Paul Flores arrested in the disappearance of Kristin Smart

[Todd Mueller]

Paul Flores has FINALLY been arrested for the disappearance of Kristin Smart. You can read about it here. Paul's father, Ruben, was also taken into custody and another search warrant is being executed.

What a week (and year) this has been for old cases... I hope this P.O.S. gets what is coming to him, and hopefully this brings some small measure of comfort to Kristin's family and friends.

(Thanks once again to RobinW for posting the article on Twitter.)

[TheCars1986]

Thank God!

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by Todd Mueller

I hope this P.O.S. gets what is coming to him

Calling him a P.O.S. is being too generous.

Wow...just wow. This is so long overdue. So many horribly, disgusting people FINALLY getting their comeuppance in just the last 6 weeks alone. It's truly amazing.

Also happy to hear that Ruben Flores was also arrested. By why not mom? No way she didn't have a hand AND a say in hiding evidence over the years.

This is a good day.

[Latka Gravas]

It's about g-damn time. PF & his father (and possibly his mother) are ALL liable for the disappearance & death of KS. He did it, and they aided him and/or covered for him. To anyone who's followed the case, it's fairly clear what happened here.

Too bad it took 25 years. I hope they have enough to keep this scum-bag in jail for a long time to come. Here's hoping he gets life without parole.

That all being said, I wonder what evidence they have against him?!

I find it interesting that PF's parents stayed in the same general area over the years - instead of moving away due to all the public rancor against them. A lot of this was probably due to the fact that they didn't want LE coming in (if they had moved) and searching their houses/surrounding areas for evidence.

I strongly suspect the excellent podcast by Chris Lambert had at least something to do with this arrest. One of the many telling events in the podcast was that KS's parents blocked PF's joining the military (Navy, IIRC) in late 1996. This was to keep him from leaving town & disappearing from the public eye.

[1990 UM fan]

Orange Sock murders, Roger Dean and now this. What a wild year so far.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

By why not mom?

IIRC, on the podcast "Your Own Backyard", it was revealed that Ruben was with Paul in the days following Kristin's disappearance, but the mother was out of town.

[WishfulDreamer]

Beyond happy to hear this and anxiously awaiting the press conference. I really hope Kristin is found where they're excavating so her family can have some amount of closure. And of course, I hope the book is thrown at Paul and his father.

[dynoguy88]

Originally Posted by Latka Gravas

It's about g-damn time. PF & his parents are ALL liable for the disappearance & death of KS. He did it, and they aided him. To anyone who's followed the case, it's fairly clear what happened here.

Too bad it took 25 years. I hope they have enough to keep this scum-bag in jail for a long time to come. Here's hoping he gets life without parole.

I find it interesting that PF's parents stayed in the same general area over the years. A lot of this was probably due to the fact that they didn't want LE coming in (if they had moved) and searching their houses/surrounding areas for evidence.

I strongly suspect the excellent podcast by Chris Lambert had at least something to do with this arrest. One of the many telling events in the podcast was that KS's parents blocked PF's joining the military (Navy, IIRC) in late 1996. This was to keep him from leaving town & disappearing from the public eye.

The fact that there were three different search warrants served in less than a year seemed promising, but I didn't want to let my hopes up.

The stuff I learned through Lambert's podcast made me hate this family more than I already did.

Multiple girls in high school accused Paul of raping them after he gave them the date rape drug. When they went to the police, he always shot back that the sex was consensual and he was never punished. There's not a doubt in my mind that he gave Kristin the date rape drug at that frat party and was prepared to use the "consensual" excuse once again if she had reported him, but this time she ended up dead. Despite her drug induced state, she put up a fight.

Lock him up for life and throw away the key.

[Fletch]

YESSSSS!!!!

Now let's get a conviction on this a-hole.

[Todd Mueller]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

IIRC, on the podcast "Your Own Backyard", it was revealed that Ruben was with Paul in the days following Kristin's disappearance, but the mother was out of town.

Yep. I have the feeling his mother knows what happened but it would be difficult to prove that unless Paul or Ruben testify against her, and we know that won't happen. Like you said, Ruben was with Paul during the time this all went down and there is a lot of evidence that Ruben played a very active role in disposing of Kristin's body and covering up what Paul did.

[Zero]

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/san...kristin-smart/

[Todd Mueller]

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

The stuff I learned through Lambert's podcast made me hate this family more than I already did.

Multiple girls in high school accused Paul of raping them after he gave them the date rape drug. When they went to the police, he always shot back that the sex was consensual and he was never punished. There's not a doubt in my mind that he gave Kristin the date rape drug at that frat party and was prepared to use the "consensual" excuse once again if she had reported him, but this time she ended up dead. Despite her drug induced state, she put up a fight.

Lock him up for life and throw away the key.

YES! The Lambert podcast was excellent and very informative, but also hard to listen to when you learned how much more Paul Flores did and how horrible his family was. There were so many times that I listened to episodes of the podcast and actually yelled out loud, "YOU'VE GOT TO BE F***ING KIDDING ME!" That whole family is trash.

There isn't a punishment that would equal the suffering Paul has caused, but yeah, locking him up for life (and hopefully his dad, too) is a good start.

[Necco]

It’s about time.

[Latka Gravas]

Originally Posted by Todd Mueller

YES! The Lambert podcast was excellent and very informative, but also hard to listen to when you learned how much more Paul Flores did and how horrible his family was. There were so many times that I listened to episodes of the podcast and actually yelled out loud, "YOU'VE GOT TO BE F***ING KIDDING ME!" That whole family is trash.

There isn't a punishment that would equal the suffering Paul has caused, but yeah, locking him up for life (and hopefully his dad, too) is a good start.

Agreed. Many of the heinous things PF did that were revealed in the podcast included:

-PF almost killed a kid in middle school, after the kid justifiably tried to fight back due to PF having bullied him for a long time prior to that.

-PF stalking multiple women over many years, and not taking no for an answer, etc.

Originally Posted by Todd Mueller

Yep. I have the feeling his mother knows what happened but it would be difficult to prove that unless Paul or Ruben testify against her, and we know that won't happen. Like you said, Ruben was with Paul during the time this all went down and there is a lot of evidence that Ruben played a very active role in disposing of Kristin's body and covering up what Paul did.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by dynoguy88

Despite her drug induced state, she put up a fight.

Yes. Also in the podcast, CL interviewed an Australian student who had been going to the college (where this happened) at the time. He reported that he was riding his bicycle late at night/early in the morning when KS was last seen, and had seen a man & woman matching PF & KS's descriptions struggling inside of a lit-up building. Though this is not definitive proof of what happened, IMHO it's fairly significant.

[JM]

Glad there will finally be some justice for her.

She would've been 44 this year, same age as myself (I actually turn 45 this month).

I can't get over the fact that his father had a role in the disappearance. Unbelievable that a parent would cover up a murder but... certainly not the first time.