Detective claims killer mum and son shared a bed and may have been incestuous

04 September 2023 , 14:40

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Sante Kimes denied murdering her landlord up until her death (Image: Getty Images)

A killer mum and her son secretly shared a bed and may have had an incestuous relationship, a detective involved in the case has said.

Sante and Kenneth Jr Kimes were jailed after killing 82-year-old socialite Irene Silverman, who was their landlord, in 1998 after Sante plotted to murder the victim in order to take ownership of her Upper East Side Mansion. The woman's body was never found and Sante, who died in 2014, was sentenced to 120 years in prison, while her son, who is now 50, received 125 years.

During the murder probe, private investigator Clarissa 'Cici' McNair said she noticed how the mum and son appeared to have a very close relationship, even sharing a bed on the first floor of their victim's $10 million townhouse in New York, which she ran as a boarding home.

Kenneth Kimes is still serving life in prison (Getty Images)

Irene Silverman's body was never found (Getty Images)

The case captivated headlines due to the mystery surrounding the woman's disappearance but also because of the strange relationship between Sante and her son. Ms McNair said the killer duo was "loving and affectionate" but in many ways looked "like a couple".

During an interview with Fox News at the weekend, Ms McNair said Sante was "very offended" when she was asked if she was having an incestuous relationship with her son Kenneth - but added that their relationship of son and mother was "very unusual". The son did not have any friends as no one was "good enough for him" and, growing up, he saw his mother as "a dominating force", the investigator added.

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Talking about Sante, Ms McNair said she had "bad, evil energy" but was "attractive, flirtatious" and looked much younger than her age. The investigator, who wrote a book titled 'Never Flirt with a Femme Fatale', said the case - which was her first murder probe - "had everything you could possibly imagine."

Ms McNair said that Sante never apologised for the murder and, up until her death, she kept denying it. She explained: "Sante denied everything from the moment I met her in the summer of 1998 through her death in 2014. She had an answer for everything… There were no apologies whatsoever… I've talked to Kenny in the last year, and he says he's come to terms with a lot of things that he never should have done. Now, I don't know if he's sorry for what he did or if he's sorry that he was sentenced to life."

The expert added that the case proves there are "sociopaths everywhere" and they are "not a rare species". She said: "They're clever, they’re often very attractive, and they're used to getting what they want. There is no sense of guilt. And I think in this case, we had one sociopath who created her son in her own image."

Chiara Fiorillo