Paul Flores’ assailant murdered previous cellmate, the I-5 Strangler
October 19, 2023
By KAREN VELIE
Jason Budrow, a prisoner who killed a former cellmate, allegedly attempted to kill Paul Flores in late August at Pleasant Valley State Prison. Flores is serving a 25 to life sentence for the 1996 murder of Kristin Smart, a coed at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
Prison staff put Flores in a yard with Budrow and other inmates less than a week after he arrived at the prison in Colinga. At approximately 10 a.m. on Aug. 23, Budrow allegedly approached Flores from behind and attempted to cut his throat. Flores, who raised an arm to block the assault, suffered a wound to one side of his neck.
Flores fell to the ground between the recreational yard and the medical clinic, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Guards ordered everyone to the ground and summoned medical staff.
Budrow was standing nearby “with a manufactured weapon,” according to the CDCR. The suspect quickly surrendered.
After a two-day stay at a hospital in the Fresno area, Flores was returned to prison.
Budrow, a self-described satanist who has “666” tattooed above his right eye, has a bizarre criminal history. In 2004, he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
In 2010, Budrow murdered his girlfriend at his trailer home in Riverside County. At the time, he believed she was a police informant. He put her body in the trunk of his car and drove her to a sheriff’s substation.
In 2021, Budrow killed the “I-5 Strangler,” the first day they became cellmates at Mule Creek State Prison. Budrow confessed to killing 81-year-old Roger Kibbe “with a triangle choke hold.”
Kibbe was a serial killer and rapist who killed eight women between 1977 and 1987.
Budrow wrote a five-page letter to The Mercury News in 2021, saying he was moved by “a dark omen and spiritual calling” to kill Kibbe. In killing Kibbe, Budrow said he released the souls of Kibbe’s victims.
While incarcerated, on April 4, 2022, Budrow was sentenced to another consecutive life term, without the possibility of parole.
Budrow, 43, remains in Pleasant Valley State Prison. The CDRC recently finished their investigation into the attempted murder of Flores and sent the information to the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
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