Sante & Kenny Kimes Jr.: The Dragon Lady, Her Son, & The Murder of Irene Silverman
The Murder of Irene Silverman
On July 5th, 1998, 82-year-old Manhattan socialite Irene Silverman vanished from her Upper East Side townhouse without a trace. There were no signs of a struggle, no forced entry, and no body would ever be found. The investigation quickly turned to a tenant who had been renting a room in Irene's home under the name "Manny." This tenant was actually Kenneth Kimes Jr., who, along with his mother Sante Kimes, had been orchestrating a highly calculated plan to take control of Irene's valuable property and ultimately, her life.
Sante and Kenneth Jr. had built access to Irene's world over time, observing her routines and preparing forged documents to transfer ownership of her townhouse. Their plan was meticulous, with Sante even posing as Irene in front of a notary using a wig and disguise. When Irene disappeared, the two packed up her personal documents and the forged paperwork, attempting to move on as if nothing had happened. A routine traffic stop in Utah would soon connect them to the murder investigation unfolding in New York.
A Lifetime of Deception and Control
The murder of Irene was not an isolated incident. It was the result of decades of calculated deception, manipulation, and control. Born in 1934, Sante's early life showed a strong sense of ambition paired with a willingness to ignore the rules. She moved through relationships strategically, eventually marrying Kenneth Kimes Sr., which gave her the wealth and cover she needed to expand her criminal activities.
Sante's schemes escalated from organized shoplifting to fraud, insurance scams involving arson, and eventually holding young Mexican women as domestic slaves, a federal conviction she received in 1985. Throughout all of this, she was raising Kenneth Jr., pulling him out of traditional schooling and teaching him how to read people, gain trust, and manipulate situations. By the time he was a teenager, he was a full participant in his mother's world, helping her execute increasingly complex operations across different states and identities.
A Trail of Victims
As their operations grew more complex, anyone who became a liability was eliminated. This included Elmer Holmgren, an attorney with knowledge of Sante's earlier insurance fraud; Syed Bilal Ahmed, a banker in the Bahamas who began asking questions about their offshore accounts; and David Kazdin, a personal acquaintance who confronted Sante after discovering his identity had been used for a fraudulent loan worth approximately $280,000.
The investigation into Irene's disappearance uncovered a black bag in Sante and Kenneth Jr.'s possession containing Irene's personal documents, syringes, and drugs associated with incapacitation. More significantly, investigators recovered Sante's detailed journals, meticulous records that outlined her plans, contingencies, and methods for handling obstacles. These records made it clear that Irene's murder was premeditated and part of a long-standing pattern of behavior. Despite the absence of a body, the combination of physical evidence, documented planning, and witness statements led to the conviction of both Sante and Kenneth Jr. for murder. Sante died in prison in 2014. Kenneth Jr. remains incarcerated today.
