Records: Flores’ roommate claimed he said Kristin Smart was ‘at home with my parents’ after disappearance
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KION and KEYT) Wednesday is the third day of the preliminary hearing for Paul and Ruben Flores in connection to the disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart in 1996.
KION's sister station in the area, KEYT, said testimony centered around the days and weeks following her disappearance on day three.
The former lead investigator for the Cal Poly Police Department took the witness stand during the morning session, according to KEYT, and he said he interviewed Paul Flores several times after Smart went missing. Flores is believed to be the last person to see Smart alive.
The investigator said a photo of Paul Flores taken around the time of her disappearance showed a deep bruise under his right eye, which he reportedly told his friend he got while playing basketball.
KEYT reports that an audiotape of one of the interviews was also played in court. During the interview, Flores said he and Smart were at an off-campus party the night she disappeared and that both of them were intoxicated. He said he walked Smart back nearly to her dorm after the party before leaving her alone to walk back to his dorm room, KEYT reports. He then fell asleep.
Friend of Kristin Smart says Flores behaved strangely, lurked around dorm room during testimony
The investigator said he interviewed Paul Flores' roommate about a month later, and the roommate reportedly told the investigator that he and Flores talked about Smart's disappearance. During the interview, the former investigator said the roommate said he asked Flores if he knew anything about it or where she was, and he reportedly told the roommate "she's at home with my parents," according to Cal Poly police records.
Prosecutors believe Paul Flores killed Smart during an attempted rape in a dorm room and that his father, Ruben Flores, helped him hide her body. She has still never been found.
