Kristin Smart’s family to testify as murder trial resumes
Opening statements in the Kristin Smart murder trial were followed Thursday with testimony from the Cal Poly student’s mother and other members of her family, NBC Dateline reported.
The trial against Paul and Ruben Flores, who are accused of killing Smart and hiding her body, kicked off Monday in Monterey County Superior Court.
San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle and Paul Flores’ defense attorney, Robert Sanger, completed their opening statements on Monday.
Ruben Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick wrapped up his statements to jurors on Thursday morning as the trial resumed after a two-day delay.
Ruben Flores, 81, is alleged to have helped his son, 45-year-old Paul Flores, hide Smart’s body after Paul Flores allegedly killed her. The two men were arrested for the crimes in April 2021.
Their trial moved to Salinas after San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen ruled they were unlikely to receive a fair trial in San Luis Obispo.
Peuvrelle said in his opening statements Monday that Kristin Smart’s parents, Stan and Denise Smart, as well as her two siblings, would testify about who Kristin Smart was and about the weekend she disappeared.
“During her freshman year they looked forward every Sunday to a phone call from her — it was their ritual,” Peuvrelle said in his opening statements. “But on May 26, 1996, at 9:47 a.m., (as the) Smart family was waiting for Kristin’s call, Paul (Flores) was calling his dad for help.”
Susan Flores, Paul Flores’ mother and Ruben Flores’ ex-wife, attended opening statements Monday in the gallery, making her ineligible to testify in the trial.
Denise Smart began her testimony Thursday, NBC Dateline reported, and the rest of the Smart family is scheduled to follow in the coming days.
The trial is expected to last through October.
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 10:44 AM.
