Still Missing CA - Kristin Smart, 19, San Luis Obispo, 25 May 1996 *arrests* #2

[SBops]

Olivia DeGennarо @OliviaDeGennaro 8m
Paul Flores is now accused of a 2007 rape in Redondo Beach. Prosecutors may use this case to try to prove he raped or attempted to rape Kristin Smart.


Suspect in Kristin Smart killing previously suspected in 2007 rape allegation
Paul R. Flores, now 44, became the subject of an investigation in 2012 when his DNA profile matched a profile collected in the alleged January 2007 incident, according to law enforcement records. But...
nbcnews.com

Cases like that were hardly ever prosecuted then. They either thought a drunk woman should not complain or flat out, disbelieved her.

 

[Emi]

Megan Healy [URL='https://twitter.com/MeganHealyTV']@MeganHealyTV [/URL]2m
UPDATE: Paul Flores was investigated in 2012 for the alleged rape of a woman in Redondo Beach, according to@NBCNews. A police report showed that Paul's DNA matched the sample from the woman's rape kit she had done at a hospital the next day. The case was never prosecuted

 

[Seattle1]

Another bombshell -- and there's a witness!

Matt Fountain@MattFountain1

Ruben Flores had help in moving #KristinSmart’s remains from his Arroyo Grande property, the Smart family’s attorney says. And he says there’s a witness.



Ruben Flores moved Kristin Smart’s body after 2020 search, Smart family lawsuit says
Arroyo Grande attorney Jim Murphy alleges Ruben Flores moved Kristin Smart’s remains with the help of two other people.
sanluisobispo.com

5:23 PM · Apr 22, 2021·Twitter for iPhone

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Wow - the revelations just keep on coming. Excellent news.

I hope SF & her bf are also charged as accessories - or whatever the correct terminology is when people assist in covering up/concealing a crime.

 

[Seattle1]

https://t.co/nlP6m7X7mz?amp=1

The family of Kristin Smart filed a civil lawsuit against the father of her alleged killer Thursday, alleging the man hid and recently moved the missing student’s remains from his Arroyo Grande property.

Arroyo Grande Jim Murphy, who has long represented the Smart family, also says Ruben Flores had the help of Susan Flores and her boyfriend Mike McConville, who “under cover of darkness” dispersed her remains at one or more other locations.

[..]

On or about Feb. 9, 2020, the complaint says, Ruben Flores “removed the remains of Kristin Smart” from “inside the lattice enclosure below the deck” of the house.

Ruben Flores did this with the help of “two additional individuals, who will be later named as defendants in this action,” the document reads.

“Ruben Flores and Doe defendants 1 and 2 worked through the night, under cover of darkness, to remove the remains of Kristin Smart to avoid having those remains at 710 White Court in the event of an additional search of the property,” the lawsuit says.

Murphy alleges those remains were “taken to another location in San Luis Obispo County for later disbursement.”

ETA:

Those records are part of the criminal investigation and thus must stay confidential, essentially freezing the civil lawsuit.

Every year, a representative from the county tells the judge at an in-chambers hearing that the criminal case remains ongoing and records requested by the family must remain confidential, and another hearing is set for a year out. Murphy said the hope is that that lawsuit will eventually proceed.

 

[SBops]

I wonder if SF's boyfriend has turned?

 

[everybodhi]

You've got a point.
I forgot all about that, that married couples do not have to testify against each other here in California.

Not only can a spouse refuse to testify, the accused can demand a spouse not disclose their communications, even if they want to spill the beans!
I’m not a lawyer but I think this law hamstrings prosecutors from admitting as evidence any confidential communications they happen upon, such as texts and phone calls on electronic devices, they are protected, out of respect for the sanctity of marriage.
Her boyfriend is another matter, no protection for him.

(2) you have the right not to disclose any confidential communications between you and your spouse. This includes the right to prevent your spouse from disclosing any such confidential communications.

The Marital (Spousal) Privilege (Calif Evidence Code 970 & 971)

 

[everybodhi]

YOBY Podcast has a photo from a media channel posted on the IG story. It was SF that got him out. Ok found an article...

https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/ruben-flores-released-from-jail-after-posting-bail

From your link:

Mesick added that after paying fixed expenses every month, Ruben still needs to take money out of his retirement account and pay penalties on that.

Ruben is 80 years old and he is drawing money from his retirement account.
Cry me a river.

 

[SBops]

From your link:

Ruben is 80 years old and he is drawing money from his retirement account.
Cry me a river.

Isn't that what you have a retirement account for? To cover up for your creepy son, like you have all his useless life?

 

[everybodhi]

I wonder if SF's boyfriend has turned?

Who else could it be?
What does MM get out of this?
He must really love her to risk his old age behind bars for her, and even if he turns, everyone already now knows he’s a horrible person. I don’t give him much credit for turning this late in the case.
The only other possibilities I can imagine; they were watched by someone with a high zoom camera or binoculars with night vision, or a trusted friend or employee who turned informant was also there to help the Flores’.

“Ruben Flores and Doe defendants 1 and 2 worked through the night, under cover of darkness, to remove the remains of Kristin Smart to avoid having those remains at 710 White Court in the event of an additional search of the property,” the lawsuit says.

Murphy clarified to The Tribune that the two people are Susan Flores and McConville, and that a confidential witness known to law enforcement saw the remains being removed.

 

[everybodhi]

Surely they would have been charged if they could prove that they helped move the body. MOO

This is only a wild guess from trying to piece the Smart’s lawyer’s accusations together;
if one of the people present when her body was removed from under the deck is a confidential informant, maybe he doesn’t know where they moved her body and is still trying to help gather that evidence for the prosecution before another arrest is made.
I don’t know why the Smart’s lawyer released so much information, but it must be driving the accused crazy.
Who can a murderer and his accomplices trust?
Ruben Flores moved Kristin Smart’s body after 2020 search, Smart family lawsuit says

 

[Seattle1]

@Marg from Oz said: ↑
Surely they would have been charged if they could prove that they helped move the body. MOO

This is only a wild guess from trying to piece the Smart’s lawyer’s accusations together;
if one of the people present when her body was removed from under the deck is a confidential informant, maybe he doesn’t know where they moved her body and is still trying to help gather that evidence for the prosecution before another arrest is made.
I don’t know why the Smart’s lawyer released so much information, but it must be driving the accused crazy.
Who can a murderer and his accomplices trust?
Ruben Flores moved Kristin Smart’s body after 2020 search, Smart family lawsuit says

Relative to charging the accused-- should probably clarify that a civil lawsuit is a different standard of proof (i.e., "the preponderance of the evidence") than a criminal case.

Also, we're reminded all the time that the prosecutor only gets one bite at the apple so I think it makes sense that the prosecutor would want more evidence than the word of a confidential informant. It seems to me that they finally have some forensic evidence to tie all the pieces together and finally made the arrest. MOO

 

[Kapua]

@Marg from Oz said: ↑
Surely they would have been charged if they could prove that they helped move the body. MOO



Relative to charging the accused-- should probably clarify that a civil lawsuit is a different standard of proof (i.e., "the preponderance of the evidence") than a criminal case.

Also, we're reminded all the time that the prosecutor only gets one bite at the apple so I think it makes sense that the prosecutor would want more evidence than the word of a confidential informant. It seems to me that they finally have some forensic evidence to tie all the pieces together and finally made the arrest. MOO

Wow, I just got home and read all of these posts. More bombshells!!! My jaw hit the floor.

The Flores' and MM might as well save the taxpayers the money and the potential jury the gory details, IMHO. The jig is up.

I wonder if the "confidential informant" is an undercover officer. (Pure speculation on my part.)

 

[everybodhi]

YES, I've heard about that. It's an absolute travesty, IMO. Arrgghhhh

Meanwhile, the perps are free to go on and on some cases, get bolder, and more confident.

Yes, and municipalities that have finally put up the funds to start running the DNA from their backlogged rape kits have discovered many serial rapists.
Most men don’t rape, but the ones who do often rape repeatedly and also commit other violent crimes.

Flores’ rape charges are based on running his DNA collected in just one of those old dusty rape test kits that’s been sitting on a shelf for years.
Test Rape Kits. Stop Serial Rapists.

These serial offenders, linked to kits in just three cities, have committed crimes across at least 40 states and Washington, D.C. They have not just committed rape—many have been linked to other violent crimes, as well.

Their analysis found that more than half of these sexual assaults were connected to serial offenders, suggesting that serial offenders are more common than previously believed.

(Women already knew this)

 

[CrimeAway]

Yes, and municipalities that have finally put up the funds to start running the DNA from their backlogged rape kits have discovered many serial rapists.
Most men don’t rape, but the ones who do often rape repeatedly and also commit other violent crimes.

Flores’ rape charges are based on running his DNA collected in just one of those old dusty rape test kits that’s been sitting on a shelf for years.
Test Rape Kits. Stop Serial Rapists.

Please, wherever you are, badger your elected officials about this.

Scientists don't work incredibly hard to develop new DNA technologies, for law enforcement to have rape kits sitting, gathering dust, or getting lost in evidence rooms. Give LE, and state crime labs the funds to get it done.
All MOO.

 

[CrimeAway]

From your link:

Ruben is 80 years old and he is drawing money from his retirement account.
Cry me a river.

I'm sure that Kristin would have LOVED to have been here to have a retirement account to pay into, and hopefully, one day, draw from. Just saying. All MOO.

 

[everybodhi]

Relative to charging the accused-- should probably clarify that a civil lawsuit is a different standard of proof (i.e., "the preponderance of the evidence") than a criminal case.

Also, we're reminded all the time that the prosecutor only gets one bite at the apple so I think it makes sense that the prosecutor would want more evidence than the word of a confidential informant. It seems to me that they finally have some forensic evidence to tie all the pieces together and finally made the arrest. MOO

[COLOR=#000000]Surely the Smart lawyer had the ok from prosecutors to release this confidential informant bombshell.
Even if it weren’t true, it must make every possible suspect look sideways at each other and add some more edginess to their predicament.[/COLOR]

 

[sleepysleuth]

So if Doe Defendants 1&2 are presumably Susan & her boyfriend, wouldn’t the witness have to be a separate third person? Perhaps a neighbor who was keeping watch?

This could explain why they don’t know where she was moved to?

 

[sleepysleuth]

According to this article:

From there, Murphy said there is "compelling evidence" that Kristin's remains were removed from Ruben's property and scattered in the Huasna area.

This makes me wonder if a neighbor tried to trail them or something.

 

[Caring4Many]

According to this article:

From there, Murphy said there is "compelling evidence" that Kristin's remains were removed from Ruben's property and scattered in the Huasna area.

This makes me wonder if a neighbor tried to trail them or something.

Oh my heart...her poor family.

Another snippet-
“Murphy told KSBY News he also filed a lawsuit against both Ruben and Susan Flores in 1997, but it was dropped when the Flores family filed for bankruptcy.”

How many times do you get to file for bankruptcy and keep all your properties? And your “bleeding” retirement account?

(Side Note: thank you @Seattle1 for your reply a few pages back. I can’t delete or edit my post for some reason so I reported it.)