The Tribune

A MURDER plot in The Bahamas that prompted an in-depth investigation by former Tribune managing editor John Marquis in his book Evil and Son featured in a documentary on NBC’s Dateline on Friday.

The documentary tells the tale of Sante Kimes and her son Kenny – a duo nicknamed Mommie and Clyde whose spree of crimes included Nassau but also sprawled across the United States.

The Devil Wore White is the name of the documentary, which aired on NBC at 9pm on Friday/8pm central time.

For The Bahamas, the story started with a missing persons report. A banker by the name of Syed Bilal Ahmed was reported missing.

In 1996, he came to The Bahamas to investigate irregularities linked to the bank account of Ken Kimes Sr, said to be Sante’s late husband although it was never established if they were officially married.

Ken Sr had died mysteriously in 1994 – but his bank accounts were kept alive, with Sante using his credit cards to finance her lifestyle as she and her son embarked on their criminal ventures.

The Indian banker duly arrived to find out what was going on – and vanished.

He was allegedly drugged by the mother and son, drowned in a bathtub and his body dumped at sea – although neighbours afterwards claimed he was buried on their property in Cable Beach instead, and no charges were ever filed in the case despite Kenny Jr confessing to killing the banker at his mother’s behest.

Sante, for her part, denied any involvement or knowledge of the murders – and said her son only confessed to avoid the death penalty.

Mr Marquis interviewed Sante Kimes in a New York women’s prison in 2011 – and has appeared in previous documentaries about the case, with Sante having been described by a judge as “the most degenerate woman I’ve ever met” and by a top detective as “the most evil person I’ve ever had to deal with”.

Mr Marquis noted this new documentary features an interview with Kenny, who he said tried to kill the last reporter who got close to him by holding a pen to her jugular. He held the reporter hostage for four hours.

The Devil in White, the title of the show, refers to Sante’s penchant for wearing white dresses and a black wig.

But The Bahamas was just part of their crime spree – and is just part of the documentary, which begins with the disappearance of a wealthy socialite from her stately New York City brownstone, leading to the arrest of Sante and Kenny, and the revelation of decades of crime, deception and murder. The story spans from New York to Honolulu, Los Angeles to Las Vegas and here to Nassau.

In Honolulu, in 1990, Sante hired lawyer Elmer Ambrose Holmgren to burn her home due to a lien on the property. Holmgren admitted his involvement – but vanished after saying he was going to Costa Rica with the mother and son in 1991. Kenny later said his mother told him she killed Holmgren by hitting him in the head with a hammer in a car while she was riding in the backseat. His body was never found.

In Los Angeles, the body of David Kazdin was found in a dumpster near the airport in 1998. He had allowed Sante to use his name on the deed of a home in Las Vegas – and later convinced a notary to forge Kazdin’s signature on a loan application with that house as collateral. When Kazdin discovered the forgery, Sante reportedly ordered Kenny to kill him, and Kazdin was shot in the back of the head.

The New York socialite Irene Zambelli Silverman went missing while Kenny was a tenant in her mansion. Authorities believe the plan was for Sante to assume the identity of former ballerina Silverman – and ownership of her multi-million dollar mansion. Kenny later said his mother used a stun gun on Silverman, strangled her, stuffed her body into a bag and dropped it in a dumpster.

Sante Kimes was jailed for 120 years. She died in her cell in 2014. Her son was jailed for 124 years – and spoke to the makers of tonight’s documentary.

In a footnote to the pair’s bloody history in The Bahamas, when excavations were taking place to build Baha Mar, a severed hand was found not far from the mother and son’s Cable Beach home.

At the time, neighbours told The Tribune they suspected there were more deaths linked to the pair – something never yet proven.