Naman Shrestha
When an elderly socialite named Irene Zambelli Silverman went missing in the summer of 1998, the evidence led the authorities straight to the mother-son duo of Sante Kimes and Kenny Kimes Jr. As the investigators dived deeper into their lives, some dark secrets about their past crimes also came to the surface. Not long after, both of them were caught and convicted, but the son ended up testifying against her in court. NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Devil Wore White’ delves into the intricacies of the case with the help of exclusive interviews with the victim’s loved ones and other individuals linked to the case.
Kenny Kimes Lost His Way After His Father Passed Away
Son of Sante Kimes and Kenneth Kimes Sr., Kenneth “Kenny” Kimes Jr. was born on March 24, 1975, in Los Angeles, California. He also had a half-brother named Kent Walker from his mother’s pervious relationship with Edward Walker. Growing up, Kenny was traveling across the country in a motor home with his parents, only to later realize that Sante and Kenneth were fugitives wanted by the FBI. At the age of 10, he witnessed his parents get arrested by the FBI from their residence near San Diego, California. While his father took the guilty plea and completed an alcohol treatment program, his mother was imprisoned. As per Kenny’s claims, he and his father led quite a stable and normal life in the absence of Sante. However, life got complicated yet again in 1989 after she was released from prison.
In a tragic turn of events, Kenny suffered a huge loss when his father died of a brain aneurysm in 1994. At the time, he had been attending the University of California, Santa Barbara, and he was kept in the dark about Kenneth Sr.’s passing for three months by Sante. By claiming that she felt suicidal, she managed to make Kenny soft towards her, so much so that he even got out of college to go on a trip with her. Soon enough, Kenny would join his mother and take part in different kinds of crimes with her, replacing his father as her accomplice. The mother-son duo were reportedly involved in the disappearance and murder of Syed Bilal Ahmed and David Kazdin.
However, when Kenny and Sante murdered Irene Zambelli Silverman in July 1998, they were under suspicion for the crime as well as previous crimes they had committed. According to the investigators, Kenny strangled Irene before he and his mother got rid of the body by disposing of it in trash bags at a construction site in northern New Jersey. Upon conducting a search of their possessions, the detectives discovered plastic handcuffs, recordings of the victim’s phone conversations, a fake deed to Irene’s residence, and guns. In light of all these pieces of evidence, both were charged with the murder in December 1998.
Kenny Kimes Testified Against His Mother But For Good Reason
Kenny Kimes and his mother, Sante Kimes, stood on trial for the murder of Irene Silverman, and in May 2000, they were found guilty of 118 charges, including murder, robbery, grand larceny, conspiracy, burglary, eavesdropping, forgery, and illegal weapons possession. Consequently, Kenny and Sante were sentenced to 120 years and 124 years in prison, respectively. Upon learning that her mother was about to be extradited to California, he held a reporter hostage using a ballpoint pen during a prison interview in October 2000. Fortunately, the reporter managed to escape from the prisoner’s captivity as the negotiators distracted him for a while.
Several months later, Kenny and Sante were extradited to Los Angeles to stand trial for the killing of David Kazdin. A few years later, he not only pleaded guilty to murdering David during his trial but also implicated his mother in several crimes during her trial as part of the plea deal. In exchange, the judge could not sentence either of them to death, even if she would be found guilty. Later, he explained that he confessed only because he did not want him or her to receive the death penalty. Sante ended up being convicted for her other crimes and passed away while serving her sentence in 2014.
Incarcerated For His Crimes at a California Prison Facility, Kenny Feels Remorseful For His Crimes
The following year, Kenny reportedly became romantically involved with an author from California. Unfortunately, he could only know her for three years as, in 2018, she died of pneumonia. After all these years, he claims that he still keeps her in his thoughts as she made him want to become a better human being. During an interview with CNN, he explained what she meant to him: “She made me understand that there’s beauty in life. I felt whole. I felt complete. And that’s what made me want to do better.” Almost 10 years into his mother’s demise, Kenny Kimes opened up about her as well.
He said, “I know a lot of people in my situation would say, ‘She destroyed my life.’ And that’s true to an extent. But I love my mom. She had a lot of baggage, and she was a complicated person with criminal tendencies. But I would never hate my mom.” As of now, he is serving his sentence behind bars at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. Having become a religious person, Kenny believes that he will meet his lover yet again in heaven after his demise. Moreover, he regularly contemplates how different his life would have been if someone had simply adopted him and kept him away from Sante and Kenneth Sr. He also feels inclined to get educated and rehabilitated while feeling apologetic for all the harm he caused to his victims’ loved ones.
Read More: Irene Silverman Murder: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
You must be logged in to post a comment.