Denise Pearce | Longtime family friend: Things were gonna get better and, you know, and and they did. D.A. In October 2022,. Chris Lambert says they're cautiously optimistic. Chris Lambert: Kristin became incredibly intoxicated, whether she was drugged or whether she just had a lot to drink in a short amount of time She ends up passed out on the lawn next door. Ms. Smarts family said they had faith in the justice system, comforted in the knowledge that Kristin has been held in the hearts of so many and that she has not been forgotten.. Klicken Sie auf Alle ablehnen, wenn Sie nicht mchten, dass wir und unsere Partner Cookies und personenbezogene Daten fr diese zustzlichen Zwecke verwenden. Two days after Kristin Smart vanished, Paul Flores went to the Arroyo Grande Police Department because of an outstanding DUI warrant. Nikki Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the court, said the documents were not supposed to be public. His father Ruben Flores charged with being an accessory after the factwas found not guilty. But was there evidence possibly placing Kristin Smart at his mother's home? It's fine. Because of the statute of limitations, Dow says, Paul Flores can't be charged with rape. A hundred percent that was happening. Chris Lambert, who worked as a CBS News consultant, pieced together what he learned from people who were there that night. She was gone. But now, 25 years later, a man sits in a San Luis Obispo County Jail cell, charged with her murder. School was over, so campus police found an empty room that had been sanitized by the university's cleaning crew. Defense attorney Robert Sanger, in turn, tries to poke holes in Flemmings recollections. Twenty-five years after Smart went missing, a prime suspect is charged with murder. And then months and months later, they'd reach back out and say, can you get us in touch with this person again? Cole also testified that the Flores family was wiretapped for 30 days starting on January 5, 2020. Ian Parkinson: I committed to them that I was going to go back to the beginning and re-examine every piece of evidence that we had. Smart appeared to be under the influence of alcohol on Friday night. Also taking the witness stand on Wednesday was Edward Chadwell. Smarts family issues a statement following the news about Flores going to trial: Yesterday was a very good day and we want to take this opportunity to thank all of Kristins supporters in San Luis Obispo and beyond. On Tuesday, Cole testified that Ruben clarified that he meant he was the only one of the three who had been arrested. We feel like the stars aligned when the podcast aired, she told Rolling Stone. Just five months before Kristin disappeared, San Luis Obispo Police received a call from a student living off campus. After Paul and Rubens arrests, Sheriff Ian Parkinson revealed that Lamberts podcast helped move the investigation forward. Classes were difficult, she was trying to fit in, and she missed her family. I need you to listen to everything they say so we can punch holes in it. James Murphy: Well, the location where all this activity occurred is where they found the biological material. So, she slowed down and walked with them. Ruben Flores was acquitted by a separate jury. There was early mistakes made that you can't recover from when you're missing those vital pieces. Flores was first interviewed by Cal Poly police investigators near the end of May 1996, according to The San Luis Obispo Tribune, and the Cal Poly police didnt search his room until June 10th. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Nineteen-year-old Cal Poly student Kristin Smart went missing after a campus party 25. Our family has always known that this was going to be a long, difficult, and emotional journey. On May 25, 1996, friends dropped her off at an off-campus party. James Murphy: Every day. "48 Hours" looks back to their arrests and how the saga began. Denise Pearce says that was a crushing blow for the Smart family. His father was found not guilty of helping to hide her body. She was never seen again and her body has not been located. She was she was frantic I don't understand this, you know? Proof of the L.A. charges cant act as a substitute for the SLO case.. Kristin Denise Smart (born February 20, 1977 [1] [6] -declared legally dead May 25, 2002) was an American woman who was found to have been murdered by Paul Flores at the end of her freshman year on the campus of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). But to fully understand Chris Lambert's contribution, you have to go back to the beginning. Other witnesses included students who were at the party. On October 18, 2022, Paul Flores was found guilty of first-degree murder. Chris Lambert: Paul keeps stopping along the way and letting Cheryl Anderson know, you can go on ahead. October 22, 2022 / 10:10 PM In April 2021, investigators finally put the pieces of the puzzle together and decided they had enough to charge the then-44-year-old Paul Flores with Kristin's murder, and his then-80-year-old father with being an accessory after the fact. To declare to the public if you stay quiet, you will get away with this. When asked about how he got the injury Flores told three different stories. Ann-Marie Christian: became friends with Kristin in elementary school. Griffin Cherry was her close friend: So, they did not immediately get a warrant to search Susan Flores's home. In April 2021, investigators charged Paul Flores, left, with Kristin Smart's murder, and his then-80-year-old father Ruben, as an accessory after the fact. Ms. Smart, who was from Stockton, Calif., was a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Book Author Jenn is a lawyer-turned-author and true crime writer. Defense lawyers have criticized the evidence used to arrest both men last week. From the start, investigators. DAN DOW [press conference]: We have evidence that we do believe there are other people that are not yet identified that have had some kind of a criminal act perpetrated on them by Mr. Flores. Paul Flores did not have a car on campus, so Murphy surmises he had to have had help. Plans & Pricing . Greg Fisher and Michelle Fanucci are the development producers. Like the rest of the family, Kristin was an athlete. PODCAST EPISODE 1: I googled Kristin Smart's name every few years. Cole testified about why investigators believe a crime was committed at Ruben's property on White Court in Arroyo Grande. Like so many freshmen, Kristin struggled. The unsealed documents include two claims from 2011 and 2017 that Flores raped two women while they were drunk in San Pedro. "48 Hours" has learned these suspicions center around evidence found during that 2020 search of Paul Flores' home. And these girls are inviting us out. DAN DOW [press conference]: But the allegation that he was committing or attempting to commit a rape when he killed her, is the basis for which we are able to file first-degree felony murder charges. or even her keys. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. The arrests of the father and son came after investigators using ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs discovered evidence connected directly to Smarts death last month during a search at Ruben Flores home, authorities said. On June 23, 1997, Kristen left the coffee shop where she worked, Spinelli's Coffee in San Francisco's Crocker Galleria. Chris Lambert: He told those friends he just woke up with the black eye. A separate jury for Ruben Flores started deliberating on Oct. 5. She was last seen in the Lands End area of San Francisco, close to where Laci and Connor washed up. About 45 minutes after Kristen got off of work on the day she vanished, she was seen on the 2nd f. Chris Lambert: I don't think she ever imagined that Kristin would end up dead by the end of the night. Jonathan Vigliotti: How did you know she hadn't been back? The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Flores, who had been seen with Smart earlier in the evening he attempted to flirt with her and apparently fell on her at one point, according to witnesses joined the group and allegedly accompanied Smart home. Man charged with 1996 murder of college student Kristin Smart. They did an interview with the Cal Poly Mustang Daily and explained that they didn't think there was any evidence that a crime had taken place. Also on the stand Tuesday were another cadaver dog handler, an expert in fiber evidence and a district attorney's office investigator. . Kristen Modafferi, Kristin Smart & Kent Jacobs. They have not been able to proceed with the civil case while there was an ongoing criminal investigation, but that didn't stop them from following every lead and preparing for an eventual trial. And it was only 250 miles from Stockton, California, where she grew up with Lindsey and their brother Matt. Soon after her disappearance, a sheriffs search party combed remote parts of the Cal Poly campus on horseback, archival video from KCRA-TV shows. Flores and his parents have always maintained that he had nothing to do with Smarts disappearance. But Parkinson acknowledges it hasn't been easy. Paul Flores talks to his attorneys Sara Sanger and Robert Sanger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. had been arrested in connection with her disappearance, Paul Flores was found guilty of murdering Ms. Smart, while in the commission of, or attempted, rape. Chris Lambert: There was a man climbing her trellis and trying to get inside her balcony, very intoxicated and refusing to leave. They didn't bring a forensics team. Clockwise from left, Kristin, Denise, Stan, Matt and Lindsey. Peterson may or may not have been at the party Smart disappeared after. A college student at North Carolina State University, ABC 7 writes that Modafferi had received a scholarship to work and live in a different city for the summer. For the next 25 years, I did whatever I could and looked for answers wherever I could, Denise Smart told the court, according to CBS 13, a local television station. There was no reaction until the dog reached Paul Flores's room. Chris Lambert was just 8 years old when Kristin Smart vanished on her way home from a college party in San Luis Obispo, California. Jonathan Vigliotti: Is this a case that takes a miracle to solve? PODCAST EPISODE 5: If you were making a film about a new law enforcer who's coming to a small town to save the day, you'd probably cast Parkinson. Denise Pearce: The phone call never comes. PODCAST EPISODE 1: Kristin broke down begging her mother to let her drop out and go somewhere else. Chris Lambert: The only thing he would confirm on tape is that his name is Paul Flores. In a statement, the Smart family described a long wait for this bittersweet day.. But the Flores's have fought back, suing the Smarts for intentional infliction of emotional distress. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. It would be three more years before the property was searched again. There's no question about it. Those were kind of unspoken things. During Tuesday's hearing, San Luis Obispo County. James Murphy: The podcast is out. She said she didn't tell law enforcement about it until she talked to Det. JAMES MURPHY: What is your present residence address? The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time Chris Lambert: Everything else, he took the Fifth Amendment. We are now one step closer to justice for Kristin. The documents also include several people the defense believes investigators should have looked into in addition to Flores, including convicted murderer and fellow then-student Scott Peterson, who was previously ruled out. I don't know if Kristin knew anybody there. to search on and near the Cal Poly campus. The defense also tells Lambert he will not be allowed back in the courtroom where he has been covering the hearing as he is now a potential witness. Flores was also in possession of Tramadol and Flexeril, known as date rape drugs. According to a county probation bail report obtained by the San Luis Obispo Tribune, "biological evidence" was found under Ruben's deck. Axel Koester/Sygma via Getty Images. Her books are available on Amazon. The authorities removed items from Paul Floress home in Los Angeles in February 2020. I did have guilt about that. The judge in the case has issued a gag order preventing lawyers, investigators, witnesses and others from speaking about the case or releasing documents. Lambert also interviewed a woman who dated Flores until, she says, he became physically and verbally abusive. At the time, they did not know about a missing college student. And might have connected Kristin to Susan Flores's house, says James Murphy. It worked. every piece of evidence points directly at Paul Flores. Cole said this was done so Lambert would include the information in his podcast during the time of the wiretap. Ken Blum is the editor. Members of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Department and FBI searched the grounds of Susan Flores's home in Arroyo Grande on June 19, 2000, for any evidence that might shed light on the disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart. Denise Pearce: She was becoming more and more alarmed, you know? He wouldn't answer a single thing. Kristin Smart was a 19-year-old freshman at Cal Poly, California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, when she disappeared after a walk home from an off-campus party early in the. Jonathan Vigliotti: They thought she was off possibly having fun. Nineteen-year-old Kristin Smart disappeared Memorial Day weekend of 1996. On day two, August 3rd, a close friend of Smarts from college, Steven Flemming, tells the court that Flores had interacted with Smart before the party they both attended prior to her disappearance. Helicopters were used to canvas the area. The case recently reentered the public eye with the 2019 launch of the popular true-crime podcast, Your Own Backyard, hosted by musician Chris Lambert, who has spent his life haunted by a missing persons billboard featuring Smarts face. The judge rules that the DA cannot be disqualified for wearing purple clothing. DAN DOW [press conference]: The allegation against Ruben is that he helped to conceal Kristen's body after the murder was committed. Ruben Flores and his estranged wife Susan have always denied any role in Kristin Smart's disappearance. Ruben will be released on bail that he can afford. Denise Pearce: To be almost there. Kristen Modafferi, Kristin Smart & Kent Jacobs. For more than two decades, her family, friends, and supporters searched for answers and for justice. In the months after Kristin's disappearance, one truck was traded in and the other was reported stolen. In the meantime, Paul Flores moved to Southern California, where he bounced from job to job.
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