Notorious criminal Kenneth’s son Sante Kimes, now 49, has opened up about his tumultuous childhood and years as an accomplice to his mother’s crimes. “If I could just have an hour with my younger self, I’d say, ‘dude … you need to file for emancipation from your parents,'” Kimes said. CNN from prison. “You must save yourself.”

Kimes and his mother, known as the Dragon Lady, were convicted of murdering New York socialite Irene Silverman in 1998.

The crimes of the two extended beyond New York. At the time of Ms. Silverman’s disappearance, they were wanted for arson, insurance fraud and a shooting in California, along with an alleged murder in the Bahamas. Their arrests revealed an even darker past. They have been linked to a number of crimes involving the kidnapping and enslavement of domestic workers, including a notorious case in the mid-1980s in which Sante Kimes was jailed for running a multi-state human trafficking operation.

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When police arrested them in New York, they discovered incriminating evidence in their car, including guns, wigs and personal items belonging to Ms. Silverman, including a fake deed to her property. Despite this, the Kime family denied any involvement in Ms Silverman’s disappearance.

Sante Kimes called their arrest a “witch hunt” and denied all charges, claiming they were victims of mistaken identity.

In 2000, a jury convicted the Kimes of Ms. Silverman’s murder, sentencing them to 120 years to life in prison. However, four years later, Kenneth Kimes made a startling revelation. He confessed to killing the old man, implicating his mother in the crime in exchange for a plea deal. “I want to clarify that I did not confess because I wanted to mislead my mother. I confessed because I was afraid of the death penalty for me or her,” Kimes said.

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Kimes described how he approached Ms Silverman in her bedroom while his mother turned on the television to mask the noise. He then strangled her, stuffed her body into a car and dumped it at a construction site in northern New Jersey. Her body was never found. The last time he saw his mother was during his confession in 2004. “When I started to testify, she started crying,” Kimes recalled.

His mother died in 2014 while serving a prison sentence.

Kimes described her childhood as marked by lies, uncertainty and FBI raids. His mother’s 1985 prison sentence for kidnapping and enslaving maids was a major moment. “It had a huge, damaging effect on my outlook,” he said. He also recalled his mother’s charisma and manipulative nature, saying, “My mother could make every man in the room feel like the most important person on the planet.”

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Kimes also recalled a brief period of stability with his father after his mother was imprisoned in the 1980s. “It was the most stable time of my young life,” he said. However, when his father died suddenly, his mother manipulated him, hiding the news of his death for months.

Now committed to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility, Kimes has spent years reflecting on his past and the consequences of his upbringing. He often thinks about the lack of intervention during his childhood and what might have happened if someone had taken him away from his parents. “I might not have been a known killer,” he said. “My whole life and crime is a study of the result of the lack of prevention. There are many children like me who are on the road to destruction.”

Kimes turned to religion and believes she will meet her late partner in heaven. He also regretted his actions and apologized to the families of his victims: “To anyone I hurt, I know it’s worthless, but I’m sorry.”