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Who Is Paul Flores? The Man Convicted Of Killing Kristin Smart
Paul Flores, the murderer of Kristin Denise Smart, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison without parole on Friday, 10 March 2023, in a California court. The court announced the prison sentencing of the culprit decades after the incident ensued.
Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old student from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, went missing in 1996, and although it’s been years, her body has not recovered until today. What happened to this young girl, and who is behind all this? All these questions remained unclear or unanswered until the court order got released on Friday.
Who Is Paul Flores?
Paul Flores is the 45-year-old man who murdered Kristin Smart, a young girl who went missing in 1996 and was declared legally dead on May 25, 2002. Paul, also a student at the time, was the last one to see Smart alive after she passed out attending a fellow Cal Poly University student’s off-campus party on May 25, 1996.
In October 2022, decades after the incident, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and was charged with prison sentencing for life. The judge of the hearing overruled Paul’s attorney’s request for a second trial before levying the ruling.
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Who Is Kristin Denise Smart, And What Happened To Her?
Kristin Denise Smart was a 19-year-old girl from the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), who was doing her freshman year.
She was born on February 20, 1977, in Augsburg, Bavaria, West Germany. Her parents, Denise and Stan, were teachers and had two siblings. The family moved to Stockton, California, when she was a child, and she graduated from Stockton’s Lincoln High school in 1995.
The 19-year-old Kristin attended a fellow Cal Poly University student’s off-campus party on May 25, 1996. And by around 2 am, she was found passed out on a neighboring lawn.
Two fellow students, Cheryl Anderson, and Tim Davis helped her get back on her feet and helped her to get back to her dormitory. Later, Paul, who was leaving the party, offered the boys to take Kristin to the dormitory since he resides close to her place. Davis left the group first, leaving Kristin with the boys, and later Anderson left the group as Flores assured him that he could walk her safely.
After the duo left Kristin with Paul, the rest is a mystery still unknown to the masses. According to the statement he gave to the police at that time, he stated that he walked Smart up to his dormitory and allowed her to walk by herself. And it was the last time he saw her, as per his statement.
During the initial days, the authorities believed that Smart had gone somewhere unannounced, which was common in those days. Until today, police couldn’t recover the body or find any update about Kristin. But, at the same time, police found many hints connecting Flores’ with the missing girl and the case.
Where Is Paul Flores Now?
Paul was sentenced to 25 years of prison life for murdering 19-year-old Kristin in 1996. The ruling passed on Friday stated that the 45-year-old man won’t get parole in this case. He was found guilty in October 2022 and convicted of the first-degree murder of Smart.
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Since the police or authorities couldn’t find any hint of Kristen’s existence, the young girl was declared officially dead in 2002. Paul is not eligible for probation and will be bearing 25 years of prison sentencing without parole.
