Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - Sante Kimes Pt. 2

Episode Date: September 18, 2023

What would you steal if you knew you could get away with it? After years of robbery and fraud Sante Kimes moved on to steal something much more sinister than coats and cash: people’s freedom. Specifically, the freedom of service workers and undocumented immigrants who she enslaved in her homeusing terrifying threats and physical violence. Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast and Tiktok @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So due to the nature of this episode, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of physical assault, abuse, and slavery. We advise extreme caution for children under the age of 13. Sante Kimes had one guiding principle throughout her life. Why pay for something when she could take it for free? As a child, she had plenty of reasons to think that way. After all, she had to steal to survive. But as time went on and her circumstances changed,

Sante stopped lifting loaves of bread and started cribbing mink fur coats and catalanx. Overconfident and unrelenting, she pushed the limits of what she could pilfer, until one day she crossed an unforgivable line, one she could never turn back from. I'm Vanessa Richardson, and this is Serial Killers, a Spotify podcast. This is the second episode in our three-part series on Sante Kimes. Last time we met her as a child in Dust Bowl, Oklahoma, who developed a craving for a more lavish lifestyle. To get that upgrade, she shoplifted, ran insurance schemes, and eventually ensnared her very own millionaire Sugar Daddy. Today, we'll dive into Sante's first set of violent

offenses. We'll examine how she lured immigrant women across the border with the promise of a better life, only to force them into servitude. Next week is the final piece of the story. We're going to focus on Santhe's relationship with her son. We'll explore how their twisted bond led to a mind-boggling crime. Then follow their scandalous trial. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us.

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By the spring of 1975, the tides were turning for Sante Kheims, After years of being the perfect girlfriend to real estate tycoon Kenneth Kimes, the 40-year-old could sit back and enjoy the fruits of her labor. And I mean that quite literally, because now that she'd given birth to their son, Kenny Jr., she was golden. As the mother of his child, Kenneth spoiled her with the best that money could buy, and then some. That same year, he added to his growing list of homes

and purchased a mansion in Honolulu. He mated his main residence and moved Sante, their newborn, and Sante's 12-year-old son right in. But while the family of four carved out their very own slice of paradise, life in Hawaii was far from idyllic, at least for Sante. According to Jean King, author of Dead End, it's doubtful that Kenneth ever intended to marry her. Despite this, Sante told everyone that they were husband and wife. But the truth was, it was all for show.

Nothing was official on paper, and it was eating away at her. Sante knew if they ever broke up, or if Kenny Jr. was out of the picture, she could wave her luck's life goodbye. Perhaps that explains why Sante continued scheming. If Kenneth wouldn't guarantee her a life of riches, then she'd have to do it herself. Luckily, she could always fall back on what she knew best. Insurance fraud. Before they'd left for Hawaii, Sante had filed Parenthood. paperwork in California, alleging that she and Kenneth had lost an antique tapestry.

The specifics of this scam aren't totally clear, but here's how I think things went down. At some point, Sante went out and bought an antique-looking tapestry from a pawn shop or antique store. Then she made sure to include the piece in her insurance inventory, claiming that it was a family heirloom gifted to them by Kenneth's mother, Naoma. And according to Sante's paperwork, the tapestry was worth upwards of $100,000. So when it vanished mysteriously, she was eager to get her compensation. But the insurance company took forever to review her claim. It wasn't until the Kimeses were settled in Hawaii that a claims officer finally looked into the case. And then, when the appraiser reached out to Naoma to verify the story, she was nowhere

to be found. That's because Naoma, who had no idea what was going on, was also in Hawaii. You see, Sante worried that if she stayed in California, her quasi-mother-in-law might say the wrong thing and ruin the whole plot. So she insisted Naoma fly out to Honolulu and join the couple for some R&R. But once she arrived on the island, Naoma's distrust of Sante grew exponentially, so much so that she told her son that she wanted to go home. But instead of putting his mother on the next flight out to California, Sante made the final call. With that, two things became crystal clear. One, Neumont wasn't leaving Hawaii anytime soon. And two, even though Kenneth was the one holding the purse strings, Sante was the one who held all

the cards in their relationship. And all that power went to her head. Before we continue with Sante's psychology, please note that I'm not a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist, but we have done a lot of research for the show. According to UCF, Berkeley psychologist, Dacher Keltner, having too much power over others can make us less empathetic, more impulsive, and ultimately bring out the most selfish qualities in us. Unsurprisingly, this spells disaster for relationships. The need for intimacy and connection falls to the wayside. In their place, gaining more and more power becomes a priority. At the start of their relationship, Sante had been observant, generous, and dedicated to what Kenneth wanted.

But as she solidified her place in his life, she stopped listening to him altogether and prioritized her own wants and needs. Despite this sudden change, Kenneth didn't put up much of a fight. He hated confrontation and likely figured it was better to make Sante happy than to make her upset. But that didn't mean everyone else gave in to her every whim. When talk of Naoma flying home fizzled out, relatives began to suspect that Sante was holding Naoma against her will. So in 1976, a group of them flew to Hawaii to get some answers. They tracked Naoma down at a church, which was apparently one of the only places Sante let her go unsupervised.

Then they whisked her off to the airport, freeing her from Sante's clutches. Needless to say, when Sante learned she'd lost her mother-in-law, she was furious. Then, to make matters worse, the insurance company refused to pay her a penny for the lost tapestry. Despite her hiding Naoma in Hawaii, or perhaps because of that, the company believed Sante was attempting to commit fraud.

At first, Sante tried to fight the decision, but her appeals went ignored, leaving her no choice but to drop the whole thing. That didn't mean Sante was done scheming, though. In another ploy, she claimed that Kenneth's Rolex was missing and tried to cash in on the insurance. Sometime after that, she stole a Cadillac by a test-timore. driving it, right off the lot, and never coming back.

Yes, you heard that right. She just drove off with the car. It's not totally clear if there were any legal repercussions, but in all likelihood, Sante skated by, thanks to her husband's wealth and connections. Money almost certainly changed hands, and plenty of it. You'd think after that, Kenneth would cut ties with Sante for good. She was far more trouble than he bargained for,

but it really seems like his loyal. never wavered. Every time Sante got in trouble, he stepped in and made her legal issues disappear. Unfortunately, this only cemented Sante's belief that she could get away with just about anything. And that made her reckless. In 1980, that boldness was on full display when the couple traveled to Washington, D.C. On the very first night, Sante was grabbing drinks with Kenneth in the hotel lounge. Over his shoulder, she caught sight of her. she caught sight of a beautiful tweed topcoat hanging on the back of a man's chair.

Sante just had to have it, so the 45-year-old downed the rest of her drink and stood up making a beeline for the coat. Kenneth followed, unsure where they were off to next, but when he saw the twinkle in her eyes, he knew it was about to go down. As they exited the lounge, Sante swiped the coat. As always, Kenneth kept his mouth shut and pretended like nothing had happened. But someone else had seen the whole thing. A hotel employee ran after Sante.

When he caught up to her, he gave her the benefit of the doubt and asked if she'd maybe just picked it up by mistake. In response, Sante feigned outrage. Of course this coat was hers. Then she stormed out of the hotel. But the employee was certain she was lying. He informed hotel security, and they told the police. But while the authorities scrambled to gather enough to the police, scrambled to gather enough evidence for a search warrant,

Sante struck again. Two days later, in another DC hotel, Sante swiped a brown mink coat when the owner wasn't looking. Then it seems she stole three more furs from the coat check. Given that no one had chased after her this time around, Sante likely thought she'd gotten away with it all. She was wrong because the police eventually came knocking. I can't say for certain if Kenneth was with her at the time,

but when Sante realized that officers were outside her hotel room, she went into a state of panic. The brown mint coat lay on a chair just a few feet away from her, and she knew she had to get rid of it. So she opened a window and tossed it out. The coat landed on a balcony four floors down. Just then, the cops demanded she opened the door right that instant, otherwise they'd break in.

Sante knew she'd run out of time, so she put on her best, sugary, sweet smile and answered. The officers weren't interested in Sante's feigned innocence. They held up a search warrant, brushed past her, and quickly discovered the tweed topcoat, as well as the mink Sante had tossed out the window. The authorities arrested the 45-year-old on the spot. But even as they put her in the cop car and drove her down to the station,

Sante insisted they had it all wrong. Of course, it didn't matter what she said, really. It was only a matter of time before Kenneth came to her rescue. He always did. Coming up, Sante's crimes turned sinister. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity

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But the 45-year-old scammer wasn't in the clear just yet. They might not be in D.C. anymore, but Sante still had to go to trial. At least, that's what was supposed to have happened. However, Sante had plans of her own. Every time the judge scheduled a hearing, she had a convenient medical excuse for why she couldn't attend. These were all lies. Of course they were, and yet somehow the strategy worked. she managed to put off the suit for years.

That meant Sante was back to living the good life. That same year, she and Kenneth moved to Las Vegas and purchased a jaw-dropping mansion alongside a golf course. At the time, Sante's oldest son was 17 and decided to stay behind in Hawaii. It's possible he'd grown accustomed to the tropical weather and couldn't part with the beautiful beaches. Then again, maybe he just wanted to get away from his mom.

Sante's youngest son, five-year-old Kenny Jr., didn't have a choice in the matter. He was her strongest link to Kenneth, so she was never going to let him get away. To that end, she kept an extremely tight leash on him. She even had him homeschooled, that way she could control every aspect of his life. Well, not exactly every aspect. One day, Kenny's live-in tutor, Teresa Richards, veered off script. She noticed that Kenny had a habit of telling him, white lies. So she hit pause on the math lesson and pulled out the old fable, the boy who cried

wolf. If you need a refresher, that's the one about a boy who makes up stories about a wolf prowling through town. Then when there actually is a wolf, no one believes him, and in some versions, the wolf eats him. Kenny got the moral of the story right away. Lying, not good. Over dinner that night, he excitedly told his parents as much. Teresa was there, too, likely beaming with pride because her young pupil had grasped such a valuable lesson. But Sante wasn't so pleased. Without saying a word,

she grabbed Teresa by the arm and dragged her into another room. Then she shoved the tutor backwards onto a bed and warned her that she wasn't there to teach Kenny the difference between right and wrong. Lessons about morals? That was Sante's job. Probably wanting to keep her job, it seems Teresa agreed to abide by the rules after that. End of story.

But for Sante, it was as though the moment marked the beginning of a dark new chapter. As far as we can tell, this was one of the earliest instances of Sante being physically abusive. In the grand scheme of things, the act was small. But knowing what came later, it's certainly possible that she wanted to inflict more pain than a simple shove. Of course, she knew better than to do that to Teresa. There were limits to what she could do to the young, educated women she hired as tutors. No, what she needed was someone she could treat in any way she wanted with no consequences, someone she thought no one would care about.

And at some point, she settled on the idea of bringing vulnerable young women from foreign countries into her home to be maids. We're talking undereducated and impoverished teens. teenage girls and women in their early 20s who barely spoke any English. But where could she find such help? Well, Sante figured there was no better place than Mexico. On one occasion, in 1982, she put out feelers for any young woman who might want to work as her maid. She promised good pay, plenty of time off, and even some schooling.

Of course, she had no plans to actually follow through with any of those perks. In fact, she didn't even bother to make legal travel arrangements. She planned to smuggle the women across the border. That was exactly the case for 14-year-old Dolores Vasquez Salgado, the details of how they first met her unclear, but she was just one of many girls to fall for Sante's string of empty promises. Dolores accepted the job offer and somehow crossed the border into the U.S. on foot. If you haven't figured it out yet, there's a name for what Sante was doing.

Human trafficking. And the way she took to it, it was almost as if she'd been doing it for years. That's likely because whether she knew the term or not, she understood the principles of the truth default theory, or TDT. As the name suggests, TDT explores why most of us default to believing that other people are honest. For most scenarios, this is a good thing. If we went around questioning everyone, we'd live pretty isolated lives.

But this default can backfire, especially. especially when someone like Sante takes advantage of it. She knew how to leverage her gender, her age, and her status to ingratiate herself to her victims and paint a tempting picture of a better life. What also worked in her favor was that, unlike so many other traffickers, she wasn't trying to recruit girls to be sex workers.

She just needed a little help around the house. She made it sound so easy, so harmless. Why wouldn't they believe her? Sadly, by the time, Sante's victims realized that the deal had been too good to be true, it was too late. For example, when Dolores stepped across the threshold of Sante's Las Vegas mansion, she got a rude awakening. Sante made it clear that she had no intention of paying Dolores any salary, let alone giving her an education. Instead, she put the teenagers straight to work

and laid out the ground rules. Delores wasn't to use the phones or leave the property unsupervised. Sante enforced these edicts with an iron fist, and if Dolores broke them, or if Sante thought her work was subpar, well, that's when she got downright scary. One time she hit Dolores for burning a hamburger bun, another time she threatened her with a gun, and on yet another occasion, she threw Dolores into a scalding hot shower

because she fainted after an allergic reaction. It goes without saying Dolores wanted out, She wrote to her family, but she never got any responses. That's because Sante simply confiscated the letters and never mailed them. Fortunately, after three excruciating months, Delores' nightmare came to an end. For reasons unknown, Sante took the 14-year-old back to the Tijuana border, gave her some cash, which was a first, and told her to go back home. Dolores didn't need to be told twice.

She took the money and ran. But Sante wasn't done, luring vulnerable women and girls into servitude. Over the next few years, she returned to Mexico in search of more help. Sometimes she did the dirty work herself. Other times, she sent one of Kenny's tutors to find her the perfect new maid. Cynthia Montano was one of these tutors. At some point, she traveled to Mexico City and found several women who agreed to come and work for Sante.

She had them all pile into her truck. then drove toward the border crossing. When she got there, it seems the Border Patrol knew Cynthia was carrying an unusually heavy load. According to author Jean King, they pulled her over, searched her car, and quickly discovered the stowaways. Now you'd think Cynthia would be in a world of trouble at this point, but that doesn't seem to have been the case. After walking away without any consequences, she should have been over the moon.

Instead, Cynthia was terrified. She knew if she showed up empty-handed, Sante would take her anger out on her. Sure enough, when she called to give the update, Sante refused to accept the failure. She ordered her to turn around and try again. As far as we can tell, Cynthia successfully crossed the border with a new victim, a short time later. Where this particular woman ended up working, we can't say for certain. While Las Vegas was Sante's primary residence, she and Kenneth also had homes in California and Hawaii, so she had maids peppered all over the states.

But no matter where they were sent, the situation remained the same. These women were prisoners of the Kimes household. Now, given all of these flagrant abuses, you might be wondering what the other members of Sante's family thought about all this. Per usual, Kenneth knew all about the crimes, whether he chose to do nothing. or if he actually joined in the abuse is another question. Unfortunately, it's one we don't have a definitive answer to. The same goes for their son, Kenny.

He was only a small boy when Sante started smuggling maids into America, so it's difficult for us to know what he thought about the situation, or how much he even understood. But as time went on, Kenny had to have witnessed some of the abuses. Frankly, it would have been hard not to. Sante made the women work from sun-up to well-endous. into the night, with few, if any, breaks. And if they didn't meet her ridiculously high standards, she got violent.

But her assaults were more than just physical. To discourage anyone from even thinking about going to the cops, she told them that American police liked to sexually abuse immigrants. Not only that, she threatened to go to the authorities and reveal their undocumented status. It was a twisted way to keep them all in check. But ultimately, it worked. Her maids, or should I say captives, were too terrified to speak up. However, despite Sante's best efforts to keep the women quiet, whispers started to spread.

A few complaints even made their way to the authorities, though it's unclear if they were from neighbors, former employees, or someone else entirely. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough evidence to charge Sante with anything, which left her free to act with impunity. And over several years, she brought at least seven immigrant women into her various homes and tortured them. Until finally, in 1985, one had had enough. Coming up, Sante's maids turn on her. Want to support your gut health?

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the very ground she walked on, as well as a number of domestic workers to order around as she saw fit. This group of women included Maria de Rosario Vasquez. She'd been lured into servitude as a teenager, beaten and made to work in one of Sante's state-side homes for no pay. And like all of Sante's help, she remained silent about it all. But then, one summer day in 1985, she saw an opportunity to escape, where you know, she was not exactly sure how it went down. It's possible she simply ran out the front door or jumped a fence,

but according to the New York Times, she booked it to a nearby house and banged on the front door for help. Thankfully, a neighbor answered. At first, he didn't know what to make of the teenager, but when he saw the fear and panic in her eyes, he ushered her inside. Then he listened in horror as Maria recounted her tale. After that, they called the police. The authorities received, responded to the call and promised that Maria was safe with them. Sante Kimes wasn't going to hurt her again. But they didn't make an arrest right away. That's because the FBI wanted to take the lead on the case.

The feds had been building a case against Sante for some time, and with Maria as a star witness, they could finally make their move. They just had to get their ducks in a row. Meanwhile, Sante sat pretty in her lavish home. We don't know what she thought when she learned she learned Maria had run away, but if I had to guess, I'd say she wasn't too phased. It was an inconvenience, sure, but she could always just find a replacement. But I don't think Sante even considered the possibility that Maria would go to the cops.

After all, she'd gone out of her way to scare her maids about the police. So when the FBI did come knocking several weeks later in August of 1985, she was taken completely by surprise. Authorities arrested the 51-year-old, along with 67-year-old Kenneth Kimes. He pleaded guilty to knowing about her crimes, but not actively participating in them. In return, prosecutors let him off with probation and a $70,000 fine. Sante didn't get the same deal. The feds took her to court in Nevada, where they slapped her with the sensational charge of

slavery. During her trial, the U.S. attorney painted. cited Sante as, quote, a greedy, cunning, and cruel woman. Seven of Sante's maids testified against her, claiming she was a sociopath who'd lured them to the United States. In response, Sante burst into tears and shouted that they were all lies. Her performance did little to sway the jury. After nine hours of deliberations, they convicted her on all 14 felony counts.

And yet, despite the long, laundry list of offenses, Sante was only given a five-year sentence. The punishment certainly didn't fit the crime, but it was the first time Sante faced real consequences for her actions. She was carted off to a federal prison and placed behind bars. Kenneth probably came to see her once in a while, but her 11-year-old son, Kenny Jr., refused to visit his mother. He was ashamed of what she'd done, and who could blame him.

his willingness to ignore his mother might have only made things worse. According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, that's because without a strong circle of encouragement, prisoners' mental health decreases, and their chances of recidivism goes up. So her husband and son not visiting her regularly might have stunted Sante's rehabilitation. Rather than working on herself, she plotted retribution. Not that Kenneth or Kenny Jr. had a clue of about any of that, because with Sante behind bars, the father and son were too busy living their best lives. Kenneth saw this period as a chance to really bond with his son and started transitioning into retirement. He sold a few of his motels and worked fewer hours. He also got rid of all the

tutors and enrolled his son in private school so that Kenny could make some friends his own age and be a regular kid. Well, almost regular. Kenneth continued to spoil his son rotten. He put a pool in the backyard so Kenny and his friends could swim during the summer. He even took Kenny and his crew to Beverly Hills for an impromptu celebration. Needless to say, with Sante out of the picture, both father and son were much, much happier. But the good times never last. In 1989, after just three years behind bars, 55-year-old Sante was released on good behavior. When she returned home, she saw how

close Kenny had gotten with his father and felt like she needed to re-establish her dominance. So she pulled 14-year-old Kenny out of his private school and transferred him to a public one. She also made it nearly impossible for him to see any of the friends he'd made while she was away. She didn't want anyone influencing him but her, and as time went on, he fell back under his mother's spell. The same couldn't be said of Kenneth. In the past, he'd always defecive. In the past, he'd always deferred to Sante, but now when he had enough drinks in him, he argued for more leeway for their son. As you can imagine, Sante didn't take that well. One night she got so mad at Kenneth, she threw a whiskey glass at his head. He started bleeding and ended up going to the

hospital to get stitches. But it seems Kenneth didn't report the abuse. Instead, he bided his time. He had his own revenge in store for Sante. Something she never saw coming. During a trip to Santa Barbara, 77-year-old Kenneth died suddenly from an aneurism. When Sante looked over his will shortly after, she felt the bitter sting of Kenneth's checkmate. According to a Vanity Fair article from March 2000,

he had left her absolutely nothing, and in a final twist of the knife, he'd left nothing for their son, Kenny Jr. As he'd always planned, he'd willed everything to his kids from his first marriage. Sante couldn't believe what she was reading. And she definitely wouldn't accept it. But instead of causing a legal uproar, Sante decided to play it cool, because there was a loophole she could squeeze through.

As long as people believed that Kenneth was alive, then she could still spend all of his money and live in his lavish properties. So somehow she got hold of a social security number for another Kenneth Kimes and used that for the death certificate. No one else had to know the truth, not even Kenny Jr. He was away at college at the time, and it seems she didn't want to upset him before his finals, or she didn't trust him to stay quiet.

The whole scheme bought her some time, but the truth would catch up to her eventually. And when that happened, well, you know what they said. say about desperate people. They do desperate things. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back next week with the conclusion to Sante's story. We'll watch the horror unfold as she orchestrates multiple murders with the help of her son. For more information on Sante Kimes, amongst the many sources we used, we found Dead End, the crime story of the decade, murder, incest, and high-tech thievery by Gene King, extremely helpful to.

our research. We'll see you next time. Stay safe out there. Serial Killers is a Spotify podcast. This episode was written by Alex Burns, edited by Jane O. and Joel Callan, fact-checked by Bennett Logan, researched by Mickey Taylor and Chelsea Wood, and produced by Bruce Kitovich, with sound designed by Michael Motion. I'm your host, Vanessa Richardson. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat.

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