According to a press release from the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, a jury in California has found Paul Flores, the man accused of killing Kristin Smart in 1996, guilty of first-degree murder.
In the meantime, a different jury exonerated Ruben Flores, now 81, of being an accessory to Smart’s murder, according to the press release.
In the meantime, a different jury exonerated Ruben Flores, now 81, of being an accessory to Smart’s murder, according to the press release.
Chris Lambert, who started the true crime podcast “Your Own Backyard” in 2019, was also thanked by the family. More people were interested in the case as a result of the podcast’s success. Paul Flores was the last person to see Smart alive, according to that podcast and the authorities.
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At a press conference on Tuesday, Kristin’s father, Stan Smart, said that the past 26 years have been “an agonizingly long trip with more downs than ups.”
“Be aware that your spirit continues to exist every day in each and every one of us. You are always missed, thought of, celebrated, and remembered, he remarked of his daughter.
In a statement, district attorney Dan Dow expressed gratitude to the Smart family for their “tremendous trust.”
We express our gratitude for their unwavering faith in and endurance during the course of the investigation and prosecution of this horrible crime. This decision gives Kristin, the Smarts, and our neighbourhood a feeling of justice. Justice now is not denied if it is delayed, according to Dow.
According to the announcement, Paul Flores could be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison if found guilty. On December 9, he is due to get a sentence.
There is “no evidence against anybody,” Ruben Flores said reporters outside the courtroom, adding that he is frightened about his kid.
Ruben Flores lamented, “It’s too bad the system works that way, on sentiments instead of facts,” and said that he was sorry for Smart’s family because they were never given a complete explanation for what had happened to their daughter.
While they were both students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Flores, now 45, allegedly raped or attempted to rape Smart before killing her in his dorm room. According to the prosecution, his father assisted in moving the victim’s body to his house in the nearby community of Arroyo Grande, where it was temporarily hidden under his deck.
San Luis Obispo, a picturesque college town of less than 47,000 people located less than 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean, was tormented by the mystery surrounding Smart’s disappearance.
Local billboards featured Smart’s image and requested assistance in figuring out her odd disappearance.
The university, which has a reputation for being among the most selective and intellectually demanding in the California State system, welcomed Smart and Paul Flores as freshman when they were both 19 years old.
Smart’s corpse was never discovered. However, some 25 years after she vanished, investigators said that fresh information resulted in the capture of Paul and Ruben Flores in April 2021.
According to CNN affiliate KSBY, examinations of Ruben Flores’ home brought up soil samples that tested positive for human blood, which deputy district attorney Christopher Peuvrelle revealed to the jury during the trial in July.
Investigators “are in possession of biological evidence that leads them to think the victim was buried beneath the defendant’s (Ruben Flores) deck at one time,” according to records filed in the case by a sheriff’s office detective.
According to affiliates KEYT and KRON, prosecutors think the father and son relocated the body before police searched the property.
Lawyers for the Floreses vigorously defended their clients’ innocence, frequently pointing to a dearth of eyewitnesses and supporting documentation.
According to CNN station KEYT, Paul Flores’ attorney Robert Sanger described the prosecution’s case as “a mishmash of conspiracy ideas without any supporting evidence.”
According to KSBY, Ruben Flores’ lawyer Harold Mesick claimed in his closing remarks that the case “screams reasonable doubt.”
Mesick added, “Paul Flores and his father didn’t bury this woman.
Smart was never able to make it to her room, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, and was last spotted near her dormitory.
When she vanished, she had no identity, cash, or extra clothing, according to authorities. In 20 Smart was pronounced deceased.
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The family of Kristin Smart described the day that Paul and Ruben Flores were apprehended by authorities as bittersweet one year and a half ago.
According to a statement they released, “Kristin’s loving spirit will always exist in our hearts, but our life without her hugs, laughs, and smiles is a pain that never abates.”
According to John Segale, a family representative, Denise and Stan Smart are retired teachers who reside in Stockton, California.
According to KSBY, Peuvrelle argued in his closing statement last week that “justice delayed does not necessarily mean justice denied. “Paul Flores actually snatched Kristin off the face of the planet,”
Following a judge’s ruling that the Flores could not receive a fair trial in San Luis Obispo County due to excessive pre-trial publicity, the murder trial was transferred to Monterey County, according to KSBY.
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