From A Scene to A Mansion And Then Into A Dumpster - Part II

Irene Silverman was a charming and popular widow of a millionaire. She had many friends and took part in much of what was going on in New York, so of course people noticed when she disappeared all of a sudden. Those who knew her well must have pointed to a fact that proved crucial for the investigation: She had come to feel that a young man who rented one of the luxury apartments she had had built in her New York mansion was somewhat shady and probably not who he said he was.

After having had the house turned into some sort of a high class bed-and-breakfast, maybe firstly in order to fend off loneliness, she only accepted people whom she liked and felt were trustworthy. However, there was something about this special lodger, even though polite and well-dressed as he was, which seems to have given her the creeps or just made her feel very uneasy.

She made several notes and drawings of this shady lodger and his just as shady female visitor, which proves that she didn't trust either of them. Unfortunately, she didn't follow through on her suspicions, which would have saved her life. The main reason she felt that way may have been the special and rather flashy female visitor who, after a very short time, seemed to have moved in with him without her, the landlord, giving leave to do so. It was obvious that this visitor was his senior, but at the same time someone whom Irene may have thought was his lover. Anyway, she felt that there was "something wrong" with the couple, and she didn't want him to stay in the house or get to renew his lease of the apartment.  

However, she proved too slow in doing something to get him out which is the main reason why she herself, and not the "weird couple", "left for good" in 1998, presumably to end up in a dumpster in New Jersey. Anyway, she was never found again, although the police did whatever they could to find her body. 

The "weird couple" at Irene's mansion really was something quite special, yes, even more so than she might have imagined. They were not lovers, but mother and son, bonded in many kinds of crimes, one of them being murder. The nickname of the mother was "The Dragon Lady", but she certainly also made a very famous name for herself as herself, namely Sante Kimes (she was born Sante Singhrs: 1934-2014). Her Daddy was Prama Mahendra "Dock" Singhrs from India. He was a herbalist who married an American girl and fathered several children, one of them Sante, who was a handful, even as a kid. 

  

When Sante was caught with her son, Kenneth Kimes, she was dubbed "the most evil woman, I've met" by her own lawyers. Actually, she started out with her cruel and criminal games as a child by torturing animals. Also, she just loved arson and shoplifting. It has been said that she stole something each day of the week, which may very well be true. It was very obvious that she didn't have any empathy with anyone but herself and her youngest son, Kenneth. As to the eldest one, Kent, then he didn't take part in her crimes and thus didn't become her favorite. He had a much more normal relationship with her that the youngest, Kenneth Jr..

Kent Walker 

Her first husband, Edward Walker, was a high-school pal, but the marriage didn't last for long, as they were separated after her conviction for one of her favorite sports: Shoplifting. Their divorce was finalized eigth years later, and her second husband was the millionaire Kenneth Kimes Sr., who was seventeen years her senior. 

Sante, Kenneth Kimes Jr. and Kenneth Kimes Sr.

When she was with Edward Walker, who was a general contractor and who built homes, she excelled in arsons and insurance fraud as well as in theft of all kinds. With Kenneth Kimes Sr. her cruelty trait took on new forms, this time targeting servants or other people who worked for or were dependent on her and her husband. In 1985, she was sentenced to five years of prison for slavery, whereas Kenneth Kimes Sr. agreed to a plea bargain to complete an alcohol treatment program. When he died in 1994 she didn't tell Kenneth Jr. of the death of his father until several months later.

As a young woman, Sante was quite beautiful. She was considered a kind of look-alike of Elizabeth Taylor which is something I fail to see, but she had charisma and charm. One of the men who must have been completely infatuated with her was her own son, Kenneth Kimes Jr.. In my opinion she ruined his life by luring him into her world of crimes and chaos, but I have to admit that he didn't seem very reluctant to do what she wanted: They became partners in crime, and maybe he was the only one she ever loved, that is, as far as she could love which isn't much.

Over the years, many have discussed what exactly happened to Irene Silverman. When the mother/son-murder-duo was arrested, Kenneth Jr. told the police how Sante had used a stun gun when the couple got hold of and dragged her into the apartment of Kenneth, where he strangled her. 

Yes, that they did, and they had a plan to get hold of what they set out to grab as their ill deserved loot. When the couple was arrested, the police found a forged deed with Kenneth which approved the transfer of Irene's multi-million dollar townhouse to Sante as well as other valuables. They were definitely out to fleece the 82 year old millionaire, but the murder of her proved not to be the only grave crime of the duo. On the contrary, as there were at least three previous murders that she had committed, either alone or with his help. The verdict for 118 charges, including murder, fraud, robbery, theft, assault, etc. was more than 100 years of prison for each of them. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/-sante-kimes-murder-conviction-disappearance-elmer-holmgren-rcna189733

https://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2014/04/sante-kimes-son-serial-killer-team-usa.html

https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/irene-silverman

 

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-08-me-kimes8-story.html 

 

Wikipedia