The two alleged culprits are being held at the San Luis Obispo County Jail, awaiting arraignment. Later, Flores invoked his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination before a grand jury and during a civil deposition. Over the years, the separate homes of Pauls parents, Susan and Ruben Flores, were, Furthermore, the searches at the homes of Ruben, Susan, Paul, and his sister had led to enough evidence to warrant a second search of Pauls home. If Paul is convicted of murder and Ruben convicted of accessory after the fact as charged, the Smart Family attorney James Murphy will then ask a judge to lift the stay on the wrongful death lawsuit and move forward with both civil cases. The East side of the home was not properly searched because of this. By He requested a complete review of all the evidence in relation to Kristin Smart's missing person case. There are new leads in the investigation and official excavate a hillside on the Cal Poly campus and cadaver dogs are used to search for Smart's remains. "If that coordination occurs for him and that some lawyer does get authority to appear for him, then that case down there would just get continued, continued, continued until his case is solved up here.". They claimed that he was then helped by his father to bury the girl's body under the deck behind his home inArroyo Grande, California. For 25 years, you have lived free in the community while Kristins family has lived a nightmare, she said. Love our system of justice.'. Next. to search on and near the Cal Poly campus. Over the years, he was considered the prime suspect in her disappearance and was arrested in April 2021, along with his father, Ruben Flores. Born out of a desire to simply learn about what happened to the missing girl, Lambert embarked on the pet project without knowing the massive impact it would have for Smart's family. After nearly three months of testimony, delays, closing statements begin in Monterey County Superior Court in Salinas, California. However, cadaver dogs were used in the early days of the case in Paul Floress dorm room. However, he also said that he had never searched for human remains before and did not have the proper equipment. Paul Flores, her classmate who walked her home from the party, was the last person she was seen with. Smart was declared dead in 2002. 18:05 BST 19 Oct 2022, The father of Kristin Smart's convicted killer said there was 'no evidence' tying his son to her murder, suggesting the court 'works on feelings instead of facts.'. Recalling moments from 1996, Smart's heartbroken mother Denise said she contacted police shortly after Kristin failed to call home on Sunday, May 26. The dogs, which are trained to pick up the smell ofhuman remains, alerted to the corner of a mattress on Flores side of the room. He brought Dostie and Buster to another island of Tarawa, where only he knew there were no graves. If Kristin Smart is dead, where did her body end up? They never found out what it was. Over the years, women called him 'Chester the molester' and 'Psycho Paul,' according to a court document. 'Some of that information came to light through the podcast that was produced and eventually led to our interviewing that witness.'. This is a case that should not go any further.. Prosecutor Chris Peuvrelle told jurors the 'truth is, Kristin Smart is dead and the evidence is clear that she was killed by Paul Flores. In another deposition with Murphys Office, Joe Lassiter said one of the planter boxes measured six feet long by three feet wide. Other witnesses included students who were at the party. That 'good deed,' it now transpires, was the murder of 19-year-old Kristin Smart. Buster returned to search Lot 27. 'A lot of this had an influence on testimony,' Sanger said. There was also a search warrant that was served at Pauls sisters home in Washington. In a statement, the Smart family described a long wait for this bittersweet day.. Lived In Denver CO, Dearborn Heights MI, Oscoda MI. They did not find a body, but expert witnesses testified in court that the soil beneath the deck had been disturbed. Ty Roush Sanger argued the black eye, the cadaver dogs alerting at Paul Flores dorm and the blood found under Ruben Flores home were not evidence Paul Flores killed Kristin Smart. Ruben Flores stares down the Google Street View car. Peuvrelle then focused on the numerous lies Paul Flores told investigators in the weeks following Smarts disappearance. It is also where dogs alerted to the same spot a metal trash can sat that Ruben insisted on picking up while the Lassiters lived there. More than two and a half decades after Kristin's disappearance, the younger Flores was found guilty of the crime atMonterey County Superior Court in Salinas, California. and Ruben's personal network of family, friends, associates & neighbors include Valeria Valerio, Dustin Flores, Jessica Gomez, Sophi Flores and Rebecca Rifenburgh. Smart added: 'To our Kristin: Almost three decades ago, our lives were irreparably changed on the night you disappeared. It's believed that the new-found impetus was driven by the fresh interviews police conducted, which first came to light via the Your Own Backyard podcast. His father was found not guilty of helping to hide her body. However, the two were prevented from returning to the backyard by the homes owner (it turned out permission was given by a roommate and not the owner of the home). In 1997, civil attorney James Murphy, Kristin Smart's family attorney, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Paul Flores. He told the court that there are no witnesses who can corroborate Flores' story of what happened in his dorm room on May 25, 1996. It was just, does anyone know what happened? Next month, the judge is scheduled to discuss potentially enabling online access to documents filed in Flores's trial, according to The Tribune. and Lambert forensically interviewed Smart's parents, best friend, college roommate, and others who knew Flores. That search yielded no new evidence in the criminal investigation. It has never been resolved. In 1997, Murphy filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Paul Flores on behalf of the Smart family. ', He finished his closing arguments by telling jurors: 'You must decide the case for yourself. Flores also invoked the Fifth Amendment during a 1997 deposition, after Smart's family sued him for the wrongful death of Kristin. You have to decide whether or not a murder was committed, beyond a reasonable doubt,' Sanger told the jury. 2020: Neighbors report seeing Paul Flores bring a tractor to his backyard, April 13, 2021: Paul Flores is arrested on suspicion of murder and Ruben Flores is arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to murder, July 18, 2022: Trials for Paul and Ruben Flores begin in Monterey, California, after being moved out of San Luis Obispo, October 17: Jury reaches verdict in case of Ruben Flores, October 18:Jury reaches verdict in case of Paul Flores. Next, he brought the duo to an area where he knew there were recently recovered graves. He said he went through the case files with a fine-tooth comb. So Dostie contacted Smallwood, and soon a plan was set to search for Kristins remains. In the History Flight Search, Recovery and Identification Report 45 LT Alexander Bonnyman Jr. Betio, Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati 2006-2015, a map shows where Buster alerted and where remains were found. The West side of the home is the same side, where the Lassiters heard the watch beeping and where the six feet by three feet cement planters are. The authorities have stated that Kristins remains have not yet been found. Currently, Ruben lives in Abilene, TX. Following the procedure, Dostie took a soil sample from the spot to send to Dr. Vass for further testing. But on April 13, 2021, after an investigation that spanned nearly a quarter of a century, the authorities announced that two California men Paul Flores, now 45, and his father, Ruben Flores, 81 had been arrested in connection with her disappearance. In addition, Morris said both her dogs, Cholla and Cirque, strongly alerted to the mattress and desk on the left side of the room. Yet, in this case, no body, no crime scene, its a 30 year old case and now lies by the investigators and DAs office this will cost all residents hundreds of millions of dollars. Image Credit: ABC10. As of this date, I have not yet learned the results of the search at Ruben Flores home. He posted $50,000 bond shortly after his arrest and was released from custody. An additional search did indeed take place - a year later. The trials began in July this year in Monterey, California. 'The community moved Heaven and Earth to try to find her. 17:29 BST 19 Oct 2022 Soon after her disappearance, a sheriffs search party combed remote parts of the Cal Poly campus on horseback, archival video from KCRA-TV shows. 2am, May 26: Kristin is last seen alive walking towards her dorm room with Paul Flores, May 28: Kristin's family report her missing, June 1996: Paul Flores invokes his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions about the case, 1997: Kristin Smart's family sue Paul Flores for wrongful death. In the months after Smart disappeared, her frustrated parents hired attorney James Murphy who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against bothRuben and Paul Flores. That lawsuit resulted in the. Later, he said it was the result of bumping his head on his car. It would be one of several home searches . Unlike most cadaver dogs, Buster was trained to detect clandestine gravesan unrecorded burial grave. In 1997, Murphy filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Paul Flores on behalf of the Smart family. Ruben Flores lives at a home at 710 White Court, Arroyo Grande, California. Kristin was coming back home from a fraternity party when this happened, and she was reported missing by her roommate two days later. Noah said, He [Buster] alerted within six inches of the biggest recovery of MIAs thats been done since WWII. Don Kelsen/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. LaRoque had a similar testimony regarding her dog Torrey who alerted to the same areas, including Paul Floress trash can. The West side of the home is also where Paul Dosties cadaver dog Buster alerted to human remainstwice. They handed Paul Flores a guilty verdict. I understand that people are upset that Kristin is missing, I understand they want a person to be responsible for that,' Mesick said. At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented evidence that four cadaver dogs stopped at Flores' room and alerted to the scent of death near his bed. Both Paul and Ruben Flores' verdicts are reached. Stan Smarts statement following the verdicts in the murder trial of his daughter, #kristinsmart pic.twitter.com/biFgN0auBj. He wasn't arrested, despite the fact that four cadaver dogs singled out his dorm room as having a scent of death when they searched the entire dorm building of 120 rooms. ', Defense attorney Robert Sanger argued that the case is straightforward: 'There is no evidence of a murder, so that is really the end of it.'. Buster then laid down, claiming that spot as an area containing human remains. 2. Flores . After, there were new latticework and planter boxes that had been cut out of existing cement. Additionally, Vass was Tennessee Scientist of the Year in 2004 and is an instructor at the National Forensic Academy. I couldn't increase the volume.Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhttSiWdhYYPjs3v5PA0Jg/joinE-Mail: Twistedtruecindy@ gmail dot com The next month, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office took over from the Cal Poly police as the lead investigators. Over time, these chemicals spread through moisture in the soil. Flores downplayed his interactions with Smart when he first spoke with police in the days after she was declared missing, saying she walked to her dorm under her own power. We will refer to this property as Lot 29. It didnt take long for Buster to make a strong alert to the back corner of the fence line bordering Susans property. Sanger also told the jurors that they needed to question whether the expert witnesses who testified for the prosecution are actually experts. Kristin Smart, 19, of Stockton, California vanished. ', The breakthrough - Flores men are arrested. Flores is represented by attorney Robert Sanger. . Investigators used cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar to search the home. On March 10, Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, the maximum allowed. It just puts it on hold until the criminal case is resolved or until you are removed from suspicion, explained civil attorney Gordon Bosserman. But you're here as jurors. The last person seen with her was Paul Flores. Ruben Flores attorney Harold Mesick argued the prosecution had not met their burden, and that it appeared Paul Flores was being accused of murder because he was the last person who saw Kristin Smart alive. He famously testified in the Casey Anthony case in Florida. Ian Parkinson became the San Luis Obispo County sheriff. Facebook 0 Twitter LinkedIn 0 Reddit Tumblr Pinterest 0 0 Likes. A neighbor of Ruben Flores denied seeing anyone under his Arroyo Grande home on Feb. 9, 2020, calling the allegations she viewed digging, shovels and a wheelbarrow "untrue." Ruben Flores'. Your Own Backyard is a podcast series hosted by Chris Lambert, a freelance journalist and podcaster from California. The evidence uncovered, if any, during the course of the search may be used both in any criminal prosecution of Paul Flores and in the wrongful death case against Paul Flores filed by my office. Ruben Flores was released from jail after posting bail at about 11 p.m. Wednesday night. Davis was going to walk her home with another student, Cheryl Anderson. Prosecutors filed a first-degree murder charge against Paul Flores and an accessory after murder charge against his father, Ruben Flores, for helping him conceal Smart's body, which has never. They were both 19 at the time. A missing-person report was filed with campus police onMay 28. The California Polytechnic State University freshman was last seen around 2 a.m. on May 25 when she walked back to her to her dorm room after an off-campus party in San Luis Obispo. Paul was found guilty of murder, whereas his father was acquitted of one count of being an accessory after the fact. The podcast first launched in 2019. With no new evidence in the case, Kristin was declared legally dead six years after she first went missing. Might have put the house up, just a guess. During the search, officials said they found evidence related to the murder of Smart. ', Mesick said the case has been the one he is 'most invested in on a personal level.'. So, are we saying the investigators and DAs office put forth false allegations to secure an arrest warrant and the put forth lies at trial. Flores's father, Ruben Flores, is also on trial for allegedly helping dispose of Smart's body, which has never been found. After all, as carefully profiled in NBC's 'Dateline . Vass is currently developing technology to locate clandestine graves by the use of odor mortis. It was like he ran into a brick wall. Again, Buster quickly picked up on the scent of human decomposition. He used the OJ Simpson trial as an example. Prosecution, defense lay out case as Paul Flores trial opens in death of Kristin Smart, 24 years from the Cal Poly student's disappearance to a suspect's arrest, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. I don't know if that's going to happen, Taylor said. That changed Tuesday when San Luis Obispo County sheriff's detectives arrested Flores, 44, on suspicion of murder. Susans home was searched again on Jun. 221 East Branch Street Paul and Ruben, they moved the dirt under their deck to hide her.'. Kristin's cheerful call home was a weekly ritual, she said. Dostie trained Buster in 100-year-old cemeteries in Nevada and used techniques from bomb detection dogs. The last time Kristin was seen: College party, May 1996. 'Getting into court was not a goal of mine and I didn't see it happening. At the time I picked it up, it felt like the Kristin Smart case is that local case we all talk about, how come it never got solved? When Kristin Smart fell at the party, he helped her up. Peuvrelle is a deputy district attorney for San Luis Obispo County, where the case against Flores was first filed. But now there is. It was fascinating to be able to combine all the different levels of technology, including the dog alerts. Flores' father, Ruben Ricardo Flores, 80, was also arrested and is accused. Since the trial started, Lambert said that the defense team have unsuccessfully requested to go through his emails, text messages, and gain access to his podcast notes. His father Ruben Flores was found not guilty by a separate jury. He says, I put my heart and soul into that case, and I thought we were going to get the body. His father Ruben Flores was taken into custody in the city of Arroyo Grande, accused of being an accessory, according to ABC 10. . Paul Flores and Ruben Flores plead not guilty in connection with Smart's disappearance. Paul Flores (44) and Ruben Flores (80) were taken into custody on April 13, 2021. Ruben Flores son Paul Flores is accused of murdering Kristin Smart during an attempted rape in 1996. 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.. 'It'd be nice to just preserve this idea that everything was fine and she was angelic, but the reality is she engaged in at-risk behavior and you have to interpret how that affects the events that may have transpired,' he said. Closing statements conclude and jurors are dismissed for deliberations. Authorities also said that they linked two other attacks on women in Los Angeles to Paul Flores. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, On Thursday, Ruben Flores was hit with his own lawsuit. By 2007 Dostie began training his new black labrador, Buster, in detecting human remains. Paul Flores was arrested at hisSan Pedro, California home on April 13, 2021 and charged with murder. My feelings are more important than facts. And it was very rewarding at the same time because we found what we were looking for, said Noah. fromStockton, California, was in her freshmen year at college when she disappeared after a party on May 25, 1996. They said that they later dug up her remains and moved them when law enforcements returned to search the house in 2020. Ms. Smart, who was from Stockton, Calif., was a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. The sheriff's department dispatched a deputy to take Elmer's statement apparently instructing him to speak with no one about this matter. In February 2020, the authorities executed search warrants at four locations in California and Washington State and recovered what the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office described as items of interest. One location was the Los Angeles home of Paul Flores, KCAL-TV reported. - On Friday, August 14, 2015, Elmer Rice told Christopher Garland that Ruben Flores (Paul's father) told him that Kristin was rolled up in carpet and buried in concrete. The paper that attorney Melvin Delamotte repeatedly pointed to during the deposition of his client, Paul Flores, on November 14, 1997. Then in March, detectives served a search warrant for his father's home. The civil attorney for Kristin Smart's family is suing Ruben Flores for emotional damages in connection to the Cal Poly student's 1996 disappearance. Paul Flores was the last person to have seen Kristin Smart on May 25, 1996. Prosecutors would later say that Flores killed Smart while trying to rape her in his dorm room. After two weeks, the sample results came in with a weak positive result. Avila Beach Life Ruben Flores was also arrested as an accessory, he is out on bail. You now know the truth of what happened,' he said, according to those in the court. Helicopters were used to canvas the area. In 1997, civil attorney James Murphy, Kristin Smarts family attorney, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Paul Flores. It was now about 11:00 p.m. Judge Jennifer O'Keefe thanked the jury for their service, after reading out the verdict. Paso Robles Magazine There's so much hate, and I really have never understood it. Ruben Flores is 37 years old and was born on 05/22/1984. Ms. Smarts family declared her legally dead in 2002, but the search, and the investigation, continued. Ruben is charged as an accessory, accused of helping Paul hide Kristin's body. Not a single day goes by where you aren't missed, remembered, loved and celebrated.'. But her family vowed to get justice. 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