Kenneth Kimes

Case record: Kenneth Kimes

Identity

Kenneth Kimes was convicted and sentenced in relation to the murders of Irene Silverman and David Kazdin. He was a son of Sante Kimes.

Current status

Kenneth Kimes was sentenced to 125 years in prison in New York in 2000. He was later sentenced to life in prison in California in 2004.

Timeline

• August 1985 — Kenneth Kimes had a plea bargain in a federal anti-slavery laws case and agreed to complete an alcohol treatment program.
• 1989 — Sante Kimes was released from prison.
• 1994 — Ken, Sr. died.
• 1996 — Kenneth Kimes murdered banker Sayed Bilal Ahmed in the Bahamas, according to Kenneth’s confession; Bahamian authorities suspected him but no charges were filed.
• March 1998 — David Kazdin’s body was found in a dumpster near the Los Angeles airport.
• June 1998 — Kenneth Kimes and Sante Kimes perpetrated a scheme involving Irene Silverman, including assuming Silverman’s identity and appropriating ownership of her Manhattan mansion.
• July 1998 — Irene Silverman was last seen.
• May 18, 2000 — A jury convicted Kenneth Kimes and Sante Kimes of murdering Irene Silverman.
• June 27, 2000 — Kenneth Kimes was sentenced in New York for the Irene Silverman murder.
• October 2000 — Kenneth Kimes held Court TV reporter Maria Zone hostage during a jailhouse interview.
• March 2001 — Kenneth Kimes was extradited to Los Angeles to stand trial for the murder of David Kazdin.
• June 2004 — During the David Kazdin trial, Kenneth changed his plea from “not guilty” to “guilty” and implicated his mother in exchange for a plea deal.
• 2004 — Kenneth Kimes was sentenced to life in prison in California.

The offence

Murder of David Kazdin

David Kazdin had allowed Kimes to use his name on the deed of a home in Las Vegas that was actually occupied by Kenneth Sr. and Sante Kimes in the 1970s. Several years later, Sante Kimes convinced a notary to forge Kazdin’s signature on an application for a loan of $280,000, with the house as collateral. When Kazdin discovered the forgery and threatened to expose Sante Kimes, she ordered him killed. Kenneth Jr. murdered Kazdin by shooting him in the back of the head. According to another accomplice’s later testimony, all three participated in disposing of the evidence. Kazdin’s body was found in a dumpster near Los Angeles airport in March 1998. The murder weapon was never recovered, having been disassembled and dropped into a storm sewer.

Murder of Irene Silverman

In June 1998, with her son Kenny, Sante 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. Kenneth’s confession during the trial for the Kazdin murder described 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. At trial, evidence recovered from their car helped establish the case for trying them on Kazdin’s murder as well.

Prosecution evidence in the Silverman case included that the jury convicted the Kimes of murder even though authorities never found Silverman’s body. Police found a fake Social Security card bearing Silverman’s name, an allegedly forged deed transferring Silverman’s Manhattan townhouse to a shell Florida firm set up by the Kimes, and loaded .9 mm and .22 caliber pistols. Silverman’s keys, cassettes of Silverman’s telephone conversations taken from wiretaps, several wigs and masks, plastic handcuffs, $30,000 in cash, and an empty stun gun box were also found in the car. Prosecutors convinced jurors that the Kimes planned to use these items to carry out an elaborate murder-robbery plot.

Murder of Sayed Bilal Ahmed

Kenneth also confessed to murdering a third man, banker Sayed Bilal Ahmed, at his mother’s behest in The Bahamas in 1996. Kenneth testified that the two acted together to drug Ahmed, drown him in a bathtub, and dump his body offshore. No charges were ever filed in that case.

Investigation and evidence

Apprehension and evidence in the stolen Lincoln

The Kimeses were apprehended in New York City. Inside the stolen Lincoln, police found incriminating evidence including Irene’s passport and keys to the mansion, a fully loaded Glock .9 mm pistol and a .22 Beretta, real estate transfer papers, and a notebook showing Sante practicing Irene Silverman’s signature repeatedly. Additional items included an empty stun gun box, blank social security cards, handcuffs, extra license plates, syringes, and walkie-talkies.

Car evidence used in related trials

Evidence recovered from their car helped establish the case for trying them on Kazdin’s murder as well. The Silverman trial was unusual because no body was recovered and because the defendants were a mother/son team.

Notes and trial documentation

The conviction in the Silverman case was described as based in no small part on the discovery of Kimes’ notebooks detailing the crime and notes written by Silverman, who was extremely suspicious of the pair.

Arrest and custody incidents

Court TV reporter hostage-taking

In October 2000, during an interview, Kenneth held Court TV reporter Maria Zone hostage by pressing a ballpoint pen into her throat. Zone had interviewed Kimes once before without incident. Kenneth’s demand was that his mother not be extradited to California, where the two faced the death penalty for the murder of David Kazdin. After four hours of negotiation, Kimes removed the pen from Zone’s throat. Negotiators created a distraction that allowed them to quickly remove Zone and wrestle Kimes to the ground.

Trial

Silverman trial (New York)

The Kimes were tried first for the Silverman murder. 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 the first poll on the subject. A jury forewoman pronounced “guilty” 118 times—58 times for Sante Kimes and 60 for Kenneth Kimes—in the slaying of Irene Silverman.

Sante had earlier chosen not to take the stand in her own defense after the judge ruled that prosecutors could question her about the previous conviction on slavery charges. The judge ordered 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, contending that Kimes was attempting to influence the jury and that there would be no cross-examination as there would be in court.

Sentencing in the Silverman case (New York)

During the sentencing portion of the Silverman trial, Sante Kimes made a prolonged statement blaming the authorities, including their own lawyers, for framing them. She compared their trial to the Salem Witch Trials and claimed the prosecutors were guilty of “murdering the Constitution.” When the statement ended, 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. On June 27, 2000, Sante Kimes, 65, was sentenced to 120 years and 8 months behind bars, while Kenneth Kimes, 25 years old, received 125 years and four months.

Kazdin trial (California)

After Kenneth was extradited to Los Angeles in March 2001, and Sante was extradited in June 2001, the David Kazdin trial occurred in June 2004. While facing the death penalty, Kenneth changed his plea from “not guilty” to “guilty” and implicated his mother in exchange for a plea deal that his mother not receive the death penalty if convicted.

Sante made a prolonged statement denying the murders and accusing police and prosecutors of various misconduct, and was ordered by the presiding judge to be silent again. The sentencing judge in the Kazdin case called Mrs. Kimes “one of the most evil individuals” they had met as a judge. Kenneth and Sante each received another life sentence added on to the more than 100 years they were already serving.

Sentencing

New York sentence for Silverman murder

Sante Kimes was sentenced to 120 years and 8 months behind bars. Kenneth Kimes was sentenced to 125 years and four months behind bars.

California sentence for Kazdin murder

Each of Kenneth Kimes and Sante Kimes was sentenced to life in prison for the death of David Kazdin in California.

Appeals and outcomes

No appeal outcome was stated in the provided material.

Aftermath and incarceration

Sante Kimes was described as 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 was March 3, 2119. Kenneth Kimes had a 125-year sentence in New York and later received life in California.

Other details

Confession and evidence disposal

Kenneth’s confession in the Silverman case described that he strangled the victim and disposed of the corpse by depositing it in a dumpster in Hoboken, New Jersey. For David Kazdin, Kenneth was described as having shot him in the back of the head and participating with others in disposing of the evidence.

“No body, no crime” claim

Kenneth told the judge: “No body, no crime.” The family motto was described in connection with this statement.

Media and courtroom restrictions

The judge threatened to have Kimes handcuffed during further court appearances if she persisted in speaking to the media and restricted her telephone access to calls to her lawyers.

Additional context and related crimes

Kenneth Kimes was described as being part of a mother/son criminal pattern involving robbery, burglary, conspiracy, grand larceny, illegal weapons possession, forgery and eavesdropping, alongside the murders described.