More than a quarter of a century after Kristin Smart, a California Polytechnic State University student, disappeared after an off-campus party, Paul Flores, another student, was found guilty of her murder, the jury in California announced Tuesday.
A separate jury concluded that his father, Ruben Flores, 81, was not guilty of helping conceal the body. Miss Smart’s remains have never been found.
The ruling, announced in Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas, California, is based on a lengthy case that began on May 25, 1996, when Ms. Smart left an off-campus party at approximately 2 p.m. morning with Paul Flores. He then told investigators he took her all the way to his dorm, where they parted.
Friends who spoke to investigators reported that she was intoxicated, and Paul Flores repeatedly told them he could accompany her to her dorm alone, as she needed help. assistance for travel, court documents said.
Ms. Smart, a 19-year-old freshman, was never seen again. A missing persons report was filed three days later.
The search for Ms Smart stretched from remote areas of campus to her dorm room in Muir Hall, where investigators found her purse and reminders to complete class assignments. A bulletin board seeking help in finding her was organized by her family. Paul Flores’ dorm room was searched and he was interviewed by investigators.
Ms Smart’s family declared their daughter legally dead in 2002.
Nearly two decades later, in 2021, authorities describe Paul Flores as a “Main Suspect” and execute search warrants, including at his home in Los Angeles. Investigators used dogs trained to detect human remains and ground-penetrating radar to search Ruben Flores’ property in Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Paul Flores was arrested at his home in Los Angeles on April 13, 2021, and charged with murder. Ruben Flores was arrested at his home and charged with adultery after the incident.
Dan Dow, the San Luis Obispo district attorney, said Paul Flores “caused the death” of Miss Smart.”while committing or attempting to rape. ” Ruben Flores helped conceal her remains,” he said.
Paul Flores, 45, was found guilty of murder in a rape or attempted rape. Prosecutors said he faced 25 years to life in prison.
Ruben Flores has been accused of being an accessory after the fact.
The trial of Paul and Ruben Flores was not broadcast live, but local media organizations have covered them extensively over the past three months.
The trial was moved about 140 miles north from San Luis Obispo to Monterey County, at the request of the defense team, because of the wide publicity surrounding the case.
In his final argument earlier this month, a San Luis Obispo County prosecutor, Christopher Peuvrelle, tell the court that Ruben Flores helped his son by hiding Smart’s body in his backyard.
Mr. Peuvrelle cited soil samples, a 6-foot by 4-foot anomalous object on the ground, blood stains, threads matching Smart’s clothes and warnings from the dead dogs.
He also said that Paul Flores had “hunted down” for Miss Smart and had called his father to ask for help burying Smart’s body. Robert Sanger, Paul Flores’ attorney, said there was a “missing person” but there was no evidence of a murder.
Harold Mesick, an attorney for Ruben Flores, said there was no evidence that his client tried to hide the body. KSBY reported.
Mr Mesick said: ‘Paul Flores and his father did not bury this woman.
On October 13, a juror in Ruben Flores’ case was dismissed for asking his priest for guidance because of stress he said he was suffering from, and a new juror took the oath of office, reset the discussions from scratch, KSBY reported.
In July, Ms Smart’s parents and her brother, Matt, testified about their search for Ms Smart after she disappeared.
“For the next 25 years, I did whatever I could and looked for answers wherever I could,” Denise Smart, Ms Smart’s mother, told the court, according to the local CBS affiliate in Sacramento.
