1996 Murder of Kristin Smart

FoxNews reports that the jury is finally being assembled for a 26 year old murder case. Kristin Smart was last seen after a party near her college campus in California, and her remains have never been found. Paul Flores was charged with first-degree murder, accused of killing Smart while trying to rape her in her dorm room. His father, Ruben Flores, is accused of helping his son dispose of the body. They were arrested in April 2022; Smart was declared legally dead in 2002.

Paul Flores was reportedly the last person seen with Smart, who was 19, on May 25, 1996. According to witnesses, she appeared intoxicated as he walked her to her dorm at California Polytechnic State University. During a preliminary hearing in May, prosecutors presented some evidence that Smart’s body was once buried behind Ruben Flores’ home, under a deck shielded by lattice. Prosecutors said that the body had been moved from that location, but has never been found. According to witnesses, traces of human blood were found underneath the deck. Allegedly, there were also stains in the soil and a disturbance the size of a human body in the ground. Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen said that with the lack of DNA evidence, “nothing links it definitively to Ms. Smart,” but added that he had “a strong suspicion it was Ms. Smart’s remains.”

Jury selection is underway, and the trials are expected to begin in roughly three weeks. There are several reports indicating that the court system has issued more than 1500 jury summonses in connection with the case.

The Flores’ were originally supposed to be tried in San Luis Obispo County, where the crimes allegedly occurred, but a judge ruled in April that the trial would take place about 240 miles northwest in Monterey County; this is an effort to ensure that the men receive a fair trial. Both men have pleaded not guilty.