Con Artist Is Returned to L.A. for Murder Trial

A 25-year-old con artist convicted with his mother of killing his wealthy New York landlady has been extradited to Los Angeles to stand trial on charges that he murdered a Granada Hills businessman three years ago, authorities said Wednesday.

Kenneth Kimes, who had been fighting extradition for months, was taken to Los Angeles late Tuesday.

Kimes is to be arraigned today on special circumstances murder charges that could possibly lead to the death penalty. The court appearance was rescheduled from Wednesday because he was unable to be processed in time to catch the afternoon bus from the Los Angeles County jail.

Kimes and his mother, Sante Kimes, are accused of killing their business associate, David Kazdin, a 63-year-old man whose body was found in a trash bin at Los Angeles International Airport in March 1998.

Police believe Kazdin, who ran a copy business from his home, was killed after he found out that the Kimeses had forged his name on a loan. The mother-son duo, who drifted from state to state, allegedly took $200,000 from the loan account.

Sante Kimes, 65, remains in New York, her extradition delayed in part because of complaints about her health.

The mother-son team became the subject of intense media attention in July 1998 after 82-year-old Irene Silverman, a wealthy New York socialite, disappeared from her Manhattan mansion.

Three weeks before her disappearance, Silverman had rented a $6,000-a-month apartment in her East Side mansion to Kenneth Kimes.

Police say the mother and son went to New York with the intention of killing Silverman, a former ballet dancer who had married a rich real estate agent, and stealing her $8-million residence.

Although Silverman’s body was never found, police charged the Kimeses with murder. Last May, a New York jury convicted the two of second-degree murder in the death of Silverman. The jury also found them guilty of criminal possession of a weapon, conspiracy, forgery, robbery, burglary, grand larceny and eavesdropping. The two were sentenced to 120 years to life behind bars.

During the Silverman investigation, New York authorities turned up evidence that helped link the two to Kazdin. Police said that a search of a car the Kimeses allegedly bought with a bad check turned up a ledger with the names of several people, three of whom are missing or dead. One of the three was Kazdin.

In September 1999, while the Kimeses were awaiting trial in New York, they were charged with Kazdin’s murder. The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County district attorney’s office waited for the New York trial to end before beginning extradition proceedings.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office, said prosecutors will decide whether to seek the death penalty against Kimes after a preliminary hearing. His mother also could face a possible death sentence.