made Mom start to show what she really was.
08:05On the 9th of May, 1956, at the age of 21, Sante decided to marry her boyfriend, Lee.
08:12But when he got a job as a lowly paid teacher, Sante filed for divorce after barely a year of
08:20marriage.
08:21She was physically quite attractive, but she was very much a parasite.
08:27She would hook on to particular men, get what she wanted, and then she would just abandon them.
08:33Sante now focused on finding the next man in her life who could take her up in the world.
08:39Just a few months after her first marriage ended, on the 9th of November, 1957, she married an old high
08:47school sweetheart, Ed Walker.
08:49My dad was kind of like that puppy.
08:52My dad was completely enamored with her.
08:54He was his entire life.
08:56She wanted him to, quote, better himself so that she could be better too.
09:01She spent extravagantly.
09:02I mean, she would spend $13,000 one Christmas on Christmas presents.
09:08He couldn't afford that.
09:10There was no way that, in the end, it wouldn't drive Ed to distraction.
09:16Sante wanted to be more than an average suburban housewife.
09:21She wanted to exude wealth.
09:24So she began to reinvent herself,
09:27ditching her birth name Sandra to make herself sound more exotic.
09:32Mom's name changed several times throughout her life.
09:37She started off as Sante,
09:40and then she decided she wanted to be kind of French.
09:45Somewhere along the lines of turning to Santee,
09:48and then she went to Sante.
09:52In 1962, Sante found herself in a whole new role
09:57when their son Kent was born and she became mum.
10:01But even this didn't deter her from her grifting ways.
10:07Beside the time, she treated me like a king or prince
10:09and made me feel like the most important person in the world.
10:13You know, and her love was fierce.
10:15You know, so when you saw the bad stuff,
10:17well, well, maybe other families like that.
10:19I didn't know.
10:20It's all that I knew.
10:22Not long after Kent's arrival,
10:24the cracks in the marriage were beginning to show,
10:27and Sante had a string of affairs.
10:30With her spending sky high,
10:32she resorted to new ways of funding her lifestyle,
10:36making fraudulent insurance claims through arson.
10:42One of my earliest memories,
10:44we pull up the driveway,
10:46and there's fire engines all over the place and stuff.
10:47The house would burn through the ground.
10:50And I think that was a third or fourth fire.
10:54It pretty much destroyed my father.
10:56I mean, everything that he would do was successful,
10:59but she found it where it destroyed.
11:01The local police would later nickname Sante the Dragon Lady
11:05because of the number of mysterious fires
11:08that were attached to her name.
11:11She'd moved with husband Ed and their young son Kent
11:14from Sacramento to escape the suspicions
11:18about the number of homes she'd burnt down.
11:22What a wonderful scheme.
11:24You just keep on setting fire to places.
11:26You claim the insurance.
11:27You make more money.
11:28She knew exactly what she was doing
11:30and why she was doing it.
11:31Because of Sante's obsessive need for material wealth,
11:35she also continued with another compulsive criminal pastime.
11:40Mama always stole.
11:41I mean, there was always shoplifting involved.
11:43I mean, I was her little helper.
11:45I didn't know, you know, I was a kid.
11:46I'm not trying to make an excuse, but it's all I knew.
11:48That's Mama.
11:51In 1966, she was arrested three times in a five-day period.
11:55She had no concept of right or wrong.
11:59The police raided the family home
12:01and found credit cards that Sante had taken out
12:04under a number of fake aliases.
12:07She faced 17 charges of grand theft,
12:10but thanks to legal help provided by one of her boyfriends,
12:14she walked away with nothing more than a petty fine.
12:19Meanwhile, the affairs continued.
12:22For husband Ed, it was the final straw.
12:26I remember they were in this huge argument
12:29and Mom was going crazy
12:30and she actually threw a knife at him
12:33and I saw it stick in his arm.
12:37There's times when he walked in the house
12:39and saw her and someone else's embraces.
12:44My parents divorced.
12:46They destroyed my father.
12:48He was a broken man
12:49and he never fully recovered.
12:52With nobody to rein her in,
12:55Sante's escapades escalated.
12:57On the odd occasion that she did get caught out,
13:00she would do whatever necessary
13:02to get out of her latest fix,
13:05even exploiting her own seven-year-old son.
13:08Not too long after Mom and Dad split,
13:11I was sitting on the hood of the car
13:12waiting for Mom.
13:14Mom came running out of the dress shop
13:18and this lady was chasing her.
13:21And she said,
13:22Get in the car, get in the car.
13:24The lady came up
13:25and actually grabbed Mom's arm.
13:27You're shoplifting.
13:28We saw you put that dress in that bag.
13:30So what Mom did
13:31is she stood up for a minute
13:33and she didn't say a word
13:34and she clenched her fist
13:36and roundhouses me
13:38and gets me right in the lip.
13:40Split my lip wide open.
13:41I still have the scar.
13:44Cops got there
13:45and Mom starts screaming,
13:47This bitch hit my son.
13:48This bitch hit my son.
13:50And long story short,
13:52the cops end up arresting her
13:54for hitting me.
13:56Now officially free and single,
13:59Sante was determined
14:00to climb the social ladder.
14:02To do this,
14:03she knew she had to marry
14:05into wealth.
14:07Recall those years
14:08Mom's search for the millionaire.
14:10I think we were broke.
14:11I mean, we lived in a nice house and stuff.
14:13The refrigerator was bare.
14:14I mean, I grew up on
14:15peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
14:16for a while.
14:17She'd give me lectures
14:18for hours and hours.
14:21Marry for money.
14:22You don't want to be broke.
14:23You know, that was her mantra.
14:25Sante would use her looks
14:27to find herself
14:28her millionaire man.
14:31My mother had a striking resemblance
14:34to Elizabeth Taylor
14:34and she played it to the help.
14:37She was always made up,
14:38big black wig and stuff like that.
14:41Men were attracted to her
14:42and she was the type of woman
14:43that she walked into a room.
14:45She got everyone's attention.
14:47Everyone's.
14:48Before long,
14:50she set her sights
14:51on 52-year-old Ken Kimes,
14:54a multi-million dollar
14:55property developer
14:56who'd struck it rich
14:58by building a chain of motels
15:00across the U.S.
15:01He was 16 years
15:03Sante's senior.
15:05Ken was worth
15:06our estimates at the time
15:08about 22 million bucks.
15:11And this was in 1969, 1970.
15:14OK, so that's today's money.
15:17It's a lot more.
15:18She's very manipulative
15:20in how she goes
15:21about landing him.
15:22So she finds out
15:23that his favorite color
15:24is white,
15:25so she wears white
15:26all the time.
15:27She finds out
15:28that he likes gardenias,
15:29the flower,
15:30so she has a perfume
15:31that smells of those flowers.
15:33So she's doing everything
15:35that she can
15:36to appear very alluring
15:37to this man.
15:39Sante engineered a meeting
15:40with her newfound millionaire.
15:42Ken was rather flattered.
15:45A friend, I think,
15:46warned him at one point,
15:47she's not up to much,
15:48you know,
15:48she's got a very dodgy record,
15:50but Ken didn't mind.
15:52She became more
15:53and more controlling
15:54and Ken Kimes
15:56fell into her web.
15:59People regarded him
16:00as goofy.
16:01He was a man
16:02who, in spite of
16:03his relative success,
16:04was obviously
16:04very unsure of himself.
16:06What the Kimes family
16:08didn't have
16:08that they really wanted
16:09was high-level status.
16:12Sante preyed
16:14on these insecurities.
16:16She cemented
16:16her role
16:17as his lover
16:18by creating something
16:19that would boost
16:20his ego.
16:21She created
16:22a fictitious role
16:23for him
16:24as an ambassador.
16:25Sante grifted
16:27herself
16:27and Ken Kimes
16:28into a reception
16:29at the US
16:30presidential guesthouse
16:32in Washington, D.C.
16:34They're photographed
16:35with Vice President
16:36Gerald Ford,
16:36and then they would
16:38go on to crash
16:39another three parties
16:40at other embassies.
16:42Only Sante.
16:44Only she
16:45could have got
16:45away with it.
16:47In spite of her
16:48many talents,
16:50Ken seemed unwilling
16:51to commit to marriage.
16:53Now, Sante was concerned
16:55about how she would
16:56get hold
16:57of his millions.
16:58She had competition,
17:00as Ken had children
17:01from his previous marriage.
17:03She disdainfully
17:05referred to them
17:06as the creeps.
17:08They see her
17:09as a predatory gold digger,
17:11so it's going
17:12to be quite difficult
17:12for her to actually
17:14get access
17:15to Ken's money.
17:17What's the best way
17:18to get somebody's money?
17:19Well, it's to create
17:20an heir.
17:23On the 24th of March,
17:261975,
17:27Ken and Sante
17:28welcomed a son,
17:30Kenneth Kareem Kimes,
17:32known as Kenny,
17:33into the world.
17:35As he grew up,
17:36Sante kept him isolated.
17:38She used home tutors
17:40so that he didn't
17:41even have to go
17:42to school.
17:44Kenny Kareem's
17:45early years
17:47would have been
17:47when he was completely
17:48enmeshed with his mother.
17:51Kenny almost becomes
17:52an extension of her,
17:54and there's very much
17:55a codependent relationship
17:57that emerges.
17:58so his existence,
18:01his identity,
18:02is very much
18:03premised on hers.
18:05Kenny was
18:06the golden child.
18:08I loved him.
18:09I mean,
18:09he was a great little brother.
18:10We played and stuff.
18:12He was a great kid.
18:14The first big change
18:16in the happy young Kenny
18:17was at the age of 10
18:19when he witnessed
18:20his parents get arrested.
18:21On the 12th of July 1985,
18:24the FBI raided
18:26their Las Vegas home.
18:29Sante had been trafficking
18:30young Mexican girls
18:31across the border
18:32and imprisoning them
18:34in her home
18:35as slaves.
18:36Several had escaped,
18:38accusing Sante
18:39of extreme physical abuse.
18:41One of her so-called maids
18:43claimed she was attacked
18:45with an iron.
18:46It became obvious
18:48that something
18:48much more dangerous
18:50and criminal
18:52was going on
18:54behind the facade
18:56of respectability
18:58and money.
18:59Rather sad,
19:01Ken Kimes,
19:02who was not young,
19:04gets charged
19:04with 15 counts
19:05of slavery.
19:06He did a deal
19:08with the prosecutors.
19:09He got a three-year
19:11suspended prison sentence.
19:13He had to enter
19:13an alcoholic treatment
19:15program.
19:16Because it was
19:17perfectly obvious
19:17at the FBI
19:18that he was drunk
19:19a great deal
19:19of the time.
19:21Sante, however,
19:23was sentenced
19:23to five years in jail.
19:26Free from his mother's
19:27influence for the first time,
19:29young Kenny started
19:30to experience
19:31a normal life.
19:32He was allowed
19:33to go to school
19:34and make friends
19:35with his peers.
19:38But by December 1989,
19:41after serving three years
19:43of her sentence,
19:44Sante was back home.
19:46she was quick
19:47to rein Kenny in.
19:49The coercively
19:50controlling behavior
19:51becomes much more focused.
19:54She gets him
19:55to leave school.
19:56If anything,
19:57it's even worse
19:58than it was before.
19:59And it's at that point
20:01where the Kenny
20:02that grew up
20:03with me
20:04that I loved
20:04and was fun
20:05to be with
20:05and had the potential
20:08to being a good person
20:10started a ship.
20:12And his disappointment
20:14and his anger
20:14and his rage
20:15was relentless.
20:17He was out of control.
20:19At the age of 16,
20:21Kenny ran away
20:22from home.
20:25Sante sent his older brother,
20:27Kent,
20:27to stop him.
20:29Got Kenny back home.
20:32And his attitude
20:34did not get better.
20:35He's still in the rages
20:36of stuff.
20:37But he did
20:39stay.
20:42You know,
20:43I thought I was doing
20:43the right thing
20:44for that.
20:45You know,
20:47I'll wonder
20:47if every day
20:48if I let him go.
20:51Well,
20:52things be like today.
20:58Sante and Ken
21:00had homes
21:00in various U.S. states
21:02as well as Nassau
21:03in the Bahamas.
21:04The illusion
21:05was a life
21:06of luxury and class,
21:07but the reality
21:08was that everything
21:10had become
21:10very stressful
21:11for 77-year-old Ken
21:13due to Sante's
21:15compulsive grifting.
21:17Suddenly,
21:17on the 28th
21:18of March,
21:191994,
21:20he died
21:21from an aneurysm.
21:25Now,
21:26Sante has another
21:27problem.
21:27She doesn't want
21:29the creeps
21:30from his first marriage
21:31to get any
21:32of the money
21:32that there is
21:33in the estate,
21:34and so nobody's
21:36told that he's died.
21:37She doesn't allow
21:38there to be
21:38a full autopsy.
21:40It's a very
21:41quick cremation.
21:43Ken had died
21:44March 28th.
21:45Kenny did not
21:47find out
21:47about it
21:48until,
21:48uh,
21:50June.
21:51And what had
21:52happened is
21:53Mom convinced
21:54me not to tell
21:55Kenny,
21:56until no one knew.
21:57I'm so ashamed
21:58of myself that
21:59she said,
21:59well,
22:00maybe let me
22:00to do that.
22:03Sante kept
22:04Ken financially
22:05alive for some
22:06time after his
22:08death by using
22:09his credit
22:09cards and
22:10trying to
22:10access his
22:12accounts.
22:13But soon
22:14questions were
22:15being asked
22:16by an executive
22:17at Ken's
22:18offshore bank,
22:19Gulf Union.
22:2055-year-old
22:21Syed Bilal Ahmed
22:23was concerned
22:24about the
22:24flurry of faxes
22:25requesting money
22:27transfers by
22:28his client,
22:29Ken Kimes.
22:30Syed suspected
22:31they were fake.
22:33He turned up
22:34in the Bahamas
22:35to investigate
22:35irregularities in
22:37Ken Sinia's
22:37accounts.
22:38And of course,
22:40Sante immediately
22:41recognized that he
22:43was an obstacle
22:44that needed to
22:45be removed.
22:46On the 4th of
22:48September 1996,
22:50Sante and her
22:51son Kenny
22:52wined and dined
22:53the bank
22:54investigator at
22:55their favorite
22:56Nassau restaurant.
22:57They eventually
22:58invited him back
22:59for coffee
23:00to the house
23:01and that's
23:02when they
23:02fed the
23:03date rape
23:04drug into
23:05his drink,
23:06got him into
23:07a dozy state
23:07and drowned
23:08him in the
23:09bath.
23:10The two of
23:11them took
23:12it in turns
23:13to hold him
23:13under the
23:14water.
23:17It's believed
23:18Kenny took
23:19the body and
23:20dropped it
23:21in the sea.
23:22However,
23:22the body
23:23has never
23:23been found.
23:25As far as
23:26the police
23:26are concerned,
23:27he's simply
23:28a missing person.
23:29Yes,
23:29of course,
23:30the last
23:30two people
23:31to see
23:32Saeed alive
23:33are Sante
23:34and Kenny,
23:34but there
23:36is no
23:37blood evidence.
23:38There is
23:39nothing.
23:4021-year-old
23:41Kenny was
23:42now fully
23:42committed to
23:43Sante's
23:44criminal ways,
23:45helping her
23:46carry out
23:46the ultimate
23:47of crimes,
23:48murder.
23:51They fled
23:53from the
23:53Bahamas
23:54to the
23:54sunshine state
23:55of Florida.
23:58apparently
23:59they got
23:59a motor
24:00home and
24:00they went
24:01zigzagged
24:02across the
24:02states,
24:02scamming as
24:03a matter
24:04of course
24:04as well.
24:05The mother
24:06and son
24:07team embarked
24:08on a
24:08Bonnie and Clyde
24:09style shoplifting
24:10crime spree
24:11until the
24:1219th of May
24:131997,
24:15when Sante
24:15was apprehended
24:16in a
24:17department store.
24:19Kenny
24:20punched a
24:21policeman to
24:22let his
24:22mother escape
24:23and he
24:24was arrested
24:24for the
24:25first time.
24:26The 22-year-old
24:27called his
24:28brother,
24:29Kent.
24:30I'm in jail
24:31and I was
24:31relieved.
24:32I was
24:33thankful for
24:33it.
24:35Maybe this
24:36is one thing
24:37that got him
24:37to stay
24:38straight,
24:38you know,
24:38get him back
24:39on the right
24:39track,
24:40let him look
24:40as consequences.
24:42That didn't
24:42happen.
24:43In the eyes
24:44of US
24:45prosecutors,
24:46Kenny was
24:47a first-time
24:48offender and
24:49as such
24:49was treated
24:50leniently.
24:51This
24:52teaches Kenny
24:52a very
24:53important
24:53lesson that
24:54actually you
24:54can break
24:55the law and
24:56you can get
24:56away with
24:57it and there
24:58will be no
24:59consequences for
25:00you.
25:01So this is
25:02something that
25:02is incredibly
25:03important.
25:05By now,
25:07Sante's late
25:07husband's millions
25:08had been
25:09depleted and
25:10what remained
25:11was mostly
25:12tied up in
25:13property.
25:14So,
25:15Sante and
25:16Kenny turned
25:17up flat broke
25:18at the door of
25:19Sante's eldest
25:20his son,
25:21Kent.
25:22It started
25:23to be more
25:23mom and
25:24Kenny against
25:25me.
25:25They were
25:26becoming a
25:27team.
25:27It just
25:28didn't feel
25:28right.
25:30One time I
25:31walked into
25:31my office and
25:32mom and
25:32Kenny were
25:33sitting there
25:33behind my
25:34desk going
25:34through my
25:35drawers.
25:35I said,
25:35what the hell
25:36do you think
25:36you're doing?
25:37Mom and
25:38Kenny were
25:38getting tighter
25:39and tighter
25:39and I was
25:40becoming the
25:41outsider.
25:42The criminal
25:43twosome
25:44eventually left,
25:45but not before
25:46they'd identified
25:47their next
25:48scam.
25:49Back in
25:501992,
25:51Sante and
25:52husband Ken
25:53had transferred
25:54the deeds of
25:55their Las Vegas
25:56home to a
25:57family friend,
25:58David Kasdan,
25:59to avoid it
26:00being seized
26:01in a legal
26:02dispute.
26:04David Kasdan
26:05was a 63-year-old
26:06New Yorker
26:07who had helped
26:08them out of a
26:09jam.
26:10He pretended
26:11to own it.
26:12At the same
26:12time, they got
26:13him to sign a
26:14quitclaim so
26:15that if ever
26:15they wanted it
26:16back again,
26:16they could get
26:17it back at
26:17once.
26:18In January
26:201998,
26:21Sante used
26:22the property
26:22as collateral
26:23to borrow
26:25$280,000
26:26in David's
26:27name.
26:28He opened
26:29up his mail
26:30to discover
26:31he had a
26:32new mortgage.
26:34And then
26:35David found
26:35out that the
26:36house had
26:36burned down.
26:37Insurance
26:38companies were
26:38not going
26:39to cover it
26:39because they
26:40didn't know
26:40it was
26:40arson.
26:41David reported
26:42the fraud
26:43to the bank
26:44and revealed
26:45Sante
26:45Kimes was
26:46behind it.
26:48Well,
26:49Sean Tay's
26:49reaction to
26:50the David
26:51problem was
26:53the usual
26:53one, which
26:54was to
26:55remove the
26:56obstacle.
26:57Kenny, of
26:58course, knew
26:58immediately that
27:01that would be
27:01his job.
27:02On the
27:0313th of
27:04March, Kenny
27:05and an
27:05accomplice, a
27:06drifter called
27:07Sean, drove
27:08to L.A.
27:10and paid
27:10a visit
27:11to David's
27:11home in
27:12Granada
27:12Hills.
27:14Sean waited
27:14outside whilst
27:16Kenny knocked
27:17on his
27:17door.
27:18David welcomed
27:19him into
27:20his house
27:21and said,
27:22would you
27:22like a
27:22coffee?
27:23And went
27:23off to
27:24make coffee,
27:25at which
27:25point Kenny
27:26took a
27:27revolver, put
27:28it at the
27:28back of
27:29David's
27:29neck and
27:30fired her.
27:31He was
27:32dead before
27:32he hit
27:33the floor.
27:37Kenny
27:37returned to
27:38the
27:38accomplice and
27:39together they
27:40loaded him
27:41into the
27:41back of
27:42David's
27:43own green
27:44Jaguar.
27:46They dumped
27:47David's body
27:48in a dumpster
27:49in an alley.
27:50It wasn't
27:51very long
27:52before he
27:53was discovered.
27:58Among the
27:59prime suspects
28:00in his murder
28:00were Sante
28:01and Kenny.
28:03I mean, one
28:04of the really
28:04strange things
28:05about the
28:05David Kasdan
28:06murder is
28:07the
28:08absolute
28:08detachment
28:09that Kenny
28:10showed in
28:11actually doing
28:12the deed
28:13because this
28:14person was
28:14not someone
28:15unknown to
28:16him.
28:16It was
28:16someone very
28:17well known
28:17to him.
28:19But what
28:19happened next
28:20was even
28:20more astonishing.
28:22He sends
28:22flowers to
28:23his mother.
28:24It's almost
28:25as if this
28:25is celebratory.
28:27This is an
28:28act of approval
28:28seeking.
28:29It's like,
28:30hey, mum,
28:30look what I
28:31did for you.
28:32And this
28:33really reinforces
28:34how strong
28:35that codependency
28:36was between
28:37this narcissist
28:38and her number
28:39two.
28:42Instead of
28:43keeping a low
28:44profile,
28:45Sante was back
28:46to her old
28:47tricks.
28:48Two weeks prior
28:49to David's murder,
28:51she'd purchased a car
28:52with a forged
28:53check.
28:54The dealership had
28:55now realized
28:56they'd been duped
28:58and filed charges.
29:00Warrants were
29:00issued for Sante
29:01and Kenny's
29:02arrests.
29:04Now they were
29:05on the run
29:06for two murders
29:07and fraud.
29:08They fled
29:092,800 miles
29:11in the stolen
29:12car to the
29:13east coast.
29:14In the relative
29:15anonymity of
29:16the big city,
29:18New York,
29:19the partners
29:20in crime
29:20conjured up
29:21their next
29:22money-making
29:23scam.
29:24Sante had
29:24been researching
29:25nice,
29:26comfortable
29:27apartments
29:28in New York
29:30and she'd
29:31come across
29:32an 82-year-old
29:34widow called
29:35Irene Silverman
29:36who had a house
29:37on East 65th
29:39Street in
29:39Manhattan
29:40which she'd
29:41converted into
29:42really very
29:43comfortable
29:43suites.
29:45This was a
29:46lady who was
29:46worth a lot
29:47of money.
29:47Property on
29:48the Upper East
29:49Side in the
29:50Central Park
29:50area is very,
29:51very expensive
29:52in the tens
29:53of millions
29:53of dollars
29:55and Sante
29:56wanted a
29:57piece of
29:58this.
29:59Sante
29:59concocted
30:00another fake
30:01alias,
30:02Manny
30:03Gurin,
30:03who was
30:04looking for
30:04an apartment.
30:05This time
30:06her criminal
30:07protégé,
30:08her 23-year-old
30:09son Kenny,
30:10would play
30:11the lead role.
30:13Now normally
30:14Irene likes
30:14very good
30:15references
30:16but Kenny
30:17plays the
30:18classic con.
30:19I'll give
30:19you the
30:20$6,000
30:20now.
30:22The implication
30:23being if you
30:24don't ask
30:25too many
30:25questions.
30:25It takes
30:27less than
30:2724 hours
30:28for him
30:28to place
30:29a bug
30:29in her
30:30apartment
30:31so that
30:32he and
30:32his mother
30:33can listen
30:33in to her
30:34telephone
30:34conversations.
30:36They want
30:37by one
30:38hook or
30:39crook
30:39to get
30:40her to
30:40sign
30:41over
30:42the mansion
30:43to them.
30:45But from
30:46the outset,
30:47Irene seemed
30:48dubious about
30:49her new
30:50resident.
30:50Irene
30:51Silverman
30:51was an
30:52incredibly
30:52smart
30:52woman.
30:53She
30:53noticed
30:54that he
30:54was able
30:55to evade
30:55the security
30:56cameras around
30:57the building.
30:58He kind
30:58of crept
30:59around and
31:00she knew
31:00that he
31:01stood behind
31:01his door
31:02looking out
31:03through the
31:03peephole
31:04because she
31:04could see
31:05his feet
31:05underneath
31:05the door.
31:06She told
31:07people that
31:08she didn't
31:08like this
31:08guy.
31:12After
31:12managing to
31:13purchase a
31:14copy of
31:14the deeds
31:15to the
31:15Manhattan
31:16mansion,
31:17Sante
31:18used her
31:18skills as
31:19a forger
31:20to fake
31:20Irene's
31:21signature
31:22on a
31:22deed's
31:23transfer.
31:24The
31:24con began
31:25to take
31:25on full
31:26force.
31:27Sante
31:27dresses up
31:28as Irene
31:29to convince
31:30the clerk
31:31to notarize
31:32the document.
31:33It's a truly
31:33horrifying story.
31:35The property
31:36was signed
31:37over to a
31:37corporation
31:38Sante
31:39had set
31:39up.
31:40Now that
31:41they had
31:41the paperwork,
31:42there was
31:42only Irene
31:43herself that
31:45remained in
31:45their way.
31:47On the
31:485th of
31:48July,
31:491998,
31:51Kenny
31:51pounced
31:51and dragged
31:53his 82-year-old
31:54landlady
31:55into his
31:56apartment.
31:57Sante
31:57tazes her,
31:58rendering
31:59the poor
31:59woman utterly
32:00helpless.
32:02And then
32:02Kenny,
32:04ever keen
32:05to do his
32:06mother's
32:06bidding,
32:07strangles
32:08her.
32:08It was
32:09an act
32:09of the
32:09most
32:10grotesque
32:10malevolence.
32:13But yet
32:14further
32:14evidence
32:15of the
32:17extraordinary
32:18bond between
32:19mother and
32:20son.
32:22Keen to
32:22please his
32:23mother,
32:2423-year-old
32:25Kenny snuck
32:26Irene's
32:26all-but-five-foot
32:27body into
32:28a duffel bag
32:29and drove it
32:30across the
32:31water into
32:32Hoboken,
32:33New Jersey,
32:33where he dumped
32:34her in a
32:35trash bin.
32:36The
32:37callous couple
32:38now had the
32:39wealthy socialite
32:40out of the
32:41way and the
32:42falsified deeds
32:43to her
32:44Manhattan
32:44townhouse.
32:45Their
32:46outlandish plan
32:47for Sante to
32:48fill the
32:49elderly
32:49millionaire's
32:50shoes appeared
32:51to be
32:51falling into
32:53place.
32:54Straight after
32:55the killing,
32:56they celebrated
32:57their latest
32:58scam.
32:59They take
33:00themselves off
33:01to Trump Tower
33:02to have
33:03pastries and
33:03coffee.
33:05Kenny at
33:05one point
33:06reminisced and
33:07said,
33:07these are the
33:08hands that have
33:09just been round
33:10the neck of
33:10Irene and
33:11now they're
33:12around a
33:12cup of
33:12coffee.
33:13It is almost
33:15unbelievable,
33:17inconceivable.
33:18But for
33:19people who
33:19knew the
33:20New York
33:21socialite,
33:22her disappearance
33:22that Sunday
33:23afternoon was
33:25completely out
33:26of character.
33:27She'd just
33:28completely gone
33:28off the
33:29radar.
33:30People were
33:30very quick to
33:31notice that.
33:31It was only a
33:32matter of hours
33:33that went by
33:34before somebody
33:35reported her
33:35missing to
33:36the police.
33:37Soon,
33:38former NYPD
33:40detective Tom
33:41Hovergum was
33:42alerted by one
33:43of his patrolling
33:44officers.
33:46Phone rang,
33:47I picked it up,
33:48and I had a
33:48patrol officer on
33:49the other end
33:50tell me about
33:50an elderly woman
33:51who is missing.
33:54The officer
33:55said that the
33:57staff was pretty
33:58insistent that
33:59she would never
34:00leave the town
34:02house, and she
34:02had difficulty
34:03walking, and
34:03if she did
34:04leave, she
34:04wouldn't leave
34:05by herself.
34:06So then it
34:08started to raise
34:09my suspicion a
34:11little bit more
34:11than the average
34:12missing person
34:13call.
34:15When he arrived
34:16at Irene's
34:17home, Detective
34:18Hovergum was
34:19told about one
34:20of her new
34:21tenants, Manny
34:22Guerin, a.k.a.
34:24Kenny Kimes,
34:25who'd recently
34:26been acting
34:27strangely.
34:28The police even
34:30found him
34:30mentioned in
34:31Irene's notebook.
34:33She knew
34:34something was not
34:34right with this
34:35guy.
34:35Irene made
34:36notes in
34:37regards to
34:38Kenny's behavior
34:39at the time
34:39and drawings
34:40and even
34:41said that he
34:42looks like he
34:43should be in
34:43jail.
34:44Meanwhile, a
34:45joint task
34:46force of the
34:47LAPD and
34:48FBI were
34:49pursuing the
34:50Kimes for
34:51the bad
34:51check on the
34:52stolen car
34:53and as chief
34:54suspects for
34:55the murder
34:56of David
34:56Kasdan.
34:58They'd found
34:59a criminal
34:59associate of
35:00the Kimes,
35:01Stanley.
35:02He'd
35:03previously
35:03supplied them
35:04with illegal
35:04guns and
35:06the deadly
35:06duo had
35:07recently been
35:08in contact
35:08with him
35:09again.
35:10They had
35:10called and
35:11said,
35:11Stan, we
35:12want you to
35:12come out to
35:13New York.
35:13We have a
35:14beautiful townhouse
35:15that you're
35:16going to love.
35:17We're going to
35:17have you be the
35:18caretaker.
35:19We want you to
35:19change some
35:20locks in the
35:20place and get
35:21rid of everyone
35:22that's in the
35:22townhouse.
35:24The police and
35:25the FBI
35:25approached Stanley
35:26and say,
35:27if you help
35:28us pin down
35:30Sante and
35:31Kenny, whom
35:31they now
35:31clearly have
35:33a firm
35:33view, our
35:34killers, we'll
35:35cut you a
35:36deal.
35:36By coincidence,
35:38on the same
35:39day as
35:39Irene's
35:40murder, the
35:41task force
35:41had set up
35:42a sting to
35:43arrest the
35:44Kimes.
35:45Stan helps
35:46them lure
35:47Sante and
35:47Kenneth Kimes to
35:48this Hilton
35:49hotel on
35:506th Avenue.
35:51One of the
35:51things he had
35:52to do to
35:53let the
35:53police know
35:54that they
35:54were there
35:54was tip
35:54his hat.
35:56The police
35:57stood on
35:58alert, but
35:58there was no
35:59sign of
36:00Sante or
36:00Kenny.
36:01They finally
36:02arrived over
36:03six hours late
36:04after dumping
36:05Irene's
36:06body.
36:07Stanley takes
36:08his hat off,
36:08which is a
36:08clue, if
36:09these are the
36:10right people,
36:10so they're
36:11arrested.
36:12Sante, who
36:13is carrying
36:14a black bag
36:15at the time,
36:15throws the
36:16bag on the
36:16floor and
36:17says, this
36:17isn't mine,
36:18and then
36:19Kenny reacts
36:20by wetting
36:20himself.
36:22They had
36:22killed Irene
36:23literally a
36:24few hours
36:24before.
36:25This was
36:26possibly the
36:27first time in
36:28their lives
36:28that they'd
36:29been caught
36:29off guard.
36:31In Sante's
36:32bag, they
36:32found seven
36:33passports, five
36:35bank books, and
36:36numerous checks
36:37belonging to
36:38Irene.
36:38On Kenny, they
36:40found a forged
36:41social security
36:41card in
36:42Irene's name.
36:44The Kimes were
36:45taken into
36:46custody.
36:47I think Kenny
36:48must have been
36:48feeling incredibly
36:49alone, like a
36:51fish out of water
36:52at this point in
36:53time, because he's
36:54separated from his
36:55mum.
36:55mum, he's always
36:56looking for her to
36:57tell him what to
36:58do next.
37:00So he's feeling
37:01like his normal
37:02has just been
37:02tipped upside
37:03down.
37:04At this stage,
37:06the investigators
37:07hadn't realised the
37:08significance of the
37:09paperwork belonging to
37:10Irene Silverman that
37:12they'd found on the
37:13Kimes.
37:14That is, until the
37:15New York police team
37:16investigating Irene's
37:18disappearance held a
37:19news conference.
37:21A detective heard
37:22the news conference
37:23early in the morning
37:23and he heard the
37:25name Irene Silverman.
37:26So then they
37:28immediately called up
37:29and said, hey, I
37:30think we have a
37:31couple of people
37:31here you might want
37:32to speak to.
37:33Now the police knew
37:35that Kenny Kimes and
37:36the mysterious Manny
37:37Gurrin were one and
37:39the same.
37:40Irene's staff
37:41identified Kenny as
37:42Manny in a police
37:44line-up, and
37:45detectives obtained a
37:46search warrant for
37:47his apartment.
37:48When we went in, we
37:50found a shower curtain
37:51was missing.
37:51We found several
37:52wigs.
37:53We also found a drug
37:56that is used to,
37:58they call it the
37:59date rape drug, it's
38:00used to knock people
38:01out.
38:02We also found papers
38:04with Irene Silverman's
38:05signature on it.
38:06Someone was
38:06practicing her
38:07signature.
38:08We found a to-do
38:10list written by
38:11Sante Kimes.
38:12Duct tape, rope,
38:14garbage bags.
38:15We were hoping Irene
38:17was still alive, but we
38:19had our doubts.
38:20In a bag that they
38:22checked at the Plaza
38:23Hotel, we finally
38:25found the motive.
38:27To forge a deed to
38:29Irene Silverman's
38:29townhouse.
38:30It was a huge piece
38:31of evidence.
38:33Now that they had
38:34conclusively linked the
38:35crimes to Irene
38:36Silverman, Detective
38:38Hovergim questioned
38:4023-year-old Kenny.
38:43I was talking about poor
38:44Irene and her missing and
38:46how her staff misses her,
38:48and I was trying to play
38:49on his emotions, trying
38:51to get him to feel sorry
38:52for her.
38:53At one point, I thought I
38:54had him.
38:55He started to tear up, he
38:56started to slouch, and I
38:58thought, this is it, he's
39:00going to spill.
39:01Then all of a sudden, in
39:03snap of a finger, he became
39:05stone cold.
39:06Rigid, sat up, stone cold,
39:09and said, I have no comment.
39:10That was it, he was done.
39:14Even though Irene's body was
39:16never found, on the 16th of
39:18December, 1998, at Manhattan
39:21Criminal Court, Sante and
39:23Kenny Kimes faced a total of
39:2684 charges, including Irene's
39:29murder.
39:30It was a media circus, and
39:33Sante reveled in the
39:35spotlight.
39:36She seized a chance for yet
39:38another performance.
39:40She went on 60 Minutes.
39:42She went on another news show
39:44and proclaimed her innocence,
39:46and it was so over the top.
39:48It just was ridiculous.
39:50Crying, carrying on.
39:53As God as my witness, we would
39:55never do anything like that.
39:57Why would we murder a sweet
39:59old woman?
40:03The prosecution were missing
40:05one crucial piece of
40:06evidence, Irene's body.
40:09We had a homicide without a
40:11body, and all circumstantial
40:13evidence, but that
40:14circumstantial evidence was
40:16overwhelming.
40:16We had everything we needed,
40:18we just didn't have the body.
40:20I think we were all a bit
40:21nervous, but we knew we'd get
40:23a conviction.
40:24I mean, if you sat on a jury
40:26and listened to the presentation
40:27from the district attorney's
40:28office, without a doubt,
40:31these two people killed
40:32Irene Silverman.
40:35Sante was finally convicted
40:37and sentenced to 120 years
40:40in prison.
40:41Kenny was given 125.
40:45We were ecstatic.
40:47The only downside is that we
40:48never found Irene.
40:50I still feel bad about that
40:51to this day.
40:55But we got a conviction, and
40:57that was amazing.
40:59But the story didn't end
41:01there.
41:01New evidence found during the
41:04search for Irene had allowed a
41:06case to be built against the
41:07duo for the murder of their
41:09second victim, David Kasdan.
41:12They were to be extradited to
41:14Los Angeles, where they could face
41:16the death penalty if found guilty.
41:19Kenny is desperate that his
41:21mother shouldn't face the death
41:22penalty.
41:23In March 2001, he is transferred
41:26to California.
41:27Kenny decides the only way he can
41:30save his mother is to turn
41:32against her.
41:34As part of a plea bargain deal,
41:37in order to avoid the death
41:39penalty, Kenny Kimes confessed to
41:42the earlier murders of Syed Bilal
41:44Ahmed and David Kasdan.
41:46Mother and son were sentenced to
41:49life in prison without the
41:51possibility of parole.
41:53Their victims finally saw
41:55justice.
41:56The sentencing judge in
41:58California described Sante as
42:01one of the most evil
42:02individuals that she had ever
42:04encountered in her years on the
42:05bench.
42:06And I think that phrase can be
42:08applied to both of them.
42:10They were both evil individuals.
42:13Almost ten years later, on the
42:1619th of May, 2014, Sante Kimes
42:20died in prison.
42:21She was 79 years old.
42:24Even up to the end, she denied
42:27everything.
42:28She was innocent in her mind to
42:30the day she died.
42:32Never remorseful for any of her
42:34actions.
42:36Recently, her son, Kenny,
42:38however, has begun to show
42:40remorse.
42:41He understands, you know, what
42:44pain he caused people by taking
42:45away people they love him
42:46because he lost someone he
42:47loved and stuff.
42:48So I think Kenny finally gets
42:50it.
42:51Far too late.
42:55I have too much respect for the
42:57people who've been hurt by them
42:58to call him a victim.
43:00He is evil.
43:02That's why I hope he never gets
43:03out of prison.
43:07They brutally killed two men who got
43:10in the way of their money-making
43:12scams.
43:13They conned and duped innocent
43:15victims out of thousands of
43:17dollars.
43:18They strangled an 82-year-old in
43:21order to steal her multi-million
43:23dollar property.
43:24That's what makes Sante and Kenny
43:26Kimes, two of the world's most evil
43:30killers.
43:30Cristo Jones, two of the world's most olduğu
43:34convicted.
43:35And Bradley Nassish, three
43:57killers.
43:59That's how he loves the world's most evil
44:08You