Trial date set for Paul Flores, Kristin Smart’s accused killer
The man accused of killing California college student Kristin Smart in 1996 will go on trial April 25 alongside his father.
Paul Flores, 44, pleaded not guilty to Smart’s murder and his father, 80-year-old Ruben Flores, pleaded not guilty to being an accessory after the fact.
Both Floreses agreed to waive their right to a trial within 60 days, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. They also reentered their not guilty pleas, which were first heard at an April arraignment.
Paul is accused of killing Smart, then a 19-year-old freshman, in her dorm room at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on May 24, 1996. Police suspect Flores, Smart’s classmate, raped or attempted to rape her and then hid her body. He was the last person to see her alive.
Smart’s body has never been found, but she was declared dead in 2002.
Though Paul Flores was the prime suspect from the start, the case remained cold until April 2021, when he was arrested. Cadaver dogs had searched his father’s home and turned up enough evidence to make an arrest, according to police.
Ruben was charged as an accessory after police said Smart’s body was hidden under his deck for decades. After a nearly two-month preliminary hearing, a judge ruled in September that the case would go to trial.
