Kimeses To Face Calif. Murder Case

A L B A N Y, N.Y., Oct. 20 -- A mother-and-son team convicted in the deathof an 82-year-old millionaire widow in Manhattan will be extraditedto Los Angeles where they will face possible death sentences inanother slaying, Gov. George Pataki announced today.

Pataki signed warrants that order the arrest of Kenneth Kimesand his mother, Sante, on the California charges and transfer theircustody to the Los Angeles City Police Department. California Gov.Gray Davis made the extradition request, Pataki said.

“These murderers must be held accountable for each and everyone of their vile acts,” Pataki said.

In May, the Kimeses were found guilty on charges related to aplot to kill Irene Silverman, a former Radio City Music Halldancer, and steal her $7 million home. Silverman’s body was neverfound.

Both mother and son, natives of Oklahoma and longtime residentsof Las Vegas, received life sentences in New York for the crime. Hewas serving his sentence at the Clinton Correctional Facility inDannemora; she is serving hers at the Bedford Hills CorrectionalFacility in Westchester County.

Recent Hostage SituationKenneth Kimes also face possible kidnapping charges for taking aCourt TV producer hostage during an interview at the Clinton prisonearlier this month. Kimes held a pen to the throat of Maria Zonefor more than four hours before being distracted by a negotiatorand tackled by guards.

During the standoff, Kimes demanded that his mother not beextradited to California.

In August 1999, Los Angeles prosecutors charged the Kimeses inthe death of 64-year-old David J. Kazdin, a longtime friend andbusiness partner of Mrs. Kimes’ late husband. Investigators saidKazdin was killed when he refused to go along with an alleged$280,000 fraud scheme hatched by Mrs. Kimes. Kazdin’s body wasfound in a trash bin near Los Angeles International Airport.

Pataki has advised that the required extradition hearings to beheld in the prisons where the pair are confined or throughvideoconferencing because both Kimeses are considered escape risks.