Serial killer duped FBI for years while targeting victims

Buckle up, folks—here’s a tale of deception so audacious it could only come from a criminal mind playing chess while the rest of us are stuck on checkers.

Scott Kimball, a serial killer who moonlighted as an FBI informant, pulled the wool over federal eyes for years, committing heinous murders between 2003 and 2004 while pretending to help solve crimes, only to land a 70-year sentence in 2009.

Let’s rewind to the 1990s, when Kimball, a serial fraudster with a rap sheet longer than a CVS receipt, first wormed his way into law enforcement’s good graces by snitching on cellmates for his own crimes.

Unmasking a master manipulator’s beginnings

By 2001, after a check fraud bust in Alaska, Kimball cozyed up to a cellmate named Steve Ennis, charged with a drug offense, promising to “fix” Ennis’ case by dealing with witnesses.

He didn’t stop there—he also roped in Ennis’ girlfriend, Jennifer Marcum, spinning a web of lies while plotting darker deeds.

“Mainly, he convinced Steve to hook him up with Jennifer to get Jennifer out of stripping,” said former FBI Special Agent Jonny Grusing, revealing how Kimball painted Ennis as the villain while isolating and ultimately killing Marcum in early 2003.

From informant to cold-blooded killer

Such manipulation earned Kimball confidential informant status, a cushier prison spot, and an early release—talk about gaming the system while the feds played catch-up.

By February 2003, while working as an informant across the western U.S., Kimball had already murdered Marcum, whose remains have never been found, and another woman, LeAnn Emry, whom he shot and abandoned in a remote desert.

That August, Kayci McLeod vanished, later linked to Kimball, who confessed to her murder—a chilling pattern of preying on the vulnerable while wearing a badge of trust.

A trail of bodies and breadcrumbs

In 2004, Kimball added family to his grim tally, killing his own uncle, Terry Kimball, proving even blood ties meant nothing to this predator.

All the while, he taunted the FBI, leaving subtle clues—or “breadcrumbs,” as Grusing called them—in case files, including evidence he was the last person seen with two victims. “He enjoyed the game,” Grusing noted, and isn’t it just infuriating how some exploit trust for sport?

Kimball even bragged about his spree, confessing to 21 murders and reportedly telling his attorneys the body count might hit 45 or 50—numbers that make you wonder how many more families are still waiting for answers.

Justice finally catches up

By 2006, the families of victims, fed up with inaction, pressured the FBI to dig deeper, with two fathers pointing fingers at Kimball for the disappearances of Marcum and McLeod. Turns out, persistence pays when the system drags its feet.

That March, Kimball was nabbed in California on fraud charges, giving the FBI time to build a murder case while he sat behind bars—ironic how his old tricks landed him back in a cell.

In 2009, he was charged with the murders, pleading guilty to four killings, and sentenced to 70 years in a Colorado federal prison—a small victory for justice, though Grusing believes the true victim count could be far higher. “He said, ‘The Opportunity Killer, because I just kill people when I have the opportunity,’” Kimball chillingly admitted, a label that exposes the cold calculation behind his crimes. Isn’t it telling how some see chaos as just another door to walk through?