Mother and Son Indicted in ’98 Killing

A mother and son accused of killing a Granada Hills businessman and dumping his body in a trash bin four years ago have been indicted in Los Angeles County Superior Court on capital murder charges.

Sante and Kenneth Kimes, already convicted and sentenced for murdering a socialite in New York, were indicted by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury on charges of killing David Kazdin, 63, on March 13, 1998.

The indictment, unsealed Wednesday, alleges that the killing was for financial gain and that Kenneth Kimes was the one who shot Kazdin with a handgun.

Both Sante Kimes, 67, and Kenneth Kimes, 27, pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday in front of Judge David Wesley. The judge ordered the Kimeses, who are being held in Los Angeles County Jail without bail, to return to court June 26 for a pretrial hearing.

The grand jury indictment alleges special circumstances, including murder for financial gain and murder of a witness, that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors still have not decided whether to seek the death penalty against the mother-and-son con artist team.

The two were convicted in New York two years ago in the murder of 82-year-old Irene Silverman in a scheme to gain control of her Upper East Side townhouse. Silverman’s body was never found.

The pair, who each received more than 120 years in prison in the New York case, were extradited to Los Angeles last year to face charges in Kazdin’s death.

Kazdin’s body was found in 1998 in a trash bin near Los Angeles International Airport. Prosecutors believe the Kimeses, who had known Kazdin for 20 years, killed him after he discovered they had forged his signature on a $280,000 loan against his house.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Eleanor Hunter presented evidence to grand jurors last week. Prosecutors called six witnesses during the proceedings, which lasted less than a day, said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. The witnesses included the Los Angeles Police Department detective investigating the case and former friends of the Kimeses, Shawn Little and Robert McCarren. The grand jury returned the indictment May 9.

By obtaining an indictment, prosecutors avoided a preliminary hearing, a proceeding at which witnesses can be cross-examined by the defense. Sante and Kenneth Kimes had already been charged in a criminal complaint Aug. 18, 1999, and were scheduled to appear in court May 30 to set a date for a preliminary hearing.

Gibbons said prosecutors sought a grand jury indictment to speed up the process. Kenneth Kimes was extradited in March 2001 and his mother arrived three months later, but a preliminary hearing date had not yet been set.

“This case has been languishing now for four years,” Gibbons said. “ ... The people want to go to trial. This will help expedite it.”

Kenneth Kimes’ attorney, Regina Laughney, said complicated cases usually take a long time to go to trial and that she is still preparing her client’s defense. Sante Kimes is representing herself.