If you were watching Lifetime in the mid-2000s, you probably remember the vibe. It was an era of high-camp true crime, where the wigs were slightly too large and the drama was dialed up to eleven. Right in the middle of that peak cable period sat A Little Thing Called Murder, a 2006 television film that defied the usual "woman in peril" tropes of the network. Instead of a victim, we got Sante Kimes.
She was a grifter. A thief. A literal enslaver. And, eventually, a murderer.
Most people who stumble across the movie today on streaming services or late-night reruns think it’s a parody. It isn't. The most unsettling thing about A Little Thing Called Murder is that the most "unbelievable" parts—the elaborate disguises, the brazen thefts of luxury cars, the casual manipulation of a son by his mother—are pulled directly from the court transcripts and investigative reporting of the time. It stars Judy Davis as Sante and Jonathan Jackson as her son, Kenny. Davis doesn't just play Sante; she inhabits a kind of manic, terrifyingly charismatic void that explains exactly how one woman managed to leave a trail of burned-out lives across the United States.
The Real Sante Kimes: Beyond the Screen
Sante Kimes wasn't a standard criminal. She was a sociopath with a penchant for the theatrical. Born Sandra Louise Wright, she spent decades refining a persona of wealth and prestige while stealing everything that wasn't nailed down. The film A Little Thing Called Murder focuses heavily on the strange, codependent relationship between Sante and her son, Kenneth "Kenny" Kimes Jr.
It's a heavy watch.
While the movie plays with tone—sometimes feeling like a dark comedy—the reality was grim. Sante treated her son as an extension of herself, a tool to be used for her scams. They weren't just shoplifting. They were committing insurance fraud, arson, and eventually, the 1998 murder of Irene Silverman, an 82-year-old New York City socialite. Silverman's body was never found. That’s a detail the movie handles with a sort of chilling pragmatism.
Why does this specific story stick? Honestly, it’s the audacity. Sante and Kenny were caught not because of a high-tech forensic breakthrough, but because they were stopped for a mundane reason while carrying the evidence of their crimes in a bag. They were "grifters" in the truest, most old-school sense of the word, operating in a modern world that they didn't quite respect.
Why A Little Thing Called Murder Works as True Crime
The film is based on the book Deadly Deception by Mike Walker, and it leans heavily into the absurdity of the Kimes' lifestyle. Judy Davis won an Emmy for her performance, and it's easy to see why. She captures the way Sante would pivot from a doting, "refined" mother to a screaming banshee in a heartbeat.
True crime fans often criticize Lifetime movies for being "lite" on the facts. A Little Thing Called Murder is the outlier. It captures the psychological horror of being raised by a narcissist. Kenny wasn't just an accomplice; he was a victim of a lifelong campaign of brainwashing. By the time they reached New York to target Irene Silverman, Kenny was essentially a foot soldier in his mother's war against anyone who had what she wanted.
The film makes a point to show their "business" meetings. They would sit in cheap motels or luxury apartments they hadn't paid for, planning their next move with the intensity of a Fortune 500 board. It’s weird. It’s uncomfortable. And according to the detectives who worked the case, like the legendary Thomas Bedford, it's pretty much how it happened.
The Irene Silverman Case: The Movie's Dark Heart
In the final act of A Little Thing Called Murder, the narrative shifts to New York. This is where the "fun" of the grift ends. Irene Silverman was a former ballerina who ran a high-end boarding house in a mansion on the Upper East Side. She was sharp, wealthy, and suspicious.
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When Sante and Kenny moved in under false names, Irene smelled a rat almost immediately.
The movie portrays this tension perfectly. You have these two different worlds colliding: the old-world dignity of Silverman and the hollow, performative wealth of the Kimes duo. When Silverman disappeared, the Kimeses were already in custody on unrelated charges involving a "bounced" check for a car. The police found Silverman's keys, her social security card, and detailed notebooks outlining the plan to steal her mansion—all in the Kimes' possession.
The Legacy of the Grift
Watching A Little Thing Called Murder in 2026 feels different than it did in 2006. We live in the era of the "scammer" documentary. From Anna Delvey to the Tinder Swindler, audiences are obsessed with people who fake it until they make it (or get caught). Sante Kimes was the blueprint for this. She didn't have Instagram, but she had the same bottomless need for status and an absolute lack of empathy.
There are some things the movie misses, of course.
- It doesn't go deep into the 1996 murder of David Kasler, another associate of Sante's.
- The legal proceedings were actually much longer and more tedious than a two-hour movie can show.
- Kenny Kimes eventually turned on his mother in a later trial to avoid the death penalty, a heartbreaking end to their "partnership."
But as a character study, the film is unmatched. It doesn't try to make Sante sympathetic. It just shows her as she was: a hurricane in a Chanel suit.
How to Watch and What to Look For
If you’re looking to find A Little Thing Called Murder, it frequently pops up on Lifetime Movie Club or Prime Video. When you watch it, pay attention to the background details. The production designers did a fantastic job recreating the cluttered, chaotic environments the Kimeses lived in. Their lives were a mess of high-end stolen goods and cheap takeout containers.
It's a visual metaphor for their entire existence.
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Also, look at the way Jonathan Jackson plays Kenny. He portrays him with a permanent sort of "deer in the headlights" look. It’s the look of a man who has never been allowed to have a thought of his own. It makes the eventual violence of the Silverman case even more jarring because it comes from someone who seems so vacant.
Actionable Insights for True Crime Fans
If you've watched the movie and want to go deeper into the rabbit hole of the Sante Kimes case, don't just stop at the credits. There is a wealth of primary source material that makes the film even more fascinating.
1. Read the Court Documents
The Kimes case is a goldmine for anyone interested in criminal psychology. The "notated" documents found in their possession—which Sante claimed were notes for a "screenplay"—provide a chilling look at how they planned their murders. You can find summaries of these in the New York appellate court records.
2. Watch the Sante Kimes Interviews
Sante gave several interviews from prison, including a notable one with 60 Minutes. In these, she maintains her innocence with a level of conviction that is genuinely spooky. Comparing the "real" Sante to Judy Davis’s performance highlights just how much Davis got right, particularly the vocal inflections and the "grand dame" persona.
3. Explore the "Slave Labor" Charges
Long before the murders, the Kimeses were investigated for keeping domestic servants as virtual slaves in their homes. This is briefly touched on in A Little Thing Called Murder, but the reality was much more widespread. Understanding this part of their history explains the power dynamic Sante exerted over everyone in her orbit.
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4. Check Out "Like Mother, Like Son"
There is another made-for-TV movie about this case starring Mary Tyler Moore. Comparing the two is a great exercise in how different directors and actors interpret the same factual events. Moore’s Sante is more subdued and icy, whereas Davis’s version in A Little Thing Called Murder is more explosive.
The fascination with this case isn't just about the murder. It's about the total collapse of the maternal bond. We expect mothers to protect their children, not to turn them into serial killers. A Little Thing Called Murder remains a staple of the genre because it forces us to look at a relationship that is fundamentally broken. It’s a cautionary tale about charisma, the "long con," and the high cost of a life built on lies.
If you're going to dive into this era of true crime cinema, this is the place to start. Just don't expect a happy ending. There aren't any here. The mansion is gone, the money is spent, and the people involved are either dead or behind bars. It's just the facts, as ugly as they are.