Paul Flores, the man convicted of murdering Kristin Smart in 1996, was seriously injured this past Wednesday while incarcerated in California's Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.
Flores, 46, was immediately transferred to an outside hospital for treatment, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed, per the Associated Press.
Details about the incident remain scant. Flores' lawyer, Harold Mesick, told the New York Post that corrections officials informed him about the situation, but the specifics are still largely unknown. "I just pray for his recovery," Mesick stated.
Although the Corrections Department did not explicitly confirm that Flores was attacked, an official investigation into the circumstances of his injuries is currently underway.
The timing of the incident is notable. Flores was sentenced in March to 25 years to life without parole, after being found guilty of Smart's murder. He was transferred to the Fresno County prison just last week from North Kern State Prison before the attack happened.
Smart and Flores were both students at California Polytech University in San Luis Obispo when she went missing on May 25, 1996. She was last seen leaving an off-campus party around 2AM, accompanied by Flores.
Although her remains have never been found, Flores was arrested in 2021, more than two decades after her disappearance, and subsequently convicted of her murder. The case was thrust back into the spotlight in 2020, thanks to a true crime podcast that reinvigorated local police interest in solving the cold case.
Both Flores and his father, Ruben, were charged in connection with Smart's death. Prosecutors claimed that Ruben helped his son hide Smart's body under their backyard deck for years, moving her remains once suspicion grew in 2020. While Flores was convicted last October, a separate jury acquitted Ruben, 81, of being an accessory to the crime.
The trial gained massive attention, eventually being moved 110 miles north to Monterey County, as Flores' defense team argued that the case's notoriety prevented a fair trial in San Luis Obispo County. During the proceedings, inconsistencies in Flores' story, including changing details about a black eye, were highlighted. Asked why his story changed, Flores responded, "Why does it matter if I leave out little details?"
Stan Smart, Kristin's father, expressed ongoing determination for justice in a press conference. "After 26 years, with today's split verdicts, we learned that our quest for justice for Kristin will continue," he stated.
"This has been an agonizingly long journey, with more downs than ups, but we appreciate the diligence and energy of the two juries," he added, before delivering a heartfelt message to his late daughter, Kristin, whose spirit he said "lives on in each and every one of us, every day."
As investigations into Flores' prison injuries continue, questions mount, adding another layer to a story that has already captivated the nation for nearly three decades.