The Dragon Lady and Her Prince of Lies

A mother's love becomes a weapon. A son's loyalty becomes complicity. Together, they become killers.

In the glittering world of Manhattan's elite, Irene Silverman thought she had found the perfect tenants—a refined businesswoman and her polite young son. She had no idea she had invited predators into her home.

Sante Kimes appeared to have it all: wealth, sophistication, and a devoted son who called her “Mother” with reverence that bordered on worship. But behind the designer clothes and charitable donations lurked the Dragon Lady—a master manipulator who had spent decades perfecting the art of exploitation. Her greatest creation wasn't her fortune built on fraud and blood money. It was Kenny, the son she groomed from birth to become her perfect accomplice.

What started with a bounced check would unravel one of the most shocking criminal enterprises in American history. From enslaving domestic workers in Las Vegas mansions to orchestrating “accidental” deaths across international borders, the Kimes duo left a trail of devastation that spanned continents. Lawyers disappeared in Costa Rica. Bankers drowned in paradise. Businessmen were found shot in dumpsters near LAX.

But their most audacious crime was still to come.

As Silverman's suspicions grew and her resistance threatened their elaborate property theft scheme, mother and son faced a choice: abandon their biggest score or eliminate their victim. The stun gun was ready. The plan was perfect. The body would never be found.

The Dragon Lady and Her Prince of Lies reveals how a mother's twisted love created a killer, how wealth and status provided cover for unthinkable cruelty, and how society's most vulnerable became prey for predators hiding in plain sight. This isn't just a true crime story—it's a chilling examination of how evil can flourish when we fail to see the monsters among us.

Judge Herbert Adlerberg called her “a sociopath of unremitting malevolence.” NBC's Dateline captured Kenny's prison confessions. Now, for the first time, their complete story is told.

Discover the terrifying truth behind one of America's most notorious criminal partnerships. Read The Dragon Lady and Her Prince of Lies and learn the warning signs society missed—before the next predator strikes.