Jury deliberations are underway in the trial of a man accused of killing a Central Coast college student more than a quarter of a century ago.
Paul Flores is accused of killing Kristin Smart in May of 1995. They were both students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Prosecutors say after walking her back to campus after a party, he killed her in his dorm room during a sexual assault. Her body was never found.
His father, Ruben Flores, is charged with being an accessory to the crime. Detectives believed the 19-year-old woman’s body was buried in the yard of the family’s Arroyo Grande home, but then moved in 2020 as the investigation intensified.
Attorneys for the men contended the evidence is circumstantial. The father and son were tried together, but they have separate juries. The judge hearing the case ordered that even if one jury finishes first, they will wait and the sentences will be read together.
