Paul Flores assaulted first day in general population at prison

August 24, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

Paul Flores, the man convicted of killing Cal Poly San Luis Obispo coed Kristin Smart,was stabbed in the neck during his first day in the general population at Pleasant Valley State Prison.

After less than a week at the state prison in Coalinga, on Wednesday prison staff placed Flores in the general population. Shortly afterwards, an assault left him in serious condition.

Emergency medical personnel airlifted the inmate to a hospital in the Fresno area. Flores is now listed in fair condition, according to his attorney Harold Mesick.

Flores murdered Smart in 1996 during an attempted rape following a Cal Poly frat party. After the party, Flores helped escort Smart, who was found passed out on a lawn outside the party, back to her dorm room. She was never seen again.

During a 2020 raid of Flores’ San Pedro home, deputies discovered multiple rape videos with titles including, “Drugged and raped while passed out” and “Blonde high school girl in skirt gets raped.” Investigators also found two bottles of date rape drugs in Flores’ home, prosecutors said.

In a file labeled “practice,” Flores stored homemade rape videos of himself having sex and sodomizing women.

For decades, women accused Paul Flores of sexual assaults, though it wasn’t until his 2022 murder trial that an alleged victim testified about a rape in court. Two woman testified that Flores drugged and then raped them.

In March 2023, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Jennifer O’Keefe sentenced Flores to 25 years to life in prison.

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