California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Paul Ruben Flores, the man convicted of murdering college freshman Kristin Smart, was hospitalized after being attacked in a California prison, his attorney confirmed on Wednesday. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Flores, 46, was in serious condition at an outside medical facility, according to KSBY News. The circumstances surrounding his attack are under investigation, and few other details were immediately available. The incident comes just a few days after it was announced Flores had been transferred from North Kern State Prison, where he’d been awaiting the processing of his appeal since March, to what was supposed to be a more permanent housing situation at Pleasant Valley State Prison. Long the prime suspect in the case, Flores was convicted of killing Smart, who disappeared without a trace in 1996, last October. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison earlier this year, with a judge calling him “a cancer to society.” It was not immediately clear how the attack would affect the status of an Aug. 24 hearing at which Flores was expected to appear for the restitution awarded to the Smart family.
