A new police interrogation video from 1996 has bene released, showing Paul Flores – who was only convicted of slain Cal Poly student Kristin Smart’s murder last year – being grilled with a black eye.
Flores was questioned in the 48-minute cop video about why he lied to investigators about how he got his black eye – which he first claimed he got by playing basketball and then later changed his story to say he hit his head on his car steering wheel.
The now-convicted murderer held his hands up and sputtered to the investigators: ‘Why does it matter if I leave out little details?’
The 45-year-old was found guilty in October 2022 of murdering 19-year-old Kristin Smart who disappeared from a college party in May 1996.
The evidence obtained by KSBY News this week not expected to be made available by the Monterey County Superior Court until after Flores’ sentencing.
Flores’ defense team filed a motion on February 24 for a new trial. His sentencing hearing will be held on March 10 when the judge will either sentence Flores or grant him a new trial.
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Paul Flores, who was convicted in 2022 of the 1996 murder of Kristin Smart, is seen in this police interrogation video from that same year being questioned on how he got his black eye
Flores’ defense team filed a motion on February 24 for a new trial. His sentencing hearing will be held on March 10 when the judge will either sentence Flores or grant him a new trial
Freshman Kristin Smart disappeared in 1996 after a California college party over two decades ago – and the prime suspect was found guilty after a crime podcast helped crack the case
The video that was shown only in the courtroom during the months-long trial last year was an interview that took place at the Arroyo Grande Police Department on June 19, 1996.
San Luis Obispo County district attorney’s officials interviewed Flores in June 1996, but he later invoked his Fifth Amendment right before a grand jury, and then again during a civil disposition.
When Flores was first interviewed, he had a black eye. He told them he got it playing basketball with friends, who denied his account, according to court records. He later changed his story to say he hitting his head while working on his car.
William Hanley and Larry Hobson, investigators with the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office, are heard on the video asking Flores: ‘Paul, is there anything else that you told us that you didn’t think it was a big deal?’
When he responds ‘no,’ they continue: ‘It’s not a big deal if you haven’t told us the truth.’
Flores says no again and then adds that they would have to take his word for it.
As they continue to question him about his black eye, Hobson asks: ‘Why was it so hard for you to tell us that you got that black eye hitting the steering wheel?’
‘It didn’t really matter,’ Flores responded.
‘What do you mean it didn’t matter?’ Hobson questioned.
‘It was days later,’ Flores said.
‘If it didn’t matter, then why did you lie about it?’
‘Why does it matter if I leave out little details?’ Flores responded.
Other trial evidence revealed included photos of Smart’s belongings that were found in her dorm, a handwritten letter from her mother Denise Smart and dirt samples taken from Ruben Flores’ home in Arroyo Grande.
There were also photos of the home where the off-campus party Smart attended the night she disappeared and a map outlining her walk back to the dorm that night.
This is evidence that was shown in court, found in Smart’s dorm at the time
Areas of Flores’ home that were examined and used as evidence at the time
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Flores is shown in an unrelated arrest photo from 1996, when he was 19. He was convicted in 2022 for Smart’s murder and his sentencing hearing will be Friday
Smart was a Cal Poly student who vanished after a night of partying in the college town in 1996. Paul Flores, right, seen as the verdict was read, was found guilty of her murder
Flores’ 81-year-old father Ruben (pictured) was charged with being an accessory after the fact. Ruben was found not guilty
An audio recording of a phone call between Paul and his mother, Susan Flores, on Jan. 26, 2020 was also released in the trial evidence.
The call was played in the courtroom during the trial last year, but only those in the courtroom could hear it because of the limitations put in place by the judge that allowed only still photos to be shown.
‘The other thing I need you to do is to start listening to the podcast. I need you to listen to everything they say so we could punch holes in it wherever we can punch holes,’ Susan is heard saying to Flores on the call. ‘Maybe we can’t, you’re the one that can tell me.’
Another recording – this one from May 19, 2021 – was when San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Detective Clint Cole collected DNA samples from Ruben Flores, Susan Flores, and her boyfriend.
‘Well, they [Susan and her boyfriend] haven’t committed no felonies […] I mean, I’m only the one. I’ve been arrested,’ Ruben Flores said.
Paul Flores is in custody at the San Luis Obispo County Jail awaiting his sentencing hearing on Friday. He faces 25 years to life behind bars.
Smart, 19, was a ‘bright’ student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She attended a party one night in May 1996, and was never seen again.
Smart’s body has still never been found.
Flores’ father, now 81, was alleged to have helped bury Kristin behind his home in Arroyo Grande, and later dug up the remains and moved them. But the jury found Ruben not guilty.
