LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman convicted with her son in the slaying of an elderly New York socialite was found guilty of orchestrating the 1998 murder of a Los Angeles businessman, ending a trial filled with heated exchanges, long-winded rants and name-calling.

Sante Kimes, 71, was convicted Wednesday of the first-degree murder of David Kazdin, whose body was found in a trash bin near Los Angeles International Airport in 1998.

Kimes faces life in prison without possibility of parole. She is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 17.

Her conviction was the latest in a bicoastal saga that involved the mother and son and the slayings of Kazdin and New York socialite Irene Silverman. Prosecutors in both cases portrayed the elder Kimes as a domineering and controlling woman who convinced others, including her son, to kill in order to secure a house and a fraudulent loan.

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Jurors in the Los Angeles case had been deliberating since June 23, but some said they never doubted Kimes' guilt.

"There was a lot of things that pointed in the direction of guilt," said 52-year-old juror John Saldana, noting Kimes' behavior in court damaged her credibility, particularly when she refused to follow the judge's instructions and when her responses were not related to questions she was asked.

Steven Kazdin, son of the Los Angeles victim, said outside court that he was satisfied with the verdict but he wished Kimes could receive the death penalty.

"We all know that the Kimeses, the real monsters, are serving life in New York," he said. "This trial is about justice for my father."

Prosecutors said Kimes plotted to kill Kazdin and enlisted the help of others, including her son, Kenneth, 29, who pleaded guilty and testified against his mother during the trial to avoid the death penalty. Like his mother, Kenneth Kimes faces life in prison without possibility of parole.

Both were convicted in 2000 of killing Silverman and each was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

They were also reported to be suspects in the 1996 disappearance of banker Syed Bilal Ahmed, who vanished soon after meeting with them in the Bahamas. Kenneth Kimes confessed during the trial that he drowned Ahmed in a bathtub and then threw his weighted body into the ocean.

The son said his mother wanted Ahmed killed because he refused to help her secure a loan from his bank. Bahamian police said the investigation was continuing. Sante Kimes denied she or her son killed anybody.

Throughout the trial, Sante Kimes sat in a wheelchair. She took the stand three times and verbally attacked the prosecutor, calling her "D.A. Death."

She claimed her son was forced to testify against her to spare himself from the death penalty. Her attorney said during closing arguments that the younger Kimes was a coward and derisively referred to him as Kenneth "Mommy Made Me Do It" Kimes.

Kenneth Kimes testified that his mother was a con artist whose motto was: "No body, no crime."

Jurors also found to be true special allegations that the Kazdin murder was carried out for financial gain and that the victim was killed because he was a witness to another crime.

"God is my defense. I pray for justice," she said to the jury as she was wheeled from the witness stand in a wheelchair.