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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesSante Kimes and her son, Kenneth “Kenny” Kimes, were convicted in New York of murdering 82-year-old Irene Silverman in a scheme prosecutors said was meant to take her Manhattan townhouse. Silverman’s body was never found. The jury’s verdict rested on circumstantial evidence, and New York’s Appellate Division later ruled that the evidence presented at trial was legally sufficient to support Sante Kimes’s conviction.
What happened to Irene Silverman?
Silverman lived in an Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan. According to the prosecution theory described in the appellate record, Sante Kimes used an alias to check who owned the property and contacted Silverman about renting an apartment. Kenneth then obtained a tenancy under an assumed identity. Prosecutors argued that the rental arrangement gave the pair access to Silverman and her home as part of a plan to take the property.
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Silverman was last seen on July 5, 1998. The trial evidence summarized by the court placed the Kimeses at or near her townhouse that day. She disappeared, and her body was never recovered. The court’s account of the case and the evidence presented at trial is set out in the New York Appellate Division’s 2006 opinion in People v. Kimes.
What evidence linked the Kimeses to Silverman and the townhouse?
The prosecution’s case combined evidence of access and opportunity with items that connected the defendants to Silverman. The appellate opinion summarizes evidence that items associated with her—including keys and identifying documents—were found with the defendants or in a stolen Lincoln Town Car. The court also describes blank legal forms, notebooks, and items that could be used to overpower someone.
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Those items were evidence cited at trial, not a body or a direct eyewitness account of the killing. The distinction matters: jurors were asked to draw conclusions from a collection of circumstances, including the alleged tenancy arrangement, the Kimeses’ presence near the townhouse, and property and documents associated with Silverman. In 2006, the First Department concluded that the circumstantial evidence presented was legally sufficient to support Sante Kimes’s judgment. That appellate ruling affirmed the conviction; it did not mean Silverman’s body had been found.
How were they convicted without a body?
A missing body did not prevent the New York jury from weighing the evidence and returning guilty verdicts. The prosecution argued that the circumstances surrounding Silverman’s disappearance, the alleged plan involving her townhouse, the defendants’ access and presence, and the items linked to her supported the murder charge. The jury convicted Sante and Kenneth Kimes in 2000 of murder and related offenses.
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The later appeal addressed whether the evidence presented at trial could legally support Sante Kimes’s judgment. The First Department held that it could and affirmed the judgment in 2006. The court’s conclusion was about the sufficiency of the trial evidence; it should not be confused with a finding that there was direct eyewitness proof of the killing.
What sentence did Sante Kimes receive?
The First Department’s 2006 opinion states that Sante Kimes’s aggregate New York sentence was 120 years to life. That is the sentence figure recorded in the opinion, not a general measure of punishment in murder cases. The court affirmed her judgment. The jury had convicted both Sante and Kenneth in the New York case.
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After the verdict, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said, “You cannot escape a murder conviction by disposing of the body,” according to UPI’s May 19, 2000 report. That was the prosecutor’s comment on the verdict, not the appellate court’s legal holding. UPI’s contemporaneous report covers the convictions and remark.
How does the David Kazdin case differ?
The Kimeses were also prosecuted in California over the 1998 killing of businessman David Kazdin. It was a separate case from Silverman’s disappearance: the victim, location, and proceedings were different. The available reports establish limited procedural context, not a complete account of later appeals or sentence changes.
| Case | Victim and location | What the cited sources establish |
|---|---|---|
| New York townhouse case | Irene Silverman; Manhattan, New York | The jury convicted Sante and Kenneth Kimes in 2000 of murder and related offenses. The First Department affirmed Sante’s judgment in 2006 and states her aggregate sentence was 120 years to life. Court opinion |
| California case | David Kazdin; Los Angeles, California | The Washington Post reported that Sante was convicted in California in 2004 and Kenneth pleaded guilty and testified against his mother under a plea agreement. The Los Angeles Times reported in 2000 that California authorities sought extradition after the New York sentence. These reports do not establish a complete later history of the California case. Washington Post · Los Angeles Times |
Kenneth’s plea and testimony belong to the Kazdin prosecution; they should not be treated as evidence or a procedural outcome in the Silverman case unless a source specifically connects them. Keeping the cases separate avoids blending two victims and two sets of proceedings into one narrative.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why does the appellate opinion discuss Sante Kimes’s earlier history?
The court’s opinion discusses prior convictions and bad-act evidence while addressing issues raised on appeal. It recounts a 1986 federal conviction for involuntary servitude, conspiracy, transporting illegal aliens, and escape. The opinion also describes evidence that women were recruited with promises of wages and a better life, then forced to work without pay under threats and beatings.
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That history explains part of the appellate discussion; it is not a substitute for the evidence presented in the Silverman trial. The New York conviction concerned the jury’s findings in that case and the evidence the court reviewed on appeal.
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