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Notorious criminal Sante Kimes' son Kenneth, now 49, has opened up about his tumultuous childhood and years as an accomplice to his mother's crimes. "If I could only have an hour with my younger self, I would say, 'buddy … you have to file for emancipation from your parents,'" Kimes told CNN from prison. "You have to save yourself."
Kimes and his mother, infamously known as the Dragon Lady, were convicted of killing New York socialite Irene Silverman in 1998.
The pair's crimes stretched beyond New York. At the time of Ms Silverman's disappearance, they were wanted for arson, insurance fraud, and a shooting in California, along with a suspected murder in the Bahamas. Their arrests revealed an even darker past. They were linked to a series of crimes involving kidnapping and enslaving domestic workers, including a notorious case in the mid-1980s where Sante Kimes was sentenced to prison for running a human trafficking operation across several states.
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When the police arrested them in New York, they discovered incriminating evidence in their car, including weapons, wigs, and personal items belonging to Ms Silverman, including a forged deed to her property. Despite this, the Kimes denied any involvement in Ms Silverman's disappearance.
Sante Kimes called their arrest a "witch hunt" and denied all charges, claiming they were victims of mistaken identity.
In 2000, a jury convicted the Kimes of Ms Silverman's murder, sentencing them to 120 years to life in prison. However, four years later, Kenneth Kimes made a stunning revelation. He confessed to killing the elderly socialite, implicating his mother in the crime in exchange for a plea deal. "I want to make it clear that I did not confess because I wanted to rat my mom out. I confessed because I was afraid of the death penalty for me or her," Kimes said.
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Kimes described how he tackled Ms Silverman in her bedroom while his mother turned on the television to mask the noise. He then strangled her, stuffed her body in a car, and dumped it at a construction site in northern New Jersey. Her body was never found. The last time he saw his mother was during his confession in 2004. “When I started confessing, she started crying,” Kimes recalled.
His mother died in 2014 while serving her prison sentence.
Kimes described his childhood as marked by lies, uncertainty, and FBI raids. His mother's 1985 prison sentence for kidnapping and enslaving maids was a significant moment. "It had a huge, damaging effect on my perspective," he said. He also recalled his mother's charisma and manipulative nature, saying, "My mom could make every man in the room feel like the most important person in the planet."
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Kimes also remembered a brief period of stability with his father after his mother was imprisoned in the 1980s. "It was the most stable period of my young life," he said. However, when his father died suddenly, his mother manipulated him, hiding the news of his death for months.
Now serving time in the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, Kimes has spent years reflecting on his past and the consequences of his upbringing. He often thinks about the lack of intervention during his childhood, and what might have happened if someone had taken him away from his parents. “Maybe I wouldn't have been a high-profile murderer,” he said. “My whole life and criminality is a study on the outcome of lack of prevention. There are many kids like me who are on the road to destruction.”
Kimes has turned to religion and believes he will meet his late partner in heaven. He also regretted his actions and offered an apology to the families of his victims: "To anyone I've harmed, I know it's worthless, but I'm sorry.”
