Notorious grifter Sante Kimes, who teamed up with her son to murder a wealthy New York Âsocialite in 1998, has died in her prison cell at age 79.
Kimes, who was also convicted of killing a businessman in Los Angeles, was declared dead after being found unresponsive Monday at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester.
Kimes and her son Kenneth were convicted of murdering 82-year-old Irene Silverman, a widow and former Radio City Music Hall Rockette, and depositing her body in a Dumpster in Hoboken, NJ.
Authorities said the Kimeses conspired to steal Silverman’s $7 million Upper East Side town house and other possessions.
A police search of their car and luggage after the crime found guns, a knockout liquid, plastic handcuffs, fright masks, syringes, tapes of Silverman’s telephone conversations and a fake deed to the victim’s home.
Years after the murder, Kenneth Kimes confessed to helping strangle Silverman and stuffing her body in a duffel bag before dumping it. The body has never been found.
Sante Kimes was sentenced to 120 years in prison for the murder and would not have been eligible for parole until 2119. Her son received 125 years.
In 2004, Sante was convicted in California of murder in the 1998 death of businessman David Kazdin, whose body was found in a trash bin. She got life in prison for that slaying.
Kenneth pleaded guilty to that crime in 2003 and was sentenced to life in prison as well.
He said his mother planned Kazdin’s murder, and sent him to do the job. He testified that he shot Kazdin in the back of the head at close range and that someone he met at a homeless shelter helped dispose of the body.
Kenneth said that his mother decided to kill Kazdin, an old friend, after Kazdin learned that she had taken out a $280,000 loan by forging his signature.
Sante was also convicted of illegally transporting Mexican girls and keeping them as prisoners and household slaves in her Las Vegas home.