A Colorado inmate who posed as an FBI informant killed multiple people while federal agents wrongly believed he was working for them.
According to Fox News, Scott Kimball was sentenced in 2009 to 70 years in prison after pleading guilty to four murders committed between 2003 and 2004. Former FBI Special Agent Jonny Grusing, who investigated the case, described it as unlike any he had ever seen in federal law enforcement.
Grusing explained that Kimball manipulated the FBI into granting him confidential informant status while simultaneously targeting and killing victims. The killer later admitted responsibility for dozens of deaths, far more than the four tied directly to his conviction.
How Kimball secured FBI credibility
Kimball was a seasoned fraudster who spent much of his youth drifting in and out of prison. By the 1990s, he had become skilled at exploiting the criminal justice system, often working as a police informant while shifting blame for crimes onto others.
After being jailed in Alaska in 2001 on check fraud charges, Kimball befriended cellmate Steve Ennis, a drug defendant. He convinced Ennis that he could eliminate witnesses against him, a lie he later fed to the FBI in exchange for release as a federal informant.
Once granted CIA status as an informant, Kimball was able to return to the outside under lighter supervision. By February 2003, he was actively engaged in FBI work across several states while simultaneously targeting new victims, including Ennis’ girlfriend Jennifer Marcum.
Victims during his informant period
Marcum vanished in 2003 after being introduced to Kimball through Ennis. Authorities say Kimball isolated her before killing her, though her body has never been recovered.
That same year, Kimball killed LeAnn Emry, another woman he lured into a vulnerable situation before shooting her and abandoning her in a desert area. Not long afterward, Kaysi McLeod went missing, and Kimball eventually confessed to her murder as well.
In 2004, Kimball murdered his uncle, Terry Kimball, marking his final known killing before the scheme began to unravel. Despite leaving traces in FBI reports that linked him to several victims, his role as an informant shielded him from suspicion for years.
Families pushed FBI to act
By 2006, families of the missing women grew frustrated with the lack of progress. Two fathers independently approached the FBI, telling agents their daughters were last seen with Kimball and pressing for answers.
This pressure forced the agency to confront its unusual reliance on Kimball and consider that their source was preying on victims while feeding misleading “leads” to their case files. In March of that year, Kimball was arrested in California for a separate fraud charge, giving authorities leverage to dig deeper.
The bureau eventually confirmed his double life, charging him with four murders in 2009. Kimball agreed to a plea deal, receiving 70 years in prison, where he remains today.
Years of manipulation after conviction
Even after his conviction, Kimball continued playing mind games with investigators. Grusing said the killer would withhold information about his victims’ remains to prolong his control over the situation.
Recovered remains eventually included those of McLeod and Emry, but Marcum’s body has never been found. Kimball’s disclosures were often wrapped in deception, with agents forced to sift through lies to recover facts.
At one point, Kimball told Grusing he should have been given a moniker like other serial killers. When asked what he would call himself, Kimball answered, “The Opportunity Killer—because I just kill people when I have the opportunity.”
