.jpg)
1 hour ago
3
Kristin Smart Murder Trial: Paul Flores Found Guilty
Police may be closing in on finally finding Kristin Smart after 30 years.
The California college student—who went missing in 1996 when she was 19 years old—was declared legally dead in 2002, though it wasn't until 2022 that a jury found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder in her case.
Now, authorities believe they may have found human remains on a property belonging to Paul's mother Susan Flores in Arroyo Grande, Calif. Soil tests showed that human remains either are or may have once been on the property, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson said in a May 8 press conference.
“We believe that...human remains were there at one time or still there,” he told reporters. “I’m not going to go into the details, other than just to say with soil tests, it’s about the compounds in the soil that are related to a human, decomposing body."
Authorities have not determined if the remains may have belonged to Kristin.
“I think it’s safe to say that we have not recovered Kristin yet,” the sheriff said. “But our search goes on, and I don’t know how long we’re going to be there.”
Prosecutors accused Paul of killing Kristin during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, while she was a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
His dad Ruben Flores was then accused of helping Paul bury the teen's body in his backyard, though authorities believe her remains were later moved. Prosecutors said they found evidence of human blood and a soil disturbance that was about the size of a casket in the yard during a 2021 search, according to NBC News.
However, Ruben was found not guilty of being an accessory to Kristin's murder in 2022. At the time, his attorney argued that "it would be nice if the community would honor the presumptive of innocence” for Ruben.
FBI via AP
During their trial, Deputy San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle expressed hope in bringing peace to Kristin's family after all these years, even though her body was never found.
"For crimes that happen in a bedroom, there are no witnesses. But ground-penetrating radar, a forensic archeologist, and a lab supervisor tell us what Kristin could not. We don't have a full intact body in this case, but we have her blood," he said. "A couple grains of bloody sand. That's all the Smart family has left of their daughter."
Paul is currently serving a prison sentence of 25 years to life. His petition to the California Supreme Court to have his case reviewed was struck down in January.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office via AP
For an update on other true crime cases, read on.
Splash News
JonBenét Ramsey
The 6-year-old pageant star was brutally murdered at her Colorado home on Christmas 1996. Her parents, brother and more have all been suspects, but to this day no one really knows who killed JonBenét.
Ron Galella/Lee Celano/WireImage
Nicole Brown Simpson & Ron Goldman
O.J. Simpson, who died in April 2024 after a battle with cancer, was found guilty in a civil trial of both 1994 murders, but in the criminal trial, the jury acquitted him. Technically, in the eyes of the law, the famous NFL player didn't do it, so their murderer remains unknown (and perhaps at large).
Ron Galella/WireImage
Tupac Shakur
Depending on whom you ask, someone might say Tupac is still alive. But the "Changes" rapper was murdered in 1996, and the investigation is still unsolved.
Clarence Davis/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Notorious B.I.G.
About a year and a half after Tupac, Biggie Smalls was shot four times in a drive-by shooting. His killer still remains unknown.
Orlando Sentinel/MCT via Getty Images
Caylee Anthony
Casey Anthony, Caylee's mother, went through a highly publicized trial only to be found not guilty of her daughter's murder. As a result, it's still unknown who murdered this little girl.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO/Getty Images
Elizabeth Short a.k.a. The Black Dahlia
Short, who was murdered in 1947, and the mystery surrounding her death became an instant media sensation. She received "The Black Dahlia" moniker posthumously, but to this day, her killer remains unknown.
Bettmann/Getty Images
Andrew Borden & Abby Borden
This couple was brutally murdered with an axe in 1892, but it was their daughter, Lizzie Borden, who was tried and acquitted for the crime. The deaths of Andrew Borden and Abby Borden were never solved.
PytyCzech/Getty Images
Jack the Ripper
In 1888, an unknown serial killer hit the streets of London. More than 100 years later, the identity of Jack the Ripper remains unknown.
Carl Hugare/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The Chicago Tylenol Murders
These murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in Chicago in 1982. The victims, who included children, had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. A total of seven people died in the original poisonings, with several more deaths in subsequent copycat crimes. The person responsible is still unknown.
AP
The Zodiac Killer
He was a serial killer who acted in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but his identity still remains unknown. The killer originated the name "Zodiac" in a series of taunting letters sent to the local Bay Area press. These letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers). Of the four cryptograms sent, only one has been definitively solved.
English (US)