Kimes Son: Mom Told Me To Do It

A man testified Thursday at his mother's murder trial that he brought her flowers when he delivered the news that he'd carried out her orders to kill a businessman.

Kenneth Kimes, 29, told the jury in a cold voice how he shot 63-year-old David Kazdin at close range, and enlisted a helper to carry the body from the house.

Kimes said he and his assistant went to a movie, ate, went shopping for clothes to replace their blood-spattered outfits, and when night fell, disposed of the body in a Dumpster.

Kimes said he went to a flower store and bought a bouquet for his mother, Sante Kimes, 69.

"In my mindset, I thought I had completed a great duty for my mom. It was significant completion and I wanted to celebrate. ... I got my mom some flowers," Kimes said of the 1998 murder, part of a plan to fraudulently obtain $280,000 for a Las Vegas house with Kazdin's name on the deed.

Kazdin, a one-time associate of Sante Kimes and her late husband, later became aware of the fraudulent transaction.

Asked what his mother said at that point, Kimes testified, "The words that stuck out most in my mind is she said, 'We're going to have to kill him."'

Once the deed was done, Kimes said he went home, gave his mother the flowers and a kiss, and told her "everything went OK."

Kimes pleaded guilty in November to Kazdin's murder in return for a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He agreed to testify against his mother.

He told the jury Thursday how his mother planned the murder, including her suggestion of taking along plastic bags in which to wrap the body. As he left, Kimes said his mother told him, "Good luck."

Kimes said he went to Kazdin's house and the two men had a conversation before Kazdin got up and went to the kitchen sink where Kimes said he shot him in the back of the head.

Sante Kimes and her son were convicted in 2002 of the slaying of a wealthy 82-year-old Manhattan woman whose body was never found. Sante Kimes was sentenced to 120 years in prison in the New York case and Kenneth Kimes received a 125-year sentence.

After Kenneth Kimes pleaded guilty in the Los Angeles case, prosecutors dropped plans to seek the death penalty for his mother. If convicted, she faces life in prison without possibility of parole.

By Linda Deutsch