Family of Kristin Smart Sue University Over Murder

They say California Polytechnic State University had reports of her killer's disturbing behavior
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 21, 2024 6:01 AM CST
Family of Kristin Smart Sue University Over Murder
This undated photo released by the FBI shows Kristin Smart.   (FBI via AP, File)

The family of a California college student who vanished nearly three decades ago sued the school on Thursday, alleging it contributed to Kristin Smart's murder through negligence. Smart, then 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on the state's scenic Central Coast over Memorial Day weekend in 1996, per the AP. Her remains have never been found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002. Paul Flores was arrested in 2021, convicted of first-degree murder in 2022, and sentenced last year to 25 years to life in state prison.

Prosecutors say Flores killed Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at the university, where they were both first-year students. He was the last person seen with Smart as he walked home with her from an off-campus party. In their lawsuit, Smart's parents, brother, and sister say the university could have prevented her death if they had properly dealt with university police reports filed by four other female students. Those students said Flores had stalked and harassed them in the months leading up to Smart's disappearance.

The reports should have prompted the university to suspend or expel Flores, sending him back home "miles away from Kristin and the dorm room where he murdered her," the lawsuit says. The suit also contends that the university failed to pursue a proper and timely investigation into Smart's disappearance, including failing to seal Flores' dorm room and allowing it to be cleaned before it was finally searched 16 days after Smart vanished. In an email, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said the university had no comment because the matter is pending. However, last May, university President Jeffrey Armstrong publicly apologized to the family for how it handled the investigation into her disappearance.

(More Kristin Smart stories.)

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