![]() ![]() Peuvrelle claimed her behavior was consistent with someone drugging her.Īs Smart and two other students began to walk, Flores emerged from the darkness to help her walk home, witnesses said. After that, she passed out in a meadow for two hours. Others who were there said she never smelled of alcohol but was spotted having a drink just before midnight after hanging out with Flores. Peuvrelle said during the trial that Flores, a fellow Cal Poly student, “hunted” Smart for months, citing witness testimony that he frequently showed up where she was, including her dormitory.Īccording to witnesses, Smart arrived at a house party on Crandall Street at around 10:30 p.m. Judge Jennifer O’Keefe is presiding over the trial in Monterey County Superior Court. The prosecutor argued that father and son moved Smart’s remains as investigators made new inquiries into the property. Then, Peuvrelle said, in 2020, a neighbor reported strange activity involving a trailer in the yard. atty Chris Peuvrelle claimed Flores raped or attempted to rape - and eventually killed - Smart before hiding her remains under his father’s Arroyo Grande house deck. Her disappearance was also the subject of a true crime podcast.īecause of all the attention, a judge ordered the trial moved to Monterey County to ensure a fair trial.ĭuring the trial, San Luis Obispo County Deputy Dist. Billboard advertisements demanded evidence to convict her killer. Smart’s disappearance and subsequent murder investigation haunted the college town for years, leaving an indelible mark on San Luis Obispo. ![]() Another judge acquitted his father of involvement in the crime. ![]() His father, Ruben Flores, 81, was also arrested and charged with helping his son dispose of Smart’s remains.Īfter a 12-week trial, a Monterey County jury convicted Paul Flores of murder in October. Then, in April 2021, Flores was finally arrested at his San Pedro home for Smart’s murder, which investigators say was the result of a combination of physical evidence seized in recent years and testimony from previously uninterviewed witnesses. Without a body, investigators continued to experience frustration in their investigations. He first explained a black eye by saying he was elbowed at a pickup basketball game, then admitted to lying and saying he hit himself while working on a truck at his father’s house. In interviews, Flores told investigators he led Smart to their dormitory and then returned to his room. Classmates described him as awkward and unpopular Five months before Smart’s disappearance, a student called the police and reported that Flores appeared to have climbed onto her balcony intoxicated and refused to leave. Her disappearance sparked a massive manhunt in the area that included helicopters, radar, cadaver dogs, horses and busloads of volunteers.Īlthough her body was never found, she was legally pronounced dead in 2002.įrom the start, investigators focused on Flores. Smart was 19 when she disappeared on May 25, 1996, when she was last seen walking to the dormitories after a fraternity party with Flores. She also declined to overturn the guilty verdict, saying the evidence supported the verdict. O’Keefe announced the verdict after denying a motion for a new trial by Flores defense attorney Robert Sanger because the prosecutor made a mistake during his closing argument by misstating the standard of reasonable doubt. Prosecutors believe he raped or attempted to rape Smart in his dorm, before killing her and hiding her body. Paul Flores was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Kristin Smart, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student who disappeared more than 25 years ago over Memorial Day weekend and whose body was never found.Īfter hearing from Smart’s family, Monterey County Judge Jennifer O’Keefe convicted Flores, 46, of Smart’s murder in 1996. ![]()
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