These murder cases shocked SLO County. Where are convicted killers now?
Over the past three decades, San Luis Obispo County has seen its share of high-profile murders.
These crimes, which range from a satanic killing to a robbery gone wrong, attracted widespread media attention — inspiring TV shows, specials, podcasts and more.
Meanwhile, the men and boys convicted of those killings received lengthy sentences.
Where are SLO County’s most notorious killers now? Are they still incarcerated?
Here’s what happened to the people involved in four key cases:
What happened to teens convicted of killing Elyse Pahler?
In July 1995, Arroyo Grande High School freshman Elyse Pahler went missing.
Her body was discovered months later in a Nipomo Mesa eucalyptus grove.
Pahler, 15, had been lured there by three teenage boys— Royce Casey, 17; Jacob Delashmutt, 16, and Joseph Fiorella, 15 — who stabbed her more than a dozen times as a “sacrifice” to Satan to boost their musical abilities, The Tribune previously reported.
After pleading no contest, Casey was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison, while Delashmutt and Fiorella were sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.
Fiorella began serving his sentence in youth prisons run by the now-defunct California Youth Authority.
As of Thursday, May 14, Fiorella was incarcerated at High Desert State Prison in Lassen County, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Fiorella is now 45-years-old.
Casey and Delashmutt were granted parole in 2025.
At the time, Delashmutt was incarcerated at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, while Fiorella was behind bars at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla.
Both were 47 years old when they were released.
Where is Paul Flores incarcerated?
On May 25, 1996, Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart disappeared following a house party in San Luis Obispo.
The last person to see her was a fellow student, Paul Flores, The Tribune previously reported.
More than two decades later, Flores was arrested on suspicion of killing Smart. He was 43 at the time.
Flores, who was living in Los Angeles at the time of his arrest, was originally held at San Luis Obispo County jail.
He was transferred to Monterey County Jail in Salinas during his trial.
In October 2022, a jury convicted Flores of first-degree murder. The following March, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Flores, now 49, served time at a number of different state prisons since then.
As of Thursday, Flores was an inmate at California State Prison, Corcoran.
Where is serial killer Rex Allen Krebs serving his sentence?
In November 1998, Cal Poly student Rachel Newhouse vanished while walking home from downtown San Luis Obispo, The Tribune previously reported.
Another young woman, Cuesta College student Aundria Crawford, disappeared from her San Luis Obispo home in March 1999.
Investigators found evidence tying 32-year-old Rex Allen Krebs, a convicted serial rapist living in See Canyon, to the missing women.
Krebs eventually confessed to kidnapping, raping and murdering Newhouse and Crawford, and led investigators to the spot where he buried their bodies.
In 2001, Krebs was convicted of killing the two women and sentenced to death by lethal injection, The Tribune reported.
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a moratorium on the death penalty in California in 2019. Legal challenges have also halted executions in the state.
Krebs was previously incarcerated at the facility formerly known as San Quentin State Prison.
As of Thursday, he was serving time at California Health Care Facility in Stockton at age 60, according to state records.
Who murdered Paso Robles hairstylist?
Nancy Woodrum, a 62-year-old hairstylist, was reported missing in May 2018, The Tribune previously reported.
Investigators caught a break in the months-long search for Woodrum when cell phone records placed Carlo Alberto Fuentes Flores, then 41, at her Paso Robles home on the day she disappeared.
Fuentes Flores had completed a paint job at Woodrum’s house about a week before she vanished.
Fuentes Flores eventually confessed to killing Woodrum and revealed where he had dumped her body off Highway 58.
In 2022, Fuentes Flores was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to Tribune archives. The presiding judge also concluded that Fuentes Flores raped and robbed Woodrum.
As of Thursday, the 49-year-old was incarcerated at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, according to state records.
