In an update to the Kristin Smart saga, Paul Flores has been convicted of first-degree murder after four days of deliberation. Ruben Flores, Paul’s father, was found not guilty of accessory to murder after the fact.
Paul Flores Convicted of First-Degree Murder in the 1996 Death of Kristin Smart
At the time of her disappearance, Kristin Smart was 19-year-old and attending California Polytechnic State University.
Paul Ruben—a fellow student at the university—assisted students in assisting a Smart who was found passed out on a lawn following an off-campus party on May 25, 1996.
Flores said that he would help Smart to her dorm since his own dorm was pretty close. He was the last person to see her alive which made him a suspect in her disappearance.
The San Luis Obispo County DA Office and investigators believe that Paul Flores murdered Kristin Smart during a rape attempt and that his father assisted in hiding her body.
The prosecution believes that she is buried under the Flores family home. While the verdict was reached in under a week, the trial lasted three months. There was a lot for both the prosecution to go into and explain as her body wasn’t found and the trail just ended with Paul Flores.
While it could’ve gone either way and four days points to the defense planting the seed of doubt in someone on the jury. However, the timeline of events in the short period that Flores was in that timeline resulted in the guilty verdict.
District Attorney Dan Dow said of the verdict:
“The impact that Kristin’s disappearance and its investigation have had on the Smart family and our community, spanning a quarter century, is profound. We thank them for the tremendous trust and patience they have placed in the investigation and prosecution of this terrible crime.”
This verdict provides some sense of justice for Kristin, the Smarts, and our community. Today, justice delayed is not justice denied.”
Paul Flores faces 25 years to life behind bars and will be sentenced on December 9, 2022.
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