Kristin Smart

A jury has found Paul Flores guilty of murdering Cal Poly student Kristin Smart in 1996, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

The blood was too degraded to extract a DNA sample. He later changed his story to say he bumped his head while working on his car. On May 25, 1996, witnesses say, Smart got drunk at a party about a 10-minute walk from her dorm room at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. They said he later dug up the remains and moved them. He told them he got it playing basketball with friends, who denied his account, according to court records. Sanger dismissed the prosecution's forensic evidence as "junk science," The Tribune reported.

Jurors reached verdicts on Tuesday for two defendants in the Kristin Smart murder trial. Both did not react when the guilty verdict came down.

They were also told not to speak with members of Paul’s jury until both verdicts were announced. Paul was denied bail and remained in custody. Her mother and sister cried for several minutes after the reading of the verdict. Paul, 45, was charged with first-degree murder. Authorities alleged he killed the 19-year-old Cal Poly freshman while trying to rape her. Several of Kristin's family members were also inside the courtroom.

Paul Flores, left, and his father, Ruben Flores. SLO County Sheriff. CNN —. A California jury has found Paul ...

“We thank them for the tremendous trust and patience they have placed in the investigation and prosecution of this terrible crime. “Without Kristin, there is no joy or victory with this verdict, we all know it did not have to be this way,” a statement from the Smart family read. The family also thanked Chris Lambert, who launched the true crime podcast “Your Own Backyard” in 2019. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 9. After authorities arrested Paul and Ruben Flores a year and a half ago, the family of Kristin Smart called it a bittersweet day. “The truth is Kristin was plucked off the face of the Earth by Paul Flores.” This verdict provides some sense of justice for Kristin, the Smarts, and our community. [ led to the arrest of Paul and Ruben Flores](https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/15/us/kristin-smart-investigation-search-father-house-trnd/index.html) in April 2021. Harold Mesick, the attorney for Ruben Flores, said in his closing argument the case “screams reasonable doubt,” according to KSBY. “It’s too bad the system works that way, on feelings instead of facts,” Ruben Flores said, adding that he felt bad for Smart’s family because they never got a true answer as to what happened to their daughter. That podcast and authorities identified Paul Flores as the last person to see Smart alive. District Attorney Dan Dow thanked the Smart family for their “tremendous trust” in a statement.

Paul Flores found guilty of first-degree murder as prosecutors claim he killed 19-year-old during attempted rape.

The trial was held in Salinas, 110 miles north of San Luis Obispo, after a judge granted a defense request to move it. The blood was too degraded to extract a DNA sample. He also referred to forensic evidence offered by the prosecution as “junk science”. [conducted search warrants](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/06/kristin-smart-california-search-warrants-washington) on properties linked to Paul Flores and his family. Prosecutors now maintain Paul Flores, now 45, killed the 19-year-old during an attempted rape on 25 May 1996, in his dorm room at Cal Poly, where both were first-year students. Although Paul Flores was interviewed by investigators immediately after the murder, he was not initially arrested or charged.

After a monthslong trial in a Monterey County courtroom, Paul Flores, the man accused of killing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart 26 years ago was found ...

A California man was convicted Tuesday of killing Kristin Smart, a college student who disappeared in 1996, and a separate jury found his father not guilty ...

The juror said he did not discuss specifics of the case. [The Tribune newspaper](https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/crime/article266370926.html) of San Luis Obispo. [KSBY ](https://www.ksby.com/news/kristin-smart-case/kristin-smart-murder-trial-resumes-with-detective-testimony)reported that attorneys representing the defendants rested their cases on Sept. Attorney Harold Mesick, who represents Ruben Flores, has said the evidence unearthed was ambiguous. The blood was too degraded to extract a DNA sample from. Paul Flores was found guilty by a jury in Monterey County of first-degree murder and faces 25 years to life. “It was a hot mess, because it’s been previously excavated,” Mesick said. "Without Kristin, there is no joy or happiness in this verdict," Smart's father, Stan Smart, said after the verdicts. He faced up to three years in prison. San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Craig Van Rooyen ordered the pair to trial after a 22-day preliminary hearing in which he found a “strong suspicion” that the father and son committed the crimes they were charged with and that a grave that once held Smart’s remains existed under Ruben Flores’ deck. Paul Flores had long been considered a suspect, but prosecutors arrested him and his father only last year, after the investigation was reactivated. Several of Smart's relatives were in the courtroom, and her mother and her sister cried for several minutes after the verdicts were read.