The Killer Kimes

After wealthy New York socialite Irene Silverman disappeared, suspicions turned to her most recent tenant, Kenneth Kimes, who she was trying to evict. Then, as the story of her disappearance unfolded, the backgrounds and behaviors of Kenneth and his mother, Sante, made Irene’s disappearance almost certainly a murder.

Join us the quiet end for The Killer Kimes. Sante would be linked to a cross-country crime spree which included fraud, arson, theft, and as many as four murders. Investigators determined that she and her son had devised a scheme where Sante would assume the identity of Irene Silverman and take ownership of her mansion. When he was arrested, Kenneth had Irene’s keys and a forged deed. But if Irene’s murder was just the most recent of their crimes, how had they gotten away with so much for so long?

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Sources

The Devil Wore White, Dateline NBC, S33, E3, 1/31/2025.

A Family Portrait: A special report; A Twisted Tale of Deceit, Fraud and Violence, The New York Times, Robert D. McFadden with Frank Bruni, 7/14/1998.

Mother-Son Duo Faces Day in L.A. Court; Law: The pair who killed a New York socialite will be tried in the 1998 slaying of a local man, Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times, 6/26/2002.

Sins of the Mother, Vanity Fair, Suzanna Andrews, 3/2000.

Son of a Grifter: The Twisted Tale of Sante and Kenny Kimes, by Kent Walker & Mark Schone, 2001.