Paul Flores guilty, Ruben Flores acquitted in 1996 death of Stockton's Kristin Smart

A jury has found Paul Flores guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart of Stockton, in 1996, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

A separate jury found his father, Ruben Flores, not guilty of helping his son conceal the murder.

"Without Kristin, there is no joy or victory with this verdict, we all know it did not have to be this way. We will never be able to hear Kristin’s engaging laughter or revel in her embrace," the Smart family said in a statement on Tuesday. "Her hopes and dreams will never be realized; no form of justice can bring these back."

The jury's unanimous decision Tuesday to convict Paul Flores of first-degree murder, caps a San Luis Obispo mystery that has been unsolved for more than 26 years, the Tribune reported.

Smart went missing from her dorm at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1996.

Prosecutors accused one of Smart's fellow students, Paul Flores, of killing her during a rape or attempted rape in his dorm room. During the trial, which began in June, they presented evidence that attempted to show his father, Ruben Flores, helped dispose of Smart's body. It has never been found.

When asked if he was surprised by his son's verdict Ruben Flores said he was hoping his son was found not guilty.

"It’s just tough," he said.

“It was about feelings. It wasn’t about facts … they were carried away with feelings about the family and the girl missing. Of course, everybody feels bad,” Ruben Flores said to reporters after the verdict.

“I feel sorry for them because they didn’t get no answers," Flores added referring to Smart's family.

The two were arrested in April 2021. They pleaded not guilty. In closing arguments, Paul Flores' defense attorney, Robert Sanger, claimed the prosecution had presented no evidence his client assaulted Smart, and that witnesses who testified they had been assaulted by Flores were not relevant or credible, according to reporting by the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Sanger dismissed the prosecution's forensic evidence as "junk science," The Tribune reported.

On May 25, 1996, witnesses say, Smart got drunk at a party about a 10-minute walk from her dorm room at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Two fellow students decided to walk her back to her dorm, and Paul Flores offered to join them.

When the other two students left the group, Paul Flores told police he walked with her the rest of the way and never saw her again.

Prosecutors have charged Flores with murder, which they say he committed while raping or trying to rape Kristin in his dorm room. They are expected to ask the judge's permission to show jurors a video they say Paul Flores recorded of himself raping a drunken woman in Southern California.

More: Paul Flores moved to LA after Kristin Smart vanished. New sexual assault claims followed.

Four women have told police that Flores drugged and raped them, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Peuvrelle said in court last year. Flores hasn't been charged with a crime stemming from those allegations.

"He’s got to go home. He’s got to rebuild the deck that was destroyed in a search..." said Harold Mesick Ruben Flores attorney. "Try to put this a little bit behind him but how can he do that when his son’s now facing a lifetime in prison?”

Paul and Ruben Flores' arrest came after a hit podcast, "Your Own Backyard," renewed attention on the case and generated new leads and witnesses for police.

"Most importantly, to our Kristin: Almost three decades ago, our lives were irreparably changed on the night you disappeared. We hope this verdict helps deliver not just answers, but also a peace and sense of closure that have eluded us for 26 years," the Smart family said in a statement. "Know that your spirit lives on in each and every one of us, every day. Not a single day goes by where you aren’t missed, remembered, loved, and celebrated."

Amanda Lee Myers of USA TODAY, Jocelyn Ortega of the Salinas Californian and Angelaydet Rocha of The Stockton Record contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Paul Flores declared guilty in murder of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart