Kristin Smart murder suspect 'hunted her,' unsealed documents allege
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Unsealed court documents in the 1996 Kristin Smart murder case include allegations of a discovery of human blood and witnesses who claim to have seen suspicious activity at the family home of the suspects including the fact that her alleged killer had been "hunting" her.
On the night of the Cal Poly student's disappearance 25 years ago, a "hyperactive" Paul Flores, who also attended the university, spent the evening at an off-campus party hitting on the 19-year-old Smart and other women to the point one attendee warned her to "stay away from that guy," according to detailed witness accounts included in recently unsealed court documents, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.
In addition to the account of that evening, the District Attorney’s Office document notes that one of Smart’s friends said it seemed Flores was "hunting" Smart and would lurk around her residence hall in the months leading up to her disappearance.
Flores, 44, is the last person to see Smart alive after walking her back from the party toward the red brick dorms on May 24, 1996. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of raping or attempting to rape Smart in his dorm room before killing her.
Her body has never been found. But this year, new biological evidence uncovered by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department alleges that Smart was once buried under Paul Flores' father's deck in nearby Arroyo Grande.
Court records related to an unsuccessful prosecution attempt to charge Flores with two counts of rape involving female victims in Los Angeles were unsealed in court Wednesday.
In addition to information from 29 women about Flores’ alleged sexually predatory behavior, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office states that also showed that investigators found video evidence of rape of an intoxicated person against Flores at his San Pedro home, as well as traces of human blood in the ground under his father's home, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.
The documents were unsealed ahead of an upcoming 12-day preliminary hearing where evidence will be presented, scheduled for Aug. 2.