kristen modafferi kristin smart

DAN DOW [press conference]: But the allegation that he was committing or attempting to commit a rape when he killed her, is the basis for which we are able to file first-degree felony murder charges. Little is known since the proceedings are kept secret, but no charges were ever filed. 1 of 47. September 15, 2017. It was on Memorial Day weekend 1996 that their 19-year-old daughter Kristin Smart disappeared. Chris Lambert: That's the upsetting part about it, isn't it? But it was a local story and the thing that stood out to me is that nobody was talking about it anymore. Van Rooyen rules that Flores will be tried for murder in the 1996 disappearance of Smart. Twenty-five years after Smart went missing, a prime suspect is charged with murder. Defense Attorney Sanger calls the move a stunning lack of objectivity.. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time His father was found not guilty of helping to hide her body. A hundred percent that was happening. But to fully understand Chris Lambert's contribution, you have to go back to the beginning. Most students had taken off but Kristin had stayed on campus. In March 2021, investigators used cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar to search Ruben Floress property in Arroyo Grande, Calif. Paul Flores was taken into custody at his home in the San Pedro section of Los Angeles on April 13, 2021, and was charged with murder. Chris Lambert: Around the time Kristin disappeared, they cut out planter boxes in the backyard, so they cut out big chunks of concrete and filled it in with soil. The case recently reentered the public eye with the 2019 launch of the popular true-crime podcast, Your Own Backyard, hosted by musician Chris Lambert, who has spent his life haunted by a missing persons billboard featuring Smarts face. Cole said a search of it revealed "suspicious activity.". Smart was declared dead in 2002. After apparently becoming intoxicated, Smart headed back to her dorm with fellow partiers Tim Davis and Cheryl Anderson. Plans & Pricing . There was early mistakes made that you can't recover from when you're missing those vital pieces. Judge van Rooyen objects to this assertion, though: Just because (Lamberts) been served does not necessarily mean he should be excluded, he says. The judge rules that the DA cannot be disqualified for wearing purple clothing. She was she was frantic I don't understand this, you know? It would be three more years before the property was searched again. And these girls are inviting us out. Mary Lassiter says the earring she found in the driveway matched the necklace Kristin Smart is seen wearing on this billboard. He never expected it would be a hit, but his podcast caught the attention of millions of listeners and sparked new interest in this decades-old unsolved case. PODCAST EPISODE 4: So, I walk him up to his sister's apartment, and all of a sudden, he just like picked me up, carried me inside, turned around and shut the apartment door, and locked it. JAMES MURPHY: Would you state your full name for the record please. Margarita Campos: She was absolutely sober when I left her. Those were kind of unspoken things. to California to search for Kristen Modafferi. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. In April, Paul Flores, 44, was arrested on one count of murder in connection to the case, and his father, Ruben Flores, 80, was arrested as an accessory after the fact. Smart was talking with and socializing with several different males at the party. D.A. Later, the sheriff's office obtained a warrant for Ruben's DNA and Det. So, she slowed down and walked with them. Jonathan Vigliotti: How did you know she hadn't been back? Four months later, while attempting to reconcile, Susan rented out her house in Arroyo Grande. Murphy immediately filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Flores in civil court. James Murphy: I'd love to do anything to end their suffering. Chris Lambert: I think that might have been the biggest misstep that investigators have made to this day. JAMES MURPHY: Your husband have information as to where Kristin Smart's body is located? Four months after that futile search, Paul Flores was brought before a grand jury. Mesick declined to comment Tuesday, citing the gag order. As they soon learned, she had ended up at a party at an off-campus house. PAUL FLORES: On the advice of my attorney, I refuse to answer that question based on the fifth amendment of the United States Constitution. Through the years, the Smarts have kept pressure on the Flores family. Please come with me." The Smart family. He refused to answer questions during a deposition in November 1997, citing the Fifth Amendment. When authorities later confronted him with the two stories, Flores admitted lying and offered a new explanation. She feared for her life, so did not tell anyone at the time or for years after. Sheriff Ian Parkinson was able to confirm that forensic physical evidence that authorities believe is linked to Kristin was located at, at least two homes. It's, like, she has nothing on her. But further investigation of the Flores's two trucks seemed impossible. It had been the focus of widespread speculation for more than two decades especially her planter boxes. Jonathan Vigliotti: What toll over time did this have on your parents? Authorities made clear that they plan to use Flores' alleged predatory behavior against him. The sheriff's office seized the trailer and Det. The arrests of the father and son came after investigators using ground-penetrating radar and cadaver dogs discovered evidence connected directly to Smarts death last month during a search at Ruben Flores home, authorities said. Ms. Smart, 19, was a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo when she disappeared in 1996. And there would be more disappointment in 2007, after the Smart's legal team searched a small portion of Susan Flores's backyard with ground penetrating radar and did not find any evidence. That mother, Mary Lassiter, described it to Chris Lambert. Man charged with 1996 murder of college student Kristin Smart. Chris Lambert: They didn't bring cadaver dogs with them. Nineteen-year-old Cal Poly student Kristin Smart went missing after a campus party 25 years ago, and, this summer, her case is finally getting its day in court. In the meantime, Paul Flores moved to Southern California, where he bounced from job to job. She left around 2 a.m. and was accompanied by Paul Flores, who was also a student at Cal Poly. It is every parent's worst nightmare. JAMES MURPHY: In May of 96 were you a student at Cal Poly? They got to the parking lot of an apartment complex. PODCAST | EPISODE 1: At least once a day I asked myself what are you doing? SUSAN FLORES: [Long pause, grabs water bottle] Of course not. Other witnesses included students who were at the party. so eventually he unlocked you know, the apartment door, and I left. By herself, which is pretty amazing. They told her Kristin had not been seen all weekend and asked if Kristin was with them. And then months and months later, they'd reach back out and say, can you get us in touch with this person again? She adds that Flores said he put Smart under a skateboard ramp in Arroyo Grande. Susan's house was finally searched in March 1997 nine months after Kristin disappeared but nothing was found. UPDATE - San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Detective Clint Cole returned to the witness stand Wednesday in the preliminary hearing for Paul and Ruben Flores, testifying that searches of Ruben's home turned up evidence leading them to believe human remains had been buried there. In October 2022,. Chris Lambert: I wish I knew why. PODCAST EPISODE 2 [LAMBERT READING REPORT] Smart does not have any close friends at Cal Poly. An important tip came in after a February 2020 search of Paul, Susan and Ruben's properties. People are watching Ruben Flores and Susan Flores and Paul Flores. At the time, they did not know about a missing college student. But you have to understand, she was a really independent free spirit. JAMES MURPHY: What is your present residence address? Cole testified that Hudson told him about Paul's statement and that she'd also seen Paul with his white pickup truck at the skateboard ramp in Huasna. Also on the stand Tuesday were another cadaver dog handler, an expert in fiber evidence and a district attorney's office investigator. D.A. And the complaint has some explosive claims about what led investigators to focus under Ruben's deck in the first place. Paul Flores and defense attorney Robert Sanger in court on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. Chris Lambert: I remember seeing it on the news it was something scary and they were talking about it pretty regularly. They were after Paul Flores for an outstanding DUI warrant. And she's like, "please come with me. Margarita Campos: I'll never forget her shadow against the building, this apartment complex, just standing like kind of cross-armed with the long leg And she was just kind of like looking at me like, [sighs] you're really walking away now, like you're really, you're leaving? Let's go." Ruben will be released on bail that he can afford. Even more difficult to understand was why they waited two months to search the family home where Paul Flores was living with his father, Ruben. PODCAST EPISODE 1: Kristin broke down begging her mother to let her drop out and go somewhere else. So, they did not immediately get a warrant to search Susan Flores's home. Im not going to exclude a member of the media (for doing their job).. His father, Ruben, will be tried as an accessory to the crime. The younger Flores has long been the only person of interest in Smarts disappearance; she was last seen on May 25th, 1996, after attending a party near campus. After a lengthy hearing, San Luis Obispo County Judge Craig B. Paul Flores did not have a car on campus, so Murphy surmises he had to have had help. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Some of those women who did not want their real names used told Lambert about their encounters with him. She spent a summer in London, was an exchange student in Venezuela, and a lifeguard at a camp in Hawaii. Chris Lambert: It's hard to take too much credit But I was one piece of the puzzle that helped to make this all come together when it did. And when they did . Kristen Modafferi, Kristin Smart & Kent Jacobs. The defense questions Hudson about her drug use, but she says she was not doing drugs at the time. You can go." Denise Pearce says that was a crushing blow for the Smart family. Paul Flores was identified as a person of interest early in the case. Chris Lambert: They just have never given up and are never going to give up on their daughter. The body of Kristin Smart, which has never been found, was recently moved from the home of Ruben Flores, a prosecutor said, according to a document filed Monday and posted on social media by a reporter for The Tribune of San Luis Obispo. Even though he'd never investigated anything before, Lambert quit his job to create a podcast about the case. They took in soil, I assume, for some kind of analysis. The unsealed documents include two claims from 2011 and 2017 that Flores raped two women while they were drunk in San Pedro. Ms. Smart, who was from Stockton, Calif., was a freshman at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Ruben Flores was released on $50,000 bail to his ex-wife. Chris Lambert: They're hopeful, but they've also been let down so many times before. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. ORIGINAL STORY - Paul and Ruben Flores are back in court Wednesday for another day of their preliminary hearing. Paul Flores talks to his attorneys Sara Sanger and Robert Sanger on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. had been arrested in connection with her disappearance, Paul Flores was found guilty of murdering Ms. Smart, while in the commission of, or attempted, rape. Why? By then, the semester was over and the room had been cleaned out. Nikki Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the court, said the documents were not supposed to be public. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Chris Lambert was just 8 years old when Kristin Smart vanished on her way home from a college party in San Luis Obispo, California. Peterson. The next month, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs Office took over from the Cal Poly police as the lead investigators. Lindsey Smart Stewart: "You should go to Cal Poly. Just days after she disappeared, an incident report seemed to imply that Kristin's behavior contributed to her disappearance. Kristin's mother, Denise Smart, spent Memorial Day weekend at a swim meet with her two younger kids. It wasn't until Kristin's roommate returned to their dorm room, that Margarita realized Kristin never came home. Mike McHugh is the producer-editor. Cole went to his White Court home to collect it on May 19, 2021. Jonathan Vigliotti: They thought she was off possibly having fun. Three more witnesses are expected to take the stand on Thursday, including two cadaver dog handlers.___. She had taken a job at a coffee shop to pay for a photography course at U.C. Jonathan Vigliotti: You look at Kristin Smart every day. Van Rooyen saying that his release could result in great bodily harm to the public. Kristen Modafferi. They seized digital devices during the search and, in April 2020, executed another search on Paul Flores property in San Pedro. Other witnesses are also questioned, but Flemmings testimony is noteworthy as he is the first to say he saw Flores and Smart together before the party. Five months after Kristin Smart disappeared, Paul Flores was brought before a grand jury but no charges were ever filed. In October 2022, Paul Flores, the man long suspected in her disappearance, was found guilty of murder. It's just a motivator for me. I did have guilt about that. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office, via Associated Press. San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office personnel dig in an area in the backyard of the home of Ruben Flores, in Arroyo Grande, Calif., March 16, 2021. I've got her. / CBS News, (This story previously aired on May 8, 2021. Flores claimed after walking Kristin back from the party, he went to his room in Santa Lucia Hall while she walked alone to her dorm. You, youre the one that can tell me, a reference to Lamberts Your Own Backyard, the podcast about Smart and Flores that has brought new attention to the case. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. In March 2021, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office served a search warrant at the Arroyo Grande home of Ruben Flores. The defense claims the prosecution is wearing said color as a result of a Facebook request on the site Justice for Kristin Smart' to wear purple during a Memorial Day celebration. Chris Lambert: It was never marked as evidence apparently. Chris Lambert: At that point I don't think they had ever dealt with a missing person, a possibly murdered person. Flores, who had been seen with Smart earlier in the evening he attempted to flirt with her and apparently fell on her at one point, according to witnesses joined the group and allegedly accompanied Smart home. Chris Lambert: He actually hit his eye on his steering wheel in the middle of the night while changing his stereo. When they showed up, it was Paul Flores. 3. The two are charged in connection with the death of Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart. Margarita Campos: To this day, like, I was like, why why did I just let her go by herself? He also said there was suspicious staining in the soil indicative of human remains. I think they're just waiting to see what the outcome is going to be. Like what may have been discovered in March 2021 when investigators searched Ruben Flores' house using cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar. Lambert says Kristin could not stand on her own, so fellow student Cheryl Anderson who was also at the party began helping her back to campus. Specifically, that they had Paul's white Nissan pickup in their possession. On Oct. 18, Paul Flores was found guilty of murdering Ms. Smart. Chris Lambert: I don't think she ever imagined that Kristin would end up dead by the end of the night. But the Flores's have fought back, suing the Smarts for intentional infliction of emotional distress. PODCAST EPISODE 2 | WOMAN #1: I wasn't surprised, but there's also that shock value of kind of "oh my god, I knew it! In high school he was known as a loner. https://www.nytimes.com/article/kristin-smart-case-timeline.html. The documents also include several people the defense believes investigators should have looked into in addition to Flores, including convicted murderer and fellow then-student Scott Peterson, who was previously ruled out. Also included is the result of a February 4th, 2020 search of Paul Flores San Pedro home, where San Luis Obispo County Sheriffs investigators seized electronic devices that featured videos showing Flores having sex with seemingly incapacitated women. James Murphy: they let the dog in, the dog makes a beeline to the bed of Paul Flores. The podcast, "Your Own Backyard,"has drawn millions of listeners and focused renewed attention on this decades old case. And so, she pulled me into this sort of like, "oh come on, let's socialize. Flores and his parents have always maintained that he had nothing to do with Smarts disappearance. I told her I didn't I didn't want to go. Chris Lambert: I didn't know the scale. On July 21, Kristin Smarts parents and her brother, Matt, testified about how they had searched for her after her disappearance. He was required to wear an electronic ankle bracelet. Kristen Modafferi: Onuma and the Briefcase. Paul Flores, right, in court with his attorney Richard Hutton in 1996. And yes, we did find physical evidence at, at least two homes. Denise Pearce: The phone call never comes. Like the rest of the family, Kristin was an athlete. The authorities removed items from Paul Floress home in Los Angeles in February 2020. DAN DOW [press conference]: We don't have evidence sufficient to charge anyone else at this time. Flores was first interviewed by Cal Poly police investigators near the end of May 1996, according to The San Luis Obispo Tribune, and the Cal Poly police didnt search his room until June 10th. They were soon joined by another partygoer, Paul Flores. Flores defense team moves to recuse the San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office from the Smart case because prosecutor Peuvrelle and others have been seen wearing purple clothing, Smarts favorite color. The body of Kristin Smart, which has never been found, was recently moved from the home of Ruben Flores, a prosecutor said, according to a document filed Monday and posted on social media by a. In April 2021, investigators finally put the pieces of the puzzle together and decided they had enough to charge the then-44-year-old Paul Flores with Kristin's murder, and his then-80-year-old father with being an accessory after the fact. Dozens of community members on Saturday evening gathered for a vigil at Santa Rosa Park in San Luis Obispo to light candles in the memory of Kristin Smart, the Cal But I've seen it. The day after my sister disappeared, Paul Flores had a black eye and scratches on him. Margarita Campos: But when we got to the house it was pretty dead too, it was really -- it was like a couple of roommates hanging out playing video games And Kristin was, like oh gosh, there has to be something better than this. He's going to find her body, which is awful for a parent. For the next 25 years, I did whatever I could and looked for answers wherever I could, Denise Smart told the court, according to CBS 13, a local television station. Margarita Campos: I was expecting her to knock on my door and be, like, "Oh, Margarita, you missed a rager. DAN DOW [press conference]: It is alleged that Mr. Flores caused the death of Kristen Smart while in the commission of or attempted rape. It encouraged the previously reluctant to come forward. This obviously gave law enforcement new leads to follow and connect with what they already were holding close.. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The investigation seemed to be hampered from the start by a series of missteps by campus police beginning with their assumption that Kristin was off having fun and ignoring worried friends who said she was missing. Defense attorney Robert Sanger, in turn, tries to poke holes in Flemmings recollections. That witness initially came forward to Chris Lambert, who passed the information to the sheriff's office and Murphy. I don't know if Kristin knew anybody there. James Murphy: The podcast is out. The Sheriffs Office investigators and forensic specialists assigned to Ms. Smarts case executed 18 search warrants, submitted 37 items that were collected in the early days of the case for DNA testing, recovered 140 new items of evidence and conducted 91 interviews from 2011 to 2020, the office said. James Murphy: They're interested in seeing Paul Flores get convicted and Ruben Flores get held accountable. You wouldn't let any of your friends be drunk around him. He says they are Ruben's ex-wife Susan and her boyfriend. Denise Pearce: To be almost there. They're known for being a really safe school.". To think that you're going to finally get some resolution, and then it doesn't happen the way it's supposed to. In March, the Oakland Police Department released a statement saying that it had worked with the FBI and found no evidence indicating Durst was involved. and I was like, "Noooo.". That's when the campus police finally handed the investigation over to The San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office but they did not find Kristin. I knocked on her door, and I thought she was just sleeping, or she went out and about, you know? His is the latest in a line of true-crime podcasts to play a role in an arrest, a court appeal or even an exoneration. Podcaster Lambert will not be called to the stand during the Kristin Smart murder hearing. But the investigation is ongoing. Billie Eilish Explains Her Complicated Relationship With Social Media: 'I Don't Look at It Anymore', Theres no evidence of a sex crime in the charged crime (the murder case) itself, van Rooyen says. She disappeared in 1996 after attending an off-campus party and while she was declared legally dead in 2002, her body has never been found. James Murphy: And it says wrongful death and then I put murder. She was never seen again and her body has not been located. Ruben's attorney, Harold Mesick, dismissed the evidence against his client as "so minimal as to shock the conscience.". Ian Parkinson: Yes. James Murphy: Well, the location where all this activity occurred is where they found the biological material. It worked. Murphy alleges four nights later, strange activity was seen at Ruben's house. My job was to hunt them. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. 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They have not been able to proceed with the civil case while there was an ongoing criminal investigation, but that didn't stop them from following every lead and preparing for an eventual trial. Witnesses said Smart was intoxicated, and Flores had said he would walk her home after an off-campus party.

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