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Strange Kimes saga finally over

Steve Kroft interviews Sante and Kenneth Kimes, a mother and son accused of murdering a wealthy widow. (Originally aired: April 11, 1999)
A Family Affair 13:24

A family affair came to a close this week when convicted murderer Sante Kimes, died in prison at the age of 79.

In one of the strangest interviews in the archives of 60 Minutes, Kimes told Steve Kroft that she was just an average mom in the 1999 story, "A Family Affair."

Kimes and her son, Kenneth, were found guilty of conning and murdering a wealthy New York City widow in 2000, and a few years later, they were convicted of the murder of a California businessman.

Before they went to trial, the mother-son duo sat down with Steve Kroft to protest what they believed was "unfair" coverage of their case in the media. They held hands throughout the interview and showered praise on one another.

Kenneth told Kroft his mother was beautiful, not only in the spiritual and intellectual sense, but "physically" as well.

Kroft remembers the interview as a "circus."

"There was a whole gaggle of lawyers in the room, objecting to everything that was said during the interview," Kroft tells 60 Minutes Overtime.

It was the lawyers that cut the 60 Minutes interview short when Kroft brought up Kenneth Kimes' college grades, particularly his "A" in acting class.

Before Kroft could finish his question, the lawyers interjected, and Kenneth pulled his microphone off, as well as his mother's, and the Kimes stormed out.

"When you get somebody that walks out in the middle of an interview like that, it assures you that you've got a good story," Kroft says.

Five years later in 2004, Kenneth Kimes admitted to murdering both victims, and both he and his mother were handed life sentences.

"As it turned out, he was acting," says Kroft.

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Sante and Kenneth Kimes CBS News
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