LOS ANGELES — Paul Flores killed Kristin Smart in his dorm room as he raped or attempted to rape the 19-year-old college freshman, prosecutors said Wednesday in announcing they had filed a first-degree murder charge against Flores in the 1996 killing.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow disclosed that authorities are investigating whether Flores sexually assaulted other women in the San Pedro area, where Flores has lived since about 2005.
Prosecutors intend to present evidence of “prior sexual acts” and “other alleged incidents of abuse” in proving Flores committed the murder, a criminal complaint says.
Kristin Smart disappeared 24 years ago.
After focusing on Flores as a suspect since Smart vanished, Dow said investigators had obtained “significant new information” in the last two years, including “very important information” last month. Dow declined to elaborate. Sheriff’s investigators searched a home owned by Flores’ father last month.
Flores’ father, Ruben Flores, was also charged Wednesday with being an accessory to Smart’s murder. He is accused of helping his son dispose of Smart’s remains.
Both men have yet to enter a plea and are due to be arraigned Thursday morning in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.
