According to CNN affiliate KSBY, the man who was found guilty of murdering fellow college student Kristin Smart in 1996 received a sentence of 25 years to life in jail without the possibility of parole on Friday.
In October, the 46-year-old Paul Flores was judged responsible for the first-degree murder of Smart, whose corpse has never been found.
While Smart and Flores were both students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in central California in May 1996, Smart vanished. Prosecutors said that Flores, who was the last person to see Smart alive, raped or attempted to rape her before killing her in his dorm room.
San Luis Obispo was shaken by Smart’s disappearance, and the case remained unsolved for more than 20 years. Authorities pronounced Smart dead in 2002.
But, in 2019, journalist Chris Lambert’s podcast “Your Own Backyard” resurrected interest in Smart and her family’s struggle. Smart’s family later acknowledged the podcast for bringing attention to them “in our darkest hours by sharing Kristin’s voice and narrative.”
a handout photo of missing college student Kristin Smart at an undated event.
a handout photo of missing college student Kristin Smart at an undated event.
Authorities detained Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, in connection with the killing of Smart in 2021 as a result of fresh evidence. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office previously told CNN that investigators at Ruben Flores’ home utilized ground-penetrating radar, excavated on the property with hand tools, and recovered things as evidence.
Authorities charged Flores’ father with helping to move Smart’s body to his Arroyo Grande residence and concealing her remains there for a while. Ruben Flores was eventually found not guilty of being an accessory to Smart’s homicide by a jury.
On October 18, 2022, when Paul was found guilty and Ruben was found not guilty, Smart’s family expressed conflicted feelings and thanked the prosecution and the investigation team for their work.
The Smart family released a statement that stated, “Without Kristin, there is no joy or victory with this verdict, and we all know it did not have to be this way.” With today’s divided judgments, we learned that our search for justice for Kristin will continue after 26 years.”