Sante Kimes
Sante Kimes | |
|---|---|
NYS DOCS mugshot (2000) | |
| Born | Sante Louise Singhrs July 24, 1934 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | May 19, 2014 (aged 79) |
| Occupation(s) | Con artist, fraudster |
| Spouse(s) |
Edward Walker
(m. 1957; div. 1969)Kenneth Kimes
(m. 1981; died 1994) |
| Children | 2 |
| Motive | Financial |
| Convictions | Murder (2 counts), robbery, slavery, forgery, over 100 other charges |
| Criminal penalty | Life sentence without possible parole plus 125 years |
Sante Kimes (née Singhrs; July 24, 1934 – May 19, 2014), also known as the Dragon Lady, was an American murderer, con artist, robber, fraudster, serial arsonist and suspected serial killer. Her decades-long crime spree – including throughout her marriage to her second husband, millionaire Kenneth Kimes Sr. – ended with her arrest for the 1998 murder of Irene Silverman in New York City. Many of these crimes were committed with the assistance of her son, Kenneth Kimes Jr. Both were tried and convicted together on 118 charges, including the murder of Silverman.
Kenneth Jr. made a plea deal in the 1998 murder of David Kazdin in Los Angeles, agreeing to testify against his mother in exchange for neither facing the death penalty. Sante was subsequently convicted of the Kazdin murder. The pair were also suspected of but never charged in a third murder in the Bahamas, to which Kenneth later confessed. Sante also admitted to her son that she murdered the partner in one of her arsons, Elmer Ambrose Holmgren, who had disappeared in Costa Rica; no charges were brought in this crime.