Man Convicted of Murdering Kristin Smart in 1996 Disappearance

Kristin Smart’s case was solved 26 years later.

After deliberating for two weeks, jurors found Paul Flores guilty on Tuesday and convicted him of first-degree murder of Smart, a college freshman at Polytechnic State University, who disappeared in 1996.

Paul Flores was the last known person to see Smart alive as he walked her home from a college party Memorial Day weekend that year, per the New York Post.

Prosecutors said that on the night of May 25, 1996, Paul Flores tried to rape Smart, which likely took place in her dorm room, and killed her.

When investigators interviewed him, Paul Flores who was also a freshman in college at the time, had a black eye which he claimed he got after playing pickup basketball, per court records that the New York Post cites. However, Paul Flores later claimed that he hit his head working on his car, per court records.

Paul Flores’ attorney, Robert Sanger, claimed that someone else killed Smart, and during the trial, he revealed that Scott Peterson also attended the same school when the murder occurred.

Scott Peterson was later convicted of murdering his wife, Laci, and their unborn son, Conner, in 2004.