Murder of Kristin Smart
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Kristin Denise Smart (February 20, 1977 Template:Ndash disappeared May 25, 1996;<ref name="1652DFCA – Kristin Denise Smart"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> declared legally dead May 25, 2002) was a 19-year-old American woman murdered by Paul Flores at the end of her first year on the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo).
On the evening of Friday, May 24, 1996, Smart attended a fellow Cal Poly student's off-campus party. At approximately 2 a.m., she was found passed out on a neighbor's lawn, and two students began to help her walk to her dorm room. A third student named Paul Flores joined the group, and due to the proximity of his dorm to Smart's, Flores told the other two students he would get Kristin home safely. Smart was never seen again, and searches conducted since her disappearance have not yet located her, or her remains.
Smart's disappearance resulted in state legislation, including the Kristin Smart Campus Security Act, a bill which requires all public colleges and publicly funded educational institutions in California to have their security services make agreements with local police departments about reporting cases involving or possibly involving violence against students, including missing students. The bill was passed unanimously by the California State Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Pete Wilson.
On April 13, 2021, Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of Smart's disappearance. Their homes were searched, and investigators found numerous "items of interest" in the son's home. Their trial began in July 2022. On October 18, 2022, Paul Flores was found guilty of the murder of Kristin Smart, and Ruben Flores was acquitted of 'accessory after the fact'. On March 10, 2023, Paul was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The trial was held in Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas, California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
BackgroundEdit
Kristin Denise Smart was born February 20, 1977, in Augsburg, Bavaria, West Germany, to Stan and Denise Smart, both teachers to children of American military personnel.Template:Sfn She had one brother and one sister.Template:Sfn When she was a child, Smart moved with her family to Stockton, California. She attended and graduated from Stockton's Lincoln High School in 1995.Template:Sfn Before her disappearance, she worked as a lifeguard and camp counselor at Camp Mokuleia in Hawaii.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DisappearanceEdit
Smart enrolled at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1995. On the night of May 24, 1996, which fell on Memorial Day weekend, she attended a birthday party where she did not know anyone at a fraternity house. She walked to and attended the party alone as a friend of hers had decided to return to the dorms earlier that night.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
At approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday, May 25, 1996, Smart was found passed out on a neighbor's lawn by two fellow students, Cheryl Anderson and Tim Davis, who both had just left the party.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They helped Smart to her feet and decided to walk her back to her nearby dormitory. Another student from the party, Paul Flores, joined their group and offered to help the two return Smart to her dorm room.
Davis departed the group first since he lived off-campus and had driven to the party. Anderson was the second to depart the group, heading to Sierra Madre Hall, after Flores, who lived closer to Smart's dorm, assured Anderson that he could walk her there.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Flores stated to police that he walked Smart as far as his dormitory, Santa Lucia Hall, and then allowed her to walk back to her red brick dormitory, Muir Hall, by herself. This testimony from Flores was the last known sighting of her. <ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Smart did not have any money or credit cards at the time she went missing.<ref name="CNN">Template:Cite news</ref>
Official investigationEdit
The University Police Department<ref name="Cal Poly-UPD">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> originally suspected that Smart had gone on an unannounced vacation and chose to delay reporting her as a missing person to local law enforcement. She was only reported missing after a week, despite her family calling the police earlier.
Several volunteers searched for Smart. Some of them were on horseback while others used ground-penetrating radar devices.<ref name=":0" />
During the Laci Peterson murder investigation, there were unfounded rumors in the media that Laci's husband Scott Peterson had something to do with Smart's disappearance due to their simultaneous attendance at the Cal Poly campus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> There was a brief initial inquiry into whether Peterson was tied to the disappearance, with Peterson denying any involvement, and he was eventually ruled out as a suspect by police.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Although her body was never discovered, an earring that might have belonged to Smart was found by a tenant at the former residence of Paul Flores's mother. This earring was not marked as evidence and has since been lost by the police.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Between 1996 and 2007, various searches for her remains and other evidence were conducted, some using cadaver dogs trained to detect the scent of human remains, including searches of properties owned by the Flores family. No useful leads were found for nearly two decades.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref>
On September 6, 2016, officials from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office announced they were investigating a new lead in the case.<ref name="keyt">Template:Cite news</ref> Cadaver dogs from the FBI were brought in and investigators were preparing to spend approximately four days excavating an area on the Cal Poly campus.<ref name="keyt"/> After three days, items were found at all three dig sites located on the same hillside near Smart's dorm. A spokesman for the sheriff's office said, "The items are being analyzed to see whether they are connected to the case, which could take days, weeks, or months".<ref name=remains>Template:Cite news</ref> The items uncovered were still being investigated Template:As of<ref name="excavate">Template:Cite news</ref>
On April 20, 2021, prosecutors announced ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs found biological evidence indicating Smart's body was once buried beneath the deck of Ruben Flores's home, and had been subsequently exhumed and hidden.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Legal proceedingsEdit
Smart was declared legally dead on May 25, 2002, the sixth anniversary of her disappearance.<ref name=ABCNews2003>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2005, her parents, Denise and Stan Smart, filed a civil case of wrongful death against Flores, one of the three students who walked Smart to her dorm. The Smart family was represented by James R. Murphy,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> on a pro bono basis. The suit was dropped due to lack of evidence after Flores pled the Fifth Amendment. In 2006 or 2007, the Flores family filed a lawsuit against the Smart family for emotional distress, but the lawsuit never resulted in a judgment.<ref name="auto" />
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office regularly reviewed the case, and spent thousands of hours and dollars during the period 2011–2016.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The FBI had her on file as a high priority missing person investigation, with a reward of $75,000 for information leading to finding her or resolving her case.<ref name="NVRegister">Template:Cite news</ref> Terry Black, a Delta-area man, offered a $100,000 reward for Smart's body.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
PublicityEdit
Beginning on September 30, 2019, independent podcaster Chris Lambert released a series of podcast episodes about the case.<ref name=Tribune>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The podcast was downloaded over thirty million times. Renewed public interest led to a new billboard being put up in Arroyo Grande in January 2020 to replace the original, which had been up since 1997, as well as uncovering several new witnesses.<ref name=KSBY>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On January 18, 2020, the Stockton Record reported that the FBI informed Smart's family that additional news about her disappearance would be coming and that the family "might want to get away for a while" but did not provide any specific information. However, on January 22, 2020, The Record issued a correction: the FBI did not contact the Smart family; rather, a retired FBI agent who had been in contact with the family for years was the source of the advice.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On January 29, 2020, the San Luis Obispo police department confirmed that two trucks owned by Flores had been taken in as evidence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On February 5, 2020, search warrants were served for "specific items of evidence" at four different locationsTemplate:Snd two in San Luis Obispo, one in Washington state, and at a home in Los Angeles County.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Flores was briefly detained during the search.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Date rape drugEdit
On April 22, 2020, the Los Angeles Times reported that a search warrant was served at the home of Paul Flores in San Pedro, California. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department assisted detectives from San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Department in the search.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was reported that numerous "items of interest" were successfully found during the search.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Among the items found in the search were date rape drugs and homemade videos showing Flores in acts of sodomizing and raping young women.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On February 11, 2021, KSBY reported that Paul Flores had been arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, which is a felony.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On March 15, 2021, a search warrant was issued to search Ruben Flores's home, including the use of cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar. A 1985 Volkswagen Cabriolet was towed from the home of Ruben Flores after cadaver dogs searched the vehicle.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ArrestEdit
On April 13, 2021, Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, were taken into custody by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department in relation to the case. Paul Flores was charged with murder; Ruben Flores was charged with being an accessory.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="ArrestsBonvillianCox">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Investigations later concluded that Paul Flores attempted to rape Smart, although Dan Dow, District Attorney of the County of San Luis Obispo, has stated that the statute of limitations has expired on a sexual assault charge, but murder committed in the course of rape or attempted rape justified first-degree felony murder charges.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In September 2021 a judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence of guilt for the case to proceed to trial.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The trial was set to begin on April 25, 2022, but was delayed, as a change of venue motion by the defense was granted on March 30, 2022.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The case was moved to Monterey County, where it was heard by Judge Jennifer O'Keefe. Pretrial motions were heard on June 6 and 7, 2022, with some ruled upon and other rulings deferred. Over 1,500 jury summonses were sent to County residents. Jury selection began on June 13, and opening arguments began on July 18.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
VerdictEdit
On October 18, 2022, the separate juries that were hearing the case simultaneously at the Monterey County Courthouse found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder and father Ruben Flores not guilty of accessory after the fact. Ruben Flores was facing a maximum sentence of three years in jail. One juror on the Ruben Flores case told Judge O'Keefe that he had discussed this case with his priest for "spiritual guidance" as it "was causing him stress". That juror was dismissed and an alternate was sworn in, causing deliberations to begin again. Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life on March 10, 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Planas NBC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Paul Flores is currently serving his term at the Pleasant Valley State Prison. On August 23, 2023, Flores was attacked by his cellmate Jason Budrow, who is serving a life sentence for killing his girlfriend. Budrow had previously killed another cellmate, Roger Reece Kibbe, in 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
LegacyEdit
Smart's disappearance and slow response by the campus police resulted in the Kristin Smart Campus Security Act being written and sponsored by State Senator Mike Thompson, passed 61–0 by the California State Legislature, and signed into effect by then-Governor Pete Wilson on August 19, 1998. The law took effect on January 1, 1999, and requires all public colleges and publicly funded educational institutions to have their security services make agreements with local police departments about reporting cases involving or possibly involving violence against students, including missing students.
See alsoEdit
- Disappearance of Lauren Spierer
- Disappearance of Tara Grinstead
- Disappeared (TV series)
- Murder of Holly Bobo
- List of kidnappings
- List of solved missing person cases
CitationsEdit
General sourcesEdit
External linksEdit
- FBI Missing Person Report on Kristin Smart
- San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department Report on Kristin's Disappearance (Template:Webarchive)
- North American Missing Persons Network Report on Kristin's Case
- Article about the investigation into Scott Peterson's possible connection with Kristin Smart's disappearance. (Template:Webarchive)
- The Charley Project: Kristin Smart
- Reader's Room Article on Kristin's disappearance (Template:Webarchive)
- findkristinsmart.org
- The text of Kristin Smart Campus Security Act 1998 from the California State Legislature Senate website.
- KSBY Investigates: Kristin Smart disappearance
- Template:NCMEC
- kristinsmart.org website
- Kristin Smart Was Killed During Attempted Rape, Prosecutor Says, The New York Times