Kristin Smart, a California college student who has gone missing for nearly 25 years was found dead.
According to authorities, her body was once buried in the backyard of the murder suspect’s father.
Ruben Flores, now 80, and his son, Paul, 44, have pleaded not guilty to the murder after Paul was accused of killing Kristin, while his father was charged with accessory for murder after allegedly hiding the victim’s body but pleaded not guilty in the end.
The Tribune of San Luis Obispo reported that Kristin’s body was recently moved out from Ruben’s house.
Paul and Kristin were both freshmen at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.
On May 25, 1996, Kristin was last seen with Paul and according to the witness, they were both intoxicated after an off-campus party.
Kristin apparently walked home with Paul. However, authorities say that he tried to rape her and eventually killed her in his dorm room.
From being a “person of interest” to a “suspect” to “the prime suspect,” the now defendant has been under suspicion from the earliest days of Kristin’s disappearance.
“So minimal as to shock the conscience,” Attorney Harold Mesick said, criticizing the evidence used to arrest father and son.
Biological evidence from San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department indicated that Ruben’s deck behind his house is where Kristin was once buried.
“The excavation below his deck showed damning evidence that a body had been buried in that location and then recently moved,” prosecutor Christopher Peuvrelle said.
Puvrelle added that if freed, Ruben would help cover up the crime for his son which he did for nearly a quarter-century.
“Due to the evidence gleaned from the excavation, it is reasonable to believe Ruben Flores currently knows the location of Kristin Smart’s remains,” said Puevrelle. “Should he be allowed bail, it is a virtual certainty that he would use his freedom to continue his attempts to help Paul Flores thwart prosecution in this case and continue to hide her remains.”
Authorities recently said that though they haven’t told the exact location, they’re confident that they know where the never-been-found remains of Kristin are buried.
A search at Ruben’s house was made. During the search, cadaver dogs and ground-penetrating radar was used by the investigators to give light to concrete evidence connected directly to Kristin’s murder and arrested the two suspects.
The investigators returned to the yard to investigate and they haven’t revealed what was found, authorities said.
A gag order was cited by the defendant’s lawyer who’s not willing to give any comment.
At the time of the arrest, enough evidence was gathered by the sheriff to win convictions, but Attorney Mesick still questioned the need for investigators to keep on searching evidence after making arrests.
Many innocent explanations were given as to why soil had previously been dug up in the yard, the lawyer argued. He said for instance that a backhoe had excavated a trench to dump soil and removed it to lay a nearby foundation.
$250,000 bail was set for Ruben who’s currently in the San Luis Obispo jail and suffering from health problems. His son, on the other hand, was ordered held without bail.
Nikki Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the court said that documents that stated why prosecutors didn’t want either man to be released were not supposed to be in public.
A gag order was issued by the judge handling the case to prevent the lawyers, investigators, witnesses, and others from releasing the document or speaking about the case.