He invoked the Fifth Amendment 27 times. Those were kind of unspoken things. Murphy and his wife, Garin Sinclair, agreed to take the case pro bono promising to go after Paul Flores and put pressure on the sheriff's office. Recently released court documents detail a one-time immunity deal previously offered to Paul Flores sister, Ermelinda Thomas. to find the next challenge. He wouldn't answer a single thing. Those dogs led officers to Flores mattress but no hard evidence was found. DAN DOW [press conference]: It is alleged that Mr. Flores caused the death of Kristen Smart while in the commission of or attempted rape. Chris Lambert: He actually hit his eye on his steering wheel in the middle of the night while changing his stereo. Pretty sad how Cal Polys upper admin interfered with the PDs work and made this investigation go away. I blacked out and didnt consent to anything.. Lambert said, The biggest mistake I think the sheriffs department made was that the first sheriff commented within one year of investigating that if (Flores) didnt talk they would never be able to solve this. But I've seen it. Margarita Campos: Kristin was like, "come on, let's go, let's go." Paul Flores was the last person to see Kristin Smart alive in 1996, police say. The Kristin Smart Scholarship has been established by her family to help other college bound women pursue their dreams. Flores claimed he walked Smart to her dorm at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo on May 25, 1996 after a night of binge drinking. A jury acquitted Ruben Flores of the charge of being an accessory after the fact. Margarita Campos: I was, like, "Kristin, I'm going to go back home. Chris Lambert: They just have never given up and are never going to give up on their daughter. I was lying down on my back. I remember being home watching the news about Kristin Smart and there goes Paul, she recalled. 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. Most knew about it, no thanks to Poly, and now all do thanks to Chris Lambert. Authorities allege that Flores instead took Smart to his own dorm room and killed. Is this Susan posting? He was writing your name like 150 times on a piece of paper and he kept circling it., High school boys are weird anyway, Jane thought at the time. And I was screaming. They also did not focus on Paul Flores immediately, waiting six days to formally interview him. Two days after Kristin Smart vanished, Paul Flores went to the Arroyo Grande Police Department because of an outstanding DUI warrant. It is also what the Smarts have been waiting for for more than a quarter of a century. Lambert says Kristin could not stand on her own, so fellow student Cheryl Anderson who was also at the party began helping her back to campus. Paul Flores, 44, was charged earlier this week with first-degree murder for the killing that allegedly happened as he tried to rape then 19-year-old Stockton native Smart in his dorm room at. D.A. Jonathan Vigliotti: What toll over time did this have on your parents? Chris Lambert says they're cautiously optimistic. At a Halloween party back in 1995before Smart had gone missingFlores allegedly grabbed Sarahs crotch on the dance floor. You never look at her again! Denise Pearce: She was becoming more and more alarmed, you know? They believe they can prove Paul Flores is responsible for the disappearance of Kristin Smart. In high school he was known as a loner. During a camping trip in Fresno, California, in the early 1990s, Flores's female cousins playfully swiped and hid his wallet while walking en route to a liquor store to purchase slush puppies. By the time they called the Cal Poly campus police, Kristin had been missing for more than 48 hours. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Most students had taken off but Kristin had stayed on campus. Nothing in this portion of the documents states Thomas accepted the offer of immunity or provided any information to authorities. Paul Flores' attorney on Tuesday asked for a hearing to investigate the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office for what he described as bias in the Kristin Smart case. I would hear many of my friends tell me Oh he grabbed my butt but I never believed them, Laura said. And when they did . They got to the parking lot of an apartment complex. That warrant allowed them to dig up the backyard, but deputies chose not to excavate. Chris Lambert: I personally think that wherever Kristin went, Paul was there with her. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "48 Hours" looks back to their arrests and how the saga began. Flores was subpoenaed before a grand jury in relation to Smarts disappearance but left after just five minutes of questions. Since Parkinson came on the scene, investigators have dug up hillsides; searched the homes and properties of all the Flores'; collected evidence; seized Paul Flores' computers; monitored his cell phone and text messages, and found new witnesses -- some with the help of Chris Lambert. The next thing I know is the cops telling me We cant do anything because [Paul] and his friend are saying she was drunk and it was consensual., But Jane said she fought to get them to reconsider. But one of those friends told police Flores already had the black eye when he arrived. Thew newspaper adds that the Navy refused to take Flores because of his connection to the Smart case. They were after Paul Flores for an outstanding DUI warrant. Alexandra Wallace July 6, 2021. The woman, whom well call Jane, believes she was roofied, raped, and discarded by Paul Flores and his nameless friend when she was a 15-year-old high-school sophomore in 1994. Ruben Flores was released on $50,000 bail to his ex-wife. Send pics, videos and tips to CCN. People vs. Flores #1: Motions. One day, Jane was congregating in front of the high school when a male friend approached and warned her about one particular junior. Ann-Marie Christian: Her parents reminded me of my parents. She didn't think that was OK. After Smart's disappearance, the car was transferred into their parent's names. The Smart's attorney James Murphy, and his wife and office manager Garin Sinclair, have had Kristin's billboard in their front yard since late 1997. Jonathan Vigliotti: You look at Kristin Smart every day. But to fully understand Chris Lambert's contribution, you have to go back to the beginning. But Murphy says there were other incidents that should have raised alarm bells about him with law enforcement from the very beginning. Instead, Flores and his family were sued in 2002 by the Smarts in civil court for intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon the parents of Kristin Smart by taking the body of Kristin Smart and secreting and/or destroying the body in a hidden place in the County of San Luis Obispo. The Flores family countersued for emotional distress. Both suits were shelved by a judge until Smarts remains are found. A post shared by Your Own Backyard (@yourownbackyardpodcast) on Mar 27, 2019 at 8:45am PDT. When asked about how he got the injury Flores told three different stories. No-no-no. There's no question about it. The article added that Flores changed his story about how he got the black eye, first saying that he got it playing basketball and then later saying that he got it while fixing his car. To think that you're going to finally get some resolution, and then it doesn't happen the way it's supposed to. James Murphy: And it's 2:30 and 3 o'clock in the morning at Cal Poly this is not a a location from which Paul alone could easily move a body without a vehicle. She was pushing herself out of her comfort zone. But the investigation is ongoing. Smart has long been suspected to have been abducted and killed in May 1996, while she was a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Lindsey Smart Stewart: She definitely, like, took advantage of life, seized the day she was super ambitious and was determined you know, to find the next adventure. That was a huge judgment error. In order to produce the documentary, Lambert quit his job to devote himself to the podcast. Chris Lambert: At that point I don't think they had ever dealt with a missing person, a possibly murdered person. An earring that appeared to match the necklace Kristin is wearing on the billboard. And she's like, "please come with me. PODCAST EPISODE 1: Kristin broke down begging her mother to let her drop out and go somewhere else. Even though he'd never investigated anything before, Lambert quit his job to create a podcast about the case. We both were kids at the same school and so I felt comfortable. She regretfully denounced them as cruel rumors at the time. I believe that everyone who is in the Flores family circle including Susan's boyfriend, and Ermelinda's ex-husband Brett MacArthur AND her most recent ex-husband, is "in" on this, and is either directly involved with Kristin's death (Paul) or the concealment of the crime. And they told Lambert they weren't surprised when they heard about Flores's connection to Kristin's disappearance. Chris Lambert, who worked as a CBS News consultant, pieced together what he learned from people who were there that night. Four months later, while attempting to reconcile, Susan rented out her house in Arroyo Grande. Kristen was last seen leaving a party with Paul Flores on the night of her disappearance on May 25, 1996. Any tidbit of information or recollection could make the difference in the recovery of our beloved Kristin., disappearance of another woman under almost identical circumstances: Kristin Smart. In October 2022, Paul Flores, the man long suspected in her disappearance, was found guilty of murder. Nineteen-year-old Kristin Smart disappeared Memorial Day weekend of 1996. She spent a summer in London, was an exchange student in Venezuela, and a lifeguard at a camp in Hawaii. Chris Lambert: I remember seeing it on the news it was something scary and they were talking about it pretty regularly. James Murphy: The podcast is out. But while campus police weren't doing much, Kristin's parents were doing whatever they could to find their daughter. Margarita Campos: I'll never forget her shadow against the building, this apartment complex, just standing like kind of cross-armed with the long leg And she was just kind of like looking at me like, [sighs] you're really walking away now, like you're really, you're leaving? PODCAST EPISODE 3: Something shiny catches her eye next to the front driver side tire. The Smart family. Comment Guidelines. Ruben's attorney, Harold Mesick, dismissed the evidence against his client as "so minimal as to shock the conscience.". But the Flores's have fought back, suing the Smarts for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Chris Lambert: It's mostly frat guys from the Kappa Chi fraternity. Her parents, Denise and Stan were both educators who encouraged their kids' passions. Chris Lambert: They didn't bring cadaver dogs with them. When they showed up, it was Paul Flores. She was kidnapped.. The only thing that she remembered next was being dragged in the barely lit street by her alleged rapist on one arm and his pal on the other. In exchange, Flores would disclose where Smarts remains are located. One female cousin called Flores a pervert. JAMES MURPHY: What is the name of your father? They used cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar to search Ruben Flores property. Would you? School was over, so campus police found an empty room that had been sanitized by the university's cleaning crew. Little is known since the proceedings are kept secret, but no charges were ever filed. Instead, on Monday, May 27, Denise Pearce says the Smarts got a call from Cal Poly's campus police asking if Kristin was with them. Something may break soon in the case of Kristin Denise Smart, the former Stockton resident and student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, whose disappearance in 1996 remains unsolved. That turned out to be college. Then, in 2011, Ian Parkinson was elected sheriff. I did have guilt about that. Susan Flores, mother of Paul Flores, and her boyfriend are accused of relocating the remains of missing Cal Poly student Kristin Smart in an amended lawsuit filed by Smart's family. Greg Fisher and Michelle Fanucci are the development producers. At the time, they did not know about a missing college student. It wasn't until Kristin's roommate returned to their dorm room, that Margarita realized Kristin never came home. The father and son were both in on it? They were giggling as they were dragging me, the now 39-year-old woman told The Daily Beast. Margarita Campos: She was absolutely sober when I left her. Authorities made clear that they plan to use Flores' alleged predatory behavior against him. Back in May 1996, Kristin Smart was finishing her freshman year at California Polytechnic State University better known as Cal Poly. We are grateful to these brave women for having the courage to talk about their experiences and we ask anyone who may have information they think could be helpful to contact the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office. Stan and Denise Smart, Kristins parents, sent The Daily Beast a statement praising the women for coming forward to share their stories and hope it leads to a break in their missing daughters case. He would be stalking me.. In October 2022, Paul Flores, the man long suspected in her disappearance, was found guilty of murder. Ian Parkinson: Yes. But it's Susan Flores's concrete backyard that initially received a lot of attention. You ALWAYS ask your interns about it? I feel for her. In another case, he was granted probation. This is really going to be something you dont expect. and I was like, "Noooo.". 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