The Tribune

ONE of Nassau’s most sinister murder plots is to feature in a Sky TV documentary later this year.

Depraved killer Sante Kimes allegedly drowned Indian banker Syed Bilal Ahmed in her Cable Beach home in 1996.  She and her son Kenny - known to US police as “Mommie and Clyde” - then fled to embark on a con-and-kill spree across the United States, culminating in the murder of New York socialite Irene Silverman.

The two were each sentenced to more than 120 years in prison without parole, with Sante Kimes described by a judge as “the most degenerate person I’ve ever met.”

Their story is to feature in a British TV series about the world’s most evil killers.

Among those discussing the case will be former Tribune Managing Editor John Marquis, who met Sante Kimes in a top security women’s prison in New York state eight years ago.

She had invited him to visit her while she was petitioning for a retrial.

The veteran newsman later wrote about their three-hour encounter in his book, Evil and Son, which also discussed the odd relationship between the mother and son.

Kenny Kimes attended St Andrew’s School in Nassau during their four-year stay in the Bahamas between 1992-1996. The family lived in a single-storey home next to Sulgrave Manor.

During their crime spree, Kenny served as Sante’s hitman and shot dead family friend David Kazdin in a dispute over a mortgage fraud.

The drowning of Mr Ahmed occurred after he arrived in Nassau to investigate irregularities linked to the bank account of Sante’s late ‘husband’, Ken Kimes, Sr. It was never established if they were officially married.

Sante kept Ken Sr “financially alive” after he died mysteriously in 1994. She used his credit cards to finance her lifestyle as she and Kenny embarked on their criminal ventures.

Mr Marquis said: “Sante never confessed to anything apart from stealing lipstick when she was young, but the evidence against her was pretty compelling.”

She died in her cell in 2014, aged 79. Kenny is in a Californian prison.

Last year, Mr Marquis appeared in a Yesterday Channel documentary about the murder of Sir Harry Oakes in Nassau in 1943.

He wrote a book about the case, Blood and Fire, which became an Amazon Canada bestseller and was listed by the Wall Street Journal among the top five books in its genre. He is now writing a sequel, with new evidence from sources in The Bahamas.