A former classmate of Kristin Smart, the California college freshman whose 1996 disappearance had long been one of the state’s most sensational unsolved crimes, was found guilty of first-degree murder for her death.
“:”More than 26 years after a California student disappeared while walking back to her dorm room from a college party, a man was convicted of her murder on Tuesday. The body of 19-year-old Kristin Smart has never been found, and for decades billboards and even a true-crime podcast appealed for evidence in a case that haunted the community, before long-standing suspect Paul Flores was arrested last year. Flores, now 45, was convicted of first-degree murder by a jury at Monterey County Superior Court on Tuesday following a three-month trial. “Our criminal and victim justice system has now finally delivered justice for Kristin,” Dan Dow, San Luis Obispo district attorney, said after the verdicts were read. “The impact that Kristin Smart’s disappearance and the … investigation has had on the Smart family, on our community, spanning a quarter century, has been profound.” “Today, justice delayed is not justice denied,” he told a press conference. South Korean student at US college charged with murder of roommate But Smart’s remains have still not been located, and Paul’s father Ruben was found not guilty Tuesday of helping to hide her body.
