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LOS ANGELES (AP) — A mother and son were each sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole for murdering a businessman, five years after the two grifters received an identical sentence for the murder of a wealthy New York widow.
The judge called the mother, 71-year-old Sante Kimes, "one of the most evil individuals" she has encountered.
Kimes was convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder in the death of David Kazdin, whose body was found in a trash bin near Los Angeles International Airport in 1998. Her son, Kenneth Kimes, pleaded guilty to the murder in 2003 and testified against his mother.
Judge Kathleen Kennedy-Powell said the younger Kimes was brutalized and manipulated by his mother, but must take responsibility for his crimes.
The sentencing was the latest in a bi-coastal saga in which the mother-son team also murdered New York socialite Irene Silverman to secure her $7 million town house.
Kenneth Kimes, 29, testified at his mother's July trial that she decided to kill Kazdin, an old friend, after he discovered that she had taken out a $280,000 loan by forging his signature.
Kimes said his mother planned the details of the killing and sent him to do the job. He testified that he shot Kazdin in the back of the head at point-blank range and threw the body in the trash.
Kenneth Kimes testified that the two later traveled to New York in a motor home, where prosecutors say they killed Silverman, an 82-year-old widow whose body has never been found.
In that case, Sante Kimes was sentenced to 120 years in prison without parole, while her son received a 125-year sentence.
California and New York agreed that Sante Kimes would be returned to New York to serve her sentences. Kenneth Kimes is expected to be allowed to serve his sentences in California. | 
