Summary — Encore: Matriarch of Murder: Sante and Kenneth Kimes' Trail of Death, Part II

Author/Host: Wondery | Treefort Media (Killer Psyche, host Candace DeLong)

Overview

This episode continues the story of Sante and Kenneth (Kenny) Kimes, a mother–son criminal team whose decades-long frauds escalated to murder. Part II focuses on the crimes that followed Kenneth Sr.’s death, the pair’s cross-country criminal schemes, the murder of David Kasdan, the disappearance of a Bahamian banker, their eventual arrest, and psychological analysis of Sante’s influence over Kenny. The host frames their behavior through concepts such as “fraud-detection homicide” (red-collar criminals), maternal psychopathy/narcissism, and possible maternal sexual/sexualized enmeshment.

Key points & main takeaways

• Timeline highlights
  • Sante was briefly incarcerated early in Kenny’s life; Kenny experienced a relatively normal childhood during that time.
  • Sante was released (c.1981), reasserted tight control over Kenny, and groomed him into a lifelong criminal partner.
  • Kenneth Kimes Sr. died suddenly (spring 1994). Sante attempted to hide his death, used forged documents and a fake SSN to transfer assets, and kept Kenny in the fold to secure the estate.
  • Bankers detected suspicious transfers (Aug 1996); Sante and Kenny were observed with a Bahamian banker who later disappeared.
  • Kenny fatally shot David Kasdan; Kasdan’s body was later found in a dumpster near LAX.
  • The Kimeses fled cross-country; a bounced check on a car purchase (account seized) led to their arrest on a Utah warrant in Manhattan.
• Motive analysis
  • While financial gain appears obvious, the episode argues a deeper motive: fear of fraud detection. This aligns with forensic psychologist Frank Perry’s “red-collar” classification—white-collar criminals who resort to violence to silence those who could expose them.
• Mother–son dynamic
  • Sante is portrayed as the dominant, controlling, narcissistic figure; Kenny is submissive and enmeshed.
  • The host and cited psychologists suggest Sante likely prevented Kenny’s independence, sexualized their relationship (allegations of maternal sexual abuse/incestuous behavior are discussed), and used manipulation to maintain control.
• Psychological evaluations
  • Defense experts claimed dissociative identity disorder/multiple personalities for Sante; the host disputes this diagnosis as inconsistent with DID’s clinical presentation and interprets Sante’s detailed notes/aliases as deliberate role-playing and fraud.
  • Other clinicians described parallelism and claimed both had “no memory,” but the podcast treats these as likely malingering or convenient defenses rather than genuine amnesia.

Notable quotes / insights

• On fraud-detection homicide (Frank Perry): “In circumstances where there is a threat of detection, red-collar criminals commit brutal acts of violence to silence the people who have detected their fraud…”
• On psychopathic mothers (Joni Johnston, Psychology Today): psychopathic mothers “do not see her child as a separate person. Instead, the child is viewed as a personal possession whose sole purpose is to meet their mother's needs.”
• Example from media/interview: during a 60 Minutes segment, Kenny called his mother “physically beautiful,” took her hand, and she giggled—used in the episode as visual evidence of their intimate, enmeshed dynamic.
• Defense psychiatrist’s claim (quoted in transcript): “Mrs. Kimes has a multiple personality disorder, and in order to keep these many aliases orderly, she has to assume their personalities and keep copious notes.” (The host contests this interpretation.)

Topics discussed

• Case facts: forgeries, asset theft, arson, use of homeless people as pawns
• Specific crimes: disappearance of a Bahamian banker, murder of David Kasdan (body found in LAX dumpster), attempted asset transfers
• Criminal typologies: red-collar (fraud-detection motivated violence), white‑collar vs violent crime overlap
• Personality pathology: psychopathy, narcissistic parenting, maternal sexual abuse/incest (risks, behaviors, effects on sons)
• Forensic psychology issues: malingering vs genuine dissociative disorders; use/misuse of psychiatric diagnoses in legal defense
• Media coverage and public perception (60 Minutes interview, eyewitness accounts)

Action items & recommendations (for further exploration)

• If you want to dig deeper:
  • Watch the 60 Minutes interview with Sante and Kenny to observe their public behavior firsthand.
  • Read Frank Perry’s work on “red-collar” criminals to understand fraud-detection homicide as a motive.
  • Review literature on narcissistic and psychopathic parenting and on mother–son sexual abuse to learn about enmeshment, grooming, and long-term psychological effects.
  • Consult reliable sources (court records, investigative reporting) for a complete timeline and trial outcomes—this episode summarizes but does not substitute for primary legal documents.
• For practitioners or students of forensic psychology:
  • Use this case to study how defense teams may leverage psychiatric diagnoses and how clinicians evaluate plausibility (e.g., DID vs malingering).
  • Consider the intersection of white-collar crime and violent escalation when assessing risk.

Final takeaway

The episode reframes the Kimeses’ murders as less about straightforward greed and more about a desperate, violent attempt to prevent detection of long-running frauds—enabled by a profoundly controlling, possibly psychopathic and narcissistic maternal figure who created an enmeshed, dependent son capable of committing murder on her behalf.