Kristin Smart’s killer Paul Flores was seriously injured Wednesday after being attacked at a California state prison.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, he was taken to the hospital from Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.
The details surrounding the attack are currently unknown. His attorney was notified of the incident by corrections officers, but he told police New York Post he didn’t know much else.
An investigation into his injuries is ongoing and details have not yet been released.
Flores, 46, was sentenced in March to 25 years to life without parole — more than 25 years after Smart’s 1996 murder.
Kristin Smart’s killer Paul Flores has been seriously injured after being attacked at a California state prison on Wednesday
Freshman Kristin Smart disappeared in 1996 after a college party in California — and Flores was found guilty after a crime podcast helped solve the case
Flores was transferred from North Kern State Prison to Fresno County Jail just last week before being assaulted.
His lawyer Harold Mesick said he was told about the incident but was not given further details.
“I’m just praying for his recovery,” he said.
The corrections department did not confirm that Flores had been assaulted, but said he was taken to an outside hospital. A spokesman for the department said an investigation is underway.
Smart and Flores were both students at California Polytech University in San Luis Obispo when she disappeared in 1996.
The case went unsolved for decades, but a 2020 true crimes podcast shocked local law enforcement.
As a result, Flores was arrested in 2021. Although the police never found her remains, they believe Flores raped and then killed her in his dorm room.
Smart left an off-campus party at around 2 a.m. on May 25, 1996, accompanied by Flores.
He claimed he took her as far as her dorm, but she was never seen again. A missing persons report was filed three days later.
Friends said she was drunk and Flores repeatedly said he would escort her home.
The mugshot of Flores after his 2021 arrest over Smart’s death, left. On the right, he is shown in an unrelated 1996 arrest photo, aged 19
Smart and Flores were both students at California Polytech University in San Luis Obispo when she disappeared in 1996
He was identified as a ‘person of interest’ early on in the case, but to this day maintains his innocence.
He and his father, Ruben, were both charged in connection with her death.
Prosecutors said Ruben helped his son by hiding Smart’s body under their backyard patio for years.
The pair were suspected of moving her remains when suspicion began to grow in 2020. Flores was found guilty of murder in October last year.
The trial took place in Salinas, Monterey County, about 110 miles north of San Luis Obispo, after the defense argued that the notoriety of the case prevented Flores and his father from getting a fair trial in their home county.
Flores was transferred to Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga from North Kern State Prison just last week before being attacked
Flores can be seen in an interview at the time of Smart’s disappearance
Paul Flores pictured in court in Salinas, California, before his sentencing in March
One of the items shown only in court during the trial was an interview with the Arroyo Grande Police Department on June 19, 1996. The film was obtained by KSBY.
Flores was questioned many times about how he got a black eye.
“It didn’t really matter,” Flores said. “It was days later.”
When asked why his story about the black eye changed, Flores said, “Why does it matter if I leave out little details?”
A jury in October found Flores guilty of first-degree murder. A separate jury acquitted 81-year-old Ruben Flores of complicity.