Kristin Smart Murder Case: Paul Flores Found Guilty

Content warning: This story discusses sexual assault.

After more than 26 years since Kristin Smart‘s disappearance, a verdict has been reached in her murder case.

A jury found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder in connection to the 1996 disappearance of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student. In July, Paul went on trial after prosecutors accused him of killing the 19-year-old while attempting to sexually assault her during the early hours of May 25, 1996. He had pleaded not guilty.

Paul’s father, Ruben Flores, was found not guilty of being an accessory to Kristin’s murder after authorities accused him of helping Paul bury Kristin’s body in the backyard of his Arroyo Grande, Calif. home. He had pleaded not guilty.

In court, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle said Kristin was “too nice” to stand up to Paul, alleging, “What we would see as kindness, he would see as a d-ck tease. In his predatory, vile, rapist mind, that’s what he saw her as,” per broadcast station KRON4.