ElderWeb

In a gruesome story of a con gone wrong, a mother and son con team attempted to trick an elderly women into revealing her social security number so they could take possession of her home, then killed her when she refused to cooperate. The criminals, Sante Kimes (65) and her son Kenneth (24), are currently on trial for the death of 82 year old Irene Silverman. Evidence in the trial includes a taped conversation with the victim in which Kimes attempted to fool Silverman into believing she had won a trip to Las Vegas in order to get her social security number. Silverman was sharp enough to smell a rat, and refused to give Kimes the information. Silverman later disappeared, and her body has never been found. Police found Silverman's keys, Social Security card, passports and payroll stubs in the Kimes' home on the day of Silverman's disappearance. They also found 12 notebooks detailing their scheme, $30,000 in cash, and a forged deed to Silverman's home transferring ownership to a company the Kimeses controlled.