Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Gorgeous Co-ed DISAPPEARS walking to dorm after party, KRISTIN SMART MURDER TRIAL NOW

Episode Date: July 19, 2022

Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old student at California Polytechnic State University, disappears after attending a campus party. She is still missing more than 20 years later, but now the man accused of her murder stands trial. Paul Flores is charged with killing the college student during an attempted rape. His father, Ruben Flores is said to have helped bury the slain student behind his home.   Paul Flores maintains his innocence. Joining Nancy Grace today: Joshua Ritter, Criminal defense attorney,  partner at Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP,  former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, joshuaritter.com, Twitter @joshuaritteresq   Caryn Stark - NYC Psychologist, CarynStark.com, Twitter: @carynpsych, Facebook: "Caryn Stark"  Lisa M. Dadio - Former Police Lieutenant, New Haven Police Department, Senior Lecturer, Director of the "Center for Advanced Policing" at the University of New Haven's Forensic Science Department  Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan"  Stephanie Pagones - Crime Reporter, Fox News Digital, Twitter: @steph_pagones See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last hours, will there finally be justice for a gorgeous young co-ed? Kristen Smart. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to what Kristen's mom told me. We didn't know the first day.

We didn't know the second day. We didn't know the third day because Cal Poly did not take a request from her friends to look for her. So by the time Monday evening came around, which was, she disappeared Friday night. We didn't hear anything until Monday evening. And we got a call from the campus if we knew where she was. And I think every parent will tell you, you have a gut reaction when you know something's not right. And someone calling you out of the blue and saying, when you know something's not right and someone calling

you out of the blue and saying do you know where your daughter is and she's 200 miles away um bumps again just going back to there and i think it's as you referenced that it it comes back it just always comes back and whenever you hear about a missing child, you relive it for that family as well. Can you imagine your daughter going missing? A co-ed, 200 miles away at school. You spend your whole life planning, thinking, dreaming, praying, pouring all your love, all your energy, all your money, your thoughts to somehow help your child do better in life than maybe you have done.

And you finally get them to school, to college. And then you get the call. Do you know where your daughter is? From to college. And then you get the call. Do you know where your daughter is? From the college. Take a listen to what Kristen's dad told me. And that was very disappointing. Anyway, after that and after looking for her and she wasn't appearing

and they had found her purse and her belongings in the room, she had not taken those things with her. It was real apparent that something had happened to her. So it's a nightmare, like my wife had mentioned. I spent a lot of weeks down there, in fact, the whole summer looking for my daughter. And I think I could have been a tour director for San Luis Obispo County and just you know a lot of heartache from it and as my wife had mentioned when we hear about other people who have lost a child and they're looking for their child our our hearts go out to them. now as we speak trial is commencing for a young man and his father.

A father and a young man who reportedly went throughout the area tearing down missing posters. Where is Kristen Smart? Tearing down missing posters. Where is Kristen Smart? Tearing them down. A family that called Kristen Smart a dirty slut. With me in the All-Star panel to make sense of what we know right now. First of all, before I go to our panel of experts,

let me go straight out to our colleague and friend Stephanie Pagonis, crime reporter with Fox News Digital. I thank heaven a trial is commencing, Stephanie Pagonis, but we've got a double trial going on. Explain. That's right, Nancy. We've got a double trial. Both Paul Flores and his father, Ruben Flores, are on trial simultaneously with two different panels of jurors. Now, this will make for an interesting case to watch and a long one, frankly. So far, court officials have estimated that this trial could last into October. Now, there will be times when the panel of jurors from either side or overseeing the cases of Paul or Rubin will be

separated so that one panel will hear evidence that the other will not. Other than that, they will be hearing the same case for the majority of the trial. To Joshua Ritter, joining me, high-profile defense attorney and partner of a big law firm, former LA County Assistant District Attorney, and you can find him at JoshuaRitter.com. I don't like anything she just said. No offense, Stephanie Pagonis. I don't like double trials. Don't like them. That's two trials being held at the same time. I've seen it done before. It rarely turns out well. Why not, A, try them together?

Or if you've got interlocking statements, try one and then try the next one after that. Why do they have to have simultaneous trials i mean you know this joshua ritter there's one only one best trial lawyer within the da's office you it's true only one best trial lawyer Why wouldn't you have that trial lawyer completely familiar with this case, try both cases in front of one judge, and they can be one after the next consecutively. So the judge knows all the facts and details. The prosecutor knows all the facts and details. Why a simultaneous jury? Have you ever seen that? Yes, I have seen it. I've actually conducted one myself, but it's got to be a very good reason for it. You would expect that whatever

evidence this is, and apparently there was an interview that Paul gave that implicated his father. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Slow down, Mustang Sally. You know Flores by his first name? What? You've had dinner together his first name? What, what? You've had dinner together? You think he's coming over? That's not happening. Defendant number one.

Paul Flores. The then 19-year-old young man that was last seen with Kristen Smart and Reuben Flores, his father, the one that called her a dirty slut. That's who you're talking about? That is who I'm talking about. And apparently there was an interview conducted with Paul Flores where he implicated Ruben Flores. And this must be incredibly damaging information if they felt it was enough for them to get two juries to hear this case.

So you're right. They could have done it with one jury, one trial, and just admitted that evidence. But if they felt it was powerful enough, they had to figure out a way to do it with two trials. I don't think they could have admitted it. And I'll tell you why, Josh. May I call you Josh? Absolutely. Because, and I've had this before, and what I did when

confronted with two co-defendants with interlocking statements, they point the finger at each other. You can't have that come before the jury, and this is why. Everyone, including these two POCs, technical legal term, has a right to full cross-examination of the state's witnesses. So let's just say Paul Flores somehow points the finger at his father. Well, Ruben Flores has the right to cross-examine him, but he may not take the stand because he also has the right to remain silent and not take the stand. So basically, you're screwed. I don't know how you say that in Latin terms like a lot of law students would and a lot of lawyers, sadly, basically you're screwed i don't know how you say that in latin terms like a lot of law students would and a lot of lawyers sadly but you're screwed because you

can't get that in so the answer is very clearly to have two separate trials one after the next but hey you know what have at it that's the way they're doing it they've had a venue change um it's to you joshua ritter there's no need to even try to be PC, politically correct, on Crime Stories, because I figured out a long time ago, when I die, I ain't going to Washington, D.C. I hope I'm going to heaven. So no need for that. Stephanie, the venue has been changed from where to where? The venue was changed from St. San Luis Obispo County to Monterey County, a courthouse in Salinas. The judge made the decision a couple months back thinking that it might be able to provide a more pure panel of jurors. Jury summonses were sent out to about

1,500 jurors. Whoa, whoa, whoa, Stephanie, Stephanie, I got to drink it all in. Okay. Right now you got me drinking from the fire hydrant. Too much, too fast. Did you say juror summons went out to 1500 prospective jurors? Yes, actually more than 15. Wow. Wow. Okay. I mean, out of all that, it seems to me you should get an impartial jury. Now they moved from San Luis Obispo to Salinas, and the jury was selected from jurors in Salinas? Yes, that is correct. Monterey County as a whole, and 40 jurors were picked between both cases. Okay. Josh Ritter and Karen Stark, a renowned New York psychologist, joining us from New York and Lisa Daddio former police lieutenant and director of the Center for

Advanced Policing and Joe Scott Morgan and he's got such a long resume I'll do that when I get to him I'm going to get right to you but I got to talk to Josh Ritter I'm sure you like I have struck many many juries and that is a good jury pool I mean of course you're going to have a lot of bad apples people that have already and I mean that in a legal sense, not that they're a bad person, but people you can't put on the jury. Like you're going to have a couple of cops or their wives or their children or their uncles or somebody related to law enforcement, somebody that knows the defense attorneys, somebody that is a distant cousin of a witness, someone that's already decided they did it or they didn't do it. Those are the bad apples I'm talking about that have got to be culled out of the jury pool. But

out of 1,500 jurors, for Pete's sake, Joshua Ritter, and then you cull it down to 40, you've got the general questions you ask everybody. And if somebody says, hey, I've been a crime victim, they raise their hand, then you mark that on the jury digest and you voidire question them separately. But that's a pretty good jury pool, Josh Ritter. Absolutely. That's a huge jury pool. And you know that they went under extensive questioning

to sit on a trial like this, especially a trial that's going to last this long. I imagine a large group of those folks weren't time qualified. Who can take four months of their life to sit on a trial? And an interesting move in the judge moving it out of San Luis Obispo. That is such a rare thing to do, but it must show you just how inflamed and still kind of scarred that community is from her murder. Well, I guess so. I hate change of venues, but I think it's best in this case, as in many other cases, whether I like it or not, having to drag off to a distant jurisdiction to try a case. I wouldn't like that. But for the sake of a potential

conviction, you've got to change venue. You have to. You just got to relocate the prosecutors and the defense. There's really no question about it. If you want to preserve a conviction on appeal, or if you really want a change of venue for the defense, then you've got to take that bitter pill and swallow. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we are talking about, finally, will there be justice for this family of Kristen Smart? Now, how did the whole thing get started? Take a listen to our friends at KSBY.

With shovels in hand, investigators dug underneath Ruben Flores' Arroyo Grande home and at specific locations in the backyard. A neighbor sent me this video showing a part of the excavation site. I mean it's really nice to see that they're finally making moves on it you know it's taken so long for them to dig up this backyard. You could see deputies camped out near the house going underneath the deck at two entry points with shovels. A panel of this lattice wall was removed to get underneath the house. These areas were extensively searched with cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar Monday and Tuesday. Crews also moved this blue pop-up tent to another section of the backyard where they dug for about an hour. Thick foliage

around the property made it difficult to see the activity. By 2 p.m. yellow tape around the Flores' home was taken down, the Flores family returning just 30 minutes later. I just hope they find her soon. Sheriff's officials are not releasing any further details about what evidence, if any, was found here. You know what, so much went wrong at the get-go, starting with campus police with their thumb up their rear ends, calling the family saying, hey, have you seen her? They sat on it for days and did nothing. As so often is the case to you, Karen Stark, joining me, renowned psychologist out of Manhattan. You can find her at KarenStark.com.

Karen with a C. Karen, how many times have you and I sat together in a darkened studio going, oh, my stars, they've done it again. A woman goes missing and they go, oh, she's probably off with her boyfriend, having sex at a motel somewhere. Or she ran away. Ran away, yes. So many women just run away, don't they? Wrong. And here it is again. And it has cost all these years because the cops, the campus security cops screwed up. And I don't like saying that, Karen. You know,

I'm on the cop's side for Pete's sake, but they screwed this up. There's no doubt about it, Nancy. And it makes you wonder, you know, you hear too many stories about the fact that, you know, she just didn't want to be found. She was with her boyfriend. She ran away. Blah, blah, blah. I don't want everybody to go crazy on me for this Karen Stark, but I swear, I think it's some misogynist thing. You know, maybe it's not misogynist. Maybe it's that people don't want to accept a world where these sorts of things happen. But if I hear one more story about she ran away to be with her

pretend boyfriend, I'm going to do a backflip and we don't want that to happen. Karen Stark, we've lived through this so many times. Why do you think cops and others, not just cops, still do it? What, do we don't want to believe the girl has been kidnapped and killed? I think that it's not just that they don't want to believe it, Nancy. It's that they don't want to take that responsibility. If you're thinking about campus cops, the school, you know, they don't want the school to look bad. They don't want to have their reputations tarnished. And it's like they have wishful thinking.

You know, maybe this really isn't as bad as it sounds. Well, in this case, the security guard said she, quote, went camping with friends. Take a listen to County Sheriff Ian Parkinson. We're beginning here today because this is where it all began, on the campus of Cal Poly University. On May 25, 1996, this was the last place that Kristen Smart was seen alive. It has been 24, almost 25 years since Kristen went missing.

24 years without a resolution until today. I'm here this afternoon to announce the arrest of Paul Flores for the murder of Kristen Smart and the arrest of his father, Ruben Flores, as an accessory to the murder. You don't see that a lot. The father arrested along with the son. And I think this may be before they knew the father called this little girl

scrubbed in sunshine a dirty slut. Now that was a St. Louis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson. Now listen to our friends at KSBY. Paul and Ruben Flores were both in suits for their first in-person court appearance. The prosecution argued that additional rape charges should be included in the case against Paul, who was charged with murdering Smart during the commission of rape or attempted rape. Prosecutor Chris Prevell revealed in court that during a search of Flores' San Pedro home in 2020, they discovered Google searches for porn related to drunk girls. One search included, real drunken girls drugged and raped while passed out. He said they should include alleged victims from the LA area dating back to 2010 and 2017 after searching

Paul's cell phone in a home video. Prevell also said Flores created home rape videos that were stored on his home computer under a file labeled practice and called the defendant a serial rapist. He said during a 2020 search warrant they also found date rape drugs at Flores's home. Okay you know sometimes I really don't know what to say when you hear something like that and then the camera turns to my face because home videos of rapes. Home rape videos. Stephanie Pagoda is joining us. Home rape videos. I'm sure the jury hasn't seen that yet, but that can't be anything good.

That's correct. And a judge actually struck down the prosecution's attempt to introduce these rape allegations. So unfortunately, I do not believe the jury will be hearing these claims, at least not in detail. To Josh Ritter, high-profile lawyer joining us out of L.A., I mean, I can connect the dots there. You've got home rape videos found at the home of these defendants in a hidden location. And because of what is found on the videos, the state insisted that additional rape charges be included in the case. What do you think about that?

I think it's powerful evidence if they can get it in. In California, there's an evidence section called 1108, which allows for prior acts of sexual violence or sexual assault to be used in a case where somebody is charged with a sex crime. And it can be used, Nancy, to show propensity. So it's incredibly powerful evidence. Now, the judge at the preliminary hearing didn't allow some of this in. So we'll see what happens at trial. But again, when you have evidence this good, prosecutors have to be careful because like how you had pointed out, you want to preserve a conviction in this case. You don't want to make some misstep

because you're trying to be overly aggressive. And now a case that took 25 years to get to trial is going to be thrown out on appeal because of evidence that you didn't entirely. I don't know if the state lays their foundation and brings in the video that is titled practice and then Kristen Smart goes missing and the use of date rape drug found in the home it could very well go to course of conduct, motive, modus operandi, method of operation, scheme, frame of mind. All of those are reasons to allow in extrinsic evidence such as similar transactions. But it's not just the Google searches for real drunk girls drugged and raped while passed out. Take a listen to our friend Alexa Bertola, KSBY. He added that four cadaver dogs hid on Flores' mattress in his dorm room,

adding they believe Smart died in or around his bed back in 1996. The defense fired back, arguing that there is zero evidence of rape, attempted rape, or murder. Attorney Robert Sanger said he was very disappointed in the effort to make an emotional argument fired back arguing that there is zero evidence of rape attempted rape or murder attorney robert sanger said he was very disappointed in the effort to make an emotional argument instead of facts he said investigators have been focusing on flores since june 6 1996 when flores stopped talking after voluntarily talking to law enforcement singer claims smart disappeared before in hawaii and also that three or more people reported the college freshman may have been pregnant at the time she disappeared. The judge

ruled that there would be a spillover effect into the current case, which he said has little to no evidence of rape or attempted rape, so the motion to add new rape charges was denied. Joining me right now, Professor of Forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and star of a new hit series, Body Bags, with Joe Scott Morgan. Joseph Scott Morgan joining me. Joe Scott and Lisa Daddio, Director for the Center of Advanced Policing, University of New Haven. First to you, Joe Scott, listen to Scott Hennessy, K-E-Y-T. Prosecutors will try to prove that the remains of Kristen Smart were buried under the Arroyo Grande home of Ruben Flores under a deck in the back of the property. Five days after the home was searched on February 4th of 2020, a neighbor says they saw Paul's mother, Susan Flores,

and her boyfriend, Mike McConville, pull a trailer into Ruben Flores' backyard near the deck. A longtime renter at the home on White Court says the space underneath that deck was always locked. Authorities returned to search the entire property on March 15th. An archaeologist used ground-penetrating radar under the deck. The documents say the data showed a large four-by-six-foot anomaly. The experts said they found a major disturbance. Prosecutors argue this is the exact scenario where someone

would dig the hole, put in the body, re-excavate the hole to remove the body, then fill it back in once the body has been removed. The document states samples tested positive for human blood in the area. To Joe Scott Morgan joining us, ground penetrating radar. It's a wonderful thing. While you can't, in this case, they did not find her body there. They found where the size of basically a coffin where a body would be and the dirt dislodged in the in the same space under their deck and i'm curious about when they

built that deck before or after kristen was. That's very powerful evidence. I assume both you and Lisa Daddio have worked with ground penetrating radar. It's amazing. It looks like one of those things you see people on the beach going along with and they're looking for metal, like rings or money in the sand. It kind of looks like that. Yeah, it does. And it is a powerful tool, you know, to go back out and try,

first off, to locate bodies if they are there. But this is kind of interesting, Nancy. This is actually an area within forensic anthropology and excavation that's referred to as forensic taphonomy. Forensic what? Taphonomy. And so the idea is that, you know, soil has a natural appearance. Like if it's undisturbed, it's tightly packed.

Maybe somebody hadn't put a shovel of dirt in years and years and years and years. And the soil has a normal resting position. Okay. But when you begin to turn soil in a particular area, it will have, to the naked eye sometimes, just as a bird's eye view, it'll have a disturbed appearance. Other times, you won't appreciate that. But what this ground penetrating radar shows and demonstrates, you can actually pass over this area and you'll see kind of a distinctive outline compared to the rest of the surrounding area. And you can kind of hypothesize, I guess, that there is or speculate that there was, that this within a certain scientific certainty fits a particular profile for where a body

or some other object the size of a body may have rested. And this is even further bolstered by scientific confirmation that you've got human blood there. And, you know, it's a great, strong, circumstantial kind of piece of evidence. You know how I describe it, Lisa Daddio joining us,

Director for the Center for Advanced Policing, University of New Haven. Lisa, I've described it before as white paper that you put into a Xerox machine or to a fax machine. And it's perfectly pristine, flat white. And then take about 10 pieces of that same paper and crumble it up and lay it on top. And on top of that, put some more pristine white unment paper. That's what

it looks like. You can tell, you can see on the penetrating radar where the soil is completely different from the soil around it. The other soil is settled in layers compacted and then you see very clearly disturbed soil it's very apparent that something had been placed there somebody dug up something there oh absolutely nancy and it's something that's utilized a lot of times when you know investigators are searching for bodies because you can see where there's been a disruption of soil and you know as previously stated you can see the size of it which would be consistent especially in this case with it being a body and of course what helped obviously was the discovery

of blood that tested you know positive basically for being human and so if it wasn't her well then whose was it and another question lisa daddy oh just a common sense question and i would put it to the jury in the opening statement why the hay because you can't argue with say an x-ray which is what gpr is ground penetrating radar why in the world would they go under their deck, their locked deck, the door to go under it, it's all locked, you can't get in there. Why would you go under the deck and dig up dirt and then smooth it over on top? Why? Just curious. It makes no sense, Nancy.

It makes perfect sense to me, Daddy-O, because they hid her body there and then they moved it. It makes no sense, Nancy. It makes perfect sense to me, Daddy-O, because they hid her body there and then they moved it. It makes perfect sense to me. For that part of it, for a normal person, it makes no sense. But if you're trying to hide a crime, it makes perfect sense. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Listen to this, everybody. You better sit down or maybe lay down for this one. Take a listen to Megan Healy, KSBY.

Less than 24 hours after posting bail, Ruben Flores is hit with a lawsuit filed Thursday morning on behalf of the Smart family. Civil attorney James Murphy filed an intentional infliction of emotional distress lawsuit, saying there is compelling evidence Ruben and Susan Flores and Susan's boyfriend, quote, worked through the night under the cover of darkness to remove the remains of Kristen Smart to avoid having those remains at 710 White Court in the event of an additional search of the property. And we have information that the contents of that grave site was then offloaded in some manner to another location. He alleges that Kristen's remains were removed from Ruben's property and scattered in the Wasna area after the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office

served search warrants at the Flores' home on February 5, 2020. The civil lawsuit is based upon the fact that biological materials were found in the ground in a hole adjacent to the wall of Reuben Flores' house and under his deck. Joe Scott Morgan, translate please. Biological matter found. Yeah, and what this is going to be, Nancy, is, well, to be quite frankly, decompositional remnant of the body that's been left behind. And, you know, I don't think necessarily anything related to a skeletal issue, but, you know, anything that may be related to fluid. Well, yeah, fluid, fluid. But but also, I think probably any of the soft tissues, you know, we're talking about skin, potentially, you know, obviously muscle and certainly organ. And it does it does liquefy. And, you know, that's kind of a saving grace here, I think,

you know, when you begin to look at it. Because to this point, we don't have any evidence of Kristen, period. Why can't they do DNA analysis on it? I think that it would probably be too degraded. In soil. Yeah, it would be because there will be a lot of cross-contamination. I think one of the issues here, though, if they could ever, and when they're saying scattered, I don't know what that means.

Are you talking about that her remains have been rendered down after she was removed? Or does that mean that the body was to a point, and again, graphic here, where you could literally pull the bones apart? What remained and they scattered that? They have some kind of information they're intimating here. And I find that kind of interesting. If they could recover, perhaps, a long bone that has like a really hardy head to it, you know, like the head of the... Not happening. Yeah, I just, I don't see that it would, but I'm just holding out hope here, Nancy.

The only way that would ever happen is if one of these co-defendants turned on the other one and said where they hid the body. But that body, Kristen Smart's body, was under that deck for God only knows how long. And this evidence proves that unless they had another body under their deck, how did the whole thing happen? Take a listen to our cut 62, our forensic KION. During opening statements, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Perel from San Luis Obispo County aimed straight for the heartstrings of jurors. He started by letting them know about a ritual that Kristen Smart had with her family, calling home every Sunday morning. Those calls came to an end in 1996, and instead, it was Paul Flores who was able to make a phone call home on May 25, 1996, to his father. Prosecutors say that was after he killed Kristen

Smart. Opening statements then went on to include a long list of evidence that will be presented in this trial, including witness testimony from students at the off-campus party where Smart was last seen. Witnesses then will describe her as incapacitated after having sat with the defendant, Paul Flores. Those same witnesses recall how Flores insisted on walking smart to her dorm room at 2 a.m. The prosecutor will also present allegations from women who claim to have been drugged and raped by Flores in the early 2000s. You know, Karen Stark, just hearing that about their family ritual on Sunday morning, they would all get together for a phone call. It reminds me so much, and sometimes even on the receiving end of these calls, when I lived far, far, far away from my, come rain or shine, snow or sleet, as you would have in New York, on the way home from church, I would call home. Because I knew they would all be just getting in from church and everybody would be getting ready for Sunday lunch.

I would then call my sister out in California, my brother, friends, sometimes you, because that's kind of a lonely time coming home all by yourself after church. But for them, that was a happy time on Sunday morning. They'd all talk on the phone, and they knew right then something was wrong when she didn't call. I remember it so well, Nancy, that you would make those phone calls. And it's not unusual. Families do that a lot. And Sunday is the day. And when I think about this family and the fact that they not only had this ritual, but they talk about through the years when they hear stories about other children that are missing and how it brings it all back for them.

They're getting traumatized again. It never, ever goes away for them. So just imagine that they're there and they're having this wonderful day and then all of a sudden they don't hear from their daughter and they expect to. They're used to it. You know, Josh Ritter, I'm curious, and this is neither here nor there as it goes to evidence in this case, but you're a high-profile criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor. You are with Worksman, Jackson, and Quinn. That's not shabby.

Josh, what do you do as a defense attorney when evidence like that comes out, and you're sitting there by your defendant the killer and the jury looks over at you i mean do you tense up do you clench your teeth or anything else uh while everybody's looking at you yeah it's an incredibly tense moment in court um it's hard to hard to sit through moments like that um It's hard to keep your eyes dry. I don't care what side of the table you're sitting on to hear about the loss and continued pain that this family has suffered. As the defense, I don't know what the plan is. I think the plan is to just highlight the fact that there is no direct physical evidence to point towards their client and just

continue to pound the table with that idea. But for the prosecution, this is going to become a death by a thousand cuts. All these little pieces of circumstantial evidence, they're going to begin to build up and build up and build up and tear down any kind of reasonable doubt that those jurors might have. To Stephanie Pagonis, crime reporter with Fox News Digital, could you walk us through, for anyone that doesn't know what happened to Kristen Smart, this gorgeous, brilliant, all A, scrubbed in sunshine girl. She goes to Cal Poly Technic State University in St. Louis Obispo. And that night, what happened? Yes, Nancy.

So she was a freshman at Cal Poly. She was 19 years old. She had attended a frat party, or I believe it was an unofficial frat party, we should say, near Cal Poly campus. Witnesses and friends who were at the party with her said she had a bit to drink. Now, I'm not sure how much that will play into the case here, but witnesses have said that Smart left the party with three fellow students, one of whom was Paul Flores. Two of the others then left the pair before they reached Kristen

Smart's dorm. They walked back to their own residences. Paul Flores told police he claimed he dropped her off on campus near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Perimeter Road. But Smart was never spotted after that. And then, of course, we have the standard tried and true blame the victim strategy going on in our cut 60 take a listen to our friends at k e y t then it was time for defense attorney robert singer to respond in his opening statements he said that although this is a tragic situation there is quote no evidence what happened to her singer explaining he'll show smart was engaged in at-risk behavior also had a history of lying he also said flores has been the victim of a concerted media campaign from the very start to paint him as the killer singer also added that law enforcement has no case reporting uh resorting

i should say to using sting operations several times throughout the many years that have gone by he also questioned the credentials and the accuracy of the forensic experts the prosecution intends to testify, including dog handlers and soil scientists. Also says that evidence will not support supposed timelines the prosecution will present. Sanger ended up by saying to the jurors, quote, I am going to ask you to find Paul Flores not guilty. Well, you may ask for it, but I pray to God you don't get it. Why? Because of lies. Talking about someone lying other than blaming Kristen Smart for at-risk behavior.

Their words, not mine, for going to a party. I want you to take a listen to our cut 51. Our friends at KTLA listen. Investigators say damning evidence was found at both, including blood evidence and clothing fibers underneath Ruben's back porch showing that Smart had once been buried there forensic physical evidence was located and yes we believe it's it's linked to Kristen last spring Paul was arrested at a San Pedro home where he's lived since 2011 for Smart's murder.

It happens to be that he's been lying to us. Then it's really going to, you know, it's going to make me feel stupid, you know, because he said he didn't. His father was also arrested for accessory in Smart's disappearance. Now, 26 years later, Paul Flores and his father are set to stand trial. Take a listen to our cut 58, our friends at CBS Sacramento. Up first, Chris Prevel, an assistant district attorney who told the jury point blank, the evidence will show Kristen was murdered by Paul Flores. He took the jury back 26 years to 1996.

The iPhone didn't exist. Bill Clinton was the president. and since then, he said, quote, a lot has changed. What has not changed since 1996, Prevel explained, was what he called Flores' predatory behavior towards women. Into the courthouse for his son and his own opening statements, Ruben Flores. Attorneys for the Flores father and son duo told the jury there's no body, no physical evidence, and no forensic evidence that linked Paul to Kristen's disappearance. Paul left her at the dorms, his attorney said, and asked the jury to focus on the evidence or what he described as, quote, sort of evidence. Right now, this trial underway. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.