LOS ANGELES — Opening statements began Monday in the trial of Sante Kimes, an elderly con woman who is accused with her son Kenneth Kimes of murdering a California businessman who stood in their way of hundreds of thousands of dollars. David Kazdin, 63, a former friend of the Kimeses, was shot to death in his Granada Hills home on March 13, 1998, after he discovered that the Kimeses were allegedly using his identity to collect on a fraudulent $280,000 bank loan.

Sante, 69, and Kenneth, 29, are charged with the malice murder, which includes the special circumstances of murder for financial gain and murder of a witness.

In 2000, the mother-son duo was convicted of killing their landlady, Irene Silverman, whose $7 million townhouse was presumably on Sante's wish list.

The two were inseparable throughout their New York trial, but in an unexpected twist, Kenneth has agreed to plead guilty to the first-degree murder of Kazdin and will testify against his mother.

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In her opening statements, prosecutor Eleanor Hunter painted a dramatic narrative for jurors, describing Sante as a greedy, controlling and yet extremely charming scam artist who ensnared friends, family and even homeless men into her elaborate schemes.

Several years before his death, Sante convinced Kadzin to put his name on the title to a home that she owned in Las Vegas — a move she concocted to shield the home from civil suits related to a 1986 criminal conviction in which Sante had enslaved illegal aliens from Mexico, keeping them under lock and key as her own personal housemaids.

According to Hunter, Sante hatched a plan in late 1997 to take out a $280,000 loan on the Vegas property. She allegedly tricked her secretary, Nanette Wetkowski, into forging and notarizing Kazdin's name on the loan application.

But when Kazdin received a loan-payment booklet in the mail, he called the bank to complain and an investigation ensued.

Meanwhile, Sante was on to her next scheme, Hunter said.

She placed an ad in the Salvation Army newsletter looking for a "houseboy" to do chores for room and board. The man she hired, Robert McCarren, was just happy to have a place to live, but he'd eventually become a prisoner in the Kimes home, kept against his will by force of deadly threat by Kenneth Kimes, according to Hunter.

In January 1998, Sante Kimes allegedly transferred the title of the Vegas home to McCarren's name, and then forced him to sign a $500,000 insurance policy on the property. On Jan. 31, Kenneth Kimes allegedly torched the house for his mother after they moved out their furniture and valued possessions.

"He was her enforcer," Hunter said of Kenneth. "She sent him to do her dirty work."

In fact, though Kenneth will testify that he pulled the trigger of the .22 caliber gun that was used to shoot Kazdin in the back of the head, prosecutors say it was Sante who ordered the killing after Kazdin refused to meet with her or cooperate in the bank loan scam.

Sean Little, another drifter picked up from a homeless shelter by the Kimeses, is expected to testify that he accompanied Kenneth on the day of the shooting.

Little, who received immunity for his testimony, allegedly helped to wrap the businessman's lifeless body in plastic bags and then toss it a Dumpster near the Los Angeles airport. Ironically, it was a homeless man who happened to be rummaging through the trash bin the next day who found Kazdin's body and alerted authorities.

Defense attorney Ray Newman told jurors in his 15-minute opening statement that Sante in fact had "a wonderful relationship" with Kazdin, that she had absolutely nothing to do with the murder, and that she still does not believe her son "could commit such a violent act" on a close friend of hers.

Newman also asserted that it was not the fear of a possible death penalty that spurred Kenneth to change his plea, but the prospect of having to return to New York to serve time.

"He wanted to serve his time in sunny California," Newman told jurors.

Sante, who is physically handicapped according to lead defense attorney Charles Maple, rolled into the courtroom Monday in a squeaky, blue wheelchair that she maneuvered with her tennis-shoed feet.

She smiled and whispered "hello" to strangers in the courtroom as she scooted in between her attorneys at the defense table.

Kimes is known for her animated antics in the courtroom. Out of the presence of the jury on Monday, she complained to the judge that the guards who were transferring her from the prison to the courthouse had been stealing some of her case files.

Judge Kathleen Kennedy-Powell said she would have the bailiff look into the matter.

Jurors also heard testimony on Monday from Linda Kazdin, the victim's daughter, who had been living with her father up until three days before his murder.

Linda described a strange rainy night a few days after her father had received the payment booklet. She said she looked out the window and saw a dark car parked across the street. Her father made her turn out the house lights.

"He said, 'It's probably them,' and I knew exactly who he was talking about," Linda said, adding that Sante and Kenneth had been calling the house so often that they began to screen calls.

As they watched the car, Kazdin told his daughter not to worry because they wouldn't "do anything" to him while she was there.

On Tuesday, testimony is expected from Nanette Wetkowski, the woman who authorities say unwittingly helped Sante forge Kazdin's name on the bank-loan applications.

Robert McCarren, the homeless man whose identity Sante allegedly used to take out the fire insurance policy, is also slated to testify.

Attorneys are under a gag order in the case, and it is not clear yet when Kenneth Kimes will take the stand against his mother.

As part of his plea agreement, he will escape a potential death-penalty conviction and is to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Sante faces the same if she is convicted, as the district attorney has decided not to press for the death penalty.