Just eight months after being attacked in state prison, the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart was stabbed by another inmate and hospitalized again. The incident is being investigated as an attempted homicide.
Paul Flores, 47, was convicted in 2022 of killing Smart, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo student last seen on campus with Flores more than 25 years ago and was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison for first-degree murder.
On Wednesday at 3:27 p.m., staff at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, Calif., witnessed Flores being stabbed by another inmate on the recreation yard, a spokesperson for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Responding officers quickly put an end to the incident without using force, according to the CDCR. Two inmate-manufactured weapons were recovered from the scene.
An injured Flores was transported to an outside medical facility for a higher level of care. He has since returned to the prison and is in fair condition.
No other staff or incarcerated people were injured.
The person who attacked Flores, whose name was not disclosed, has been placed in restricted housing as the investigation continues, the CDCR said.
The prison’s investigative services unit is looking into the incident, and the Office of the Inspector General has been notified.
CDCR has not released any other details.
The facility did not clarify whether this was the same person who stabbed Flores last August.
In the first attack, Jason Budrow, 43, stabbed Flores in the neck, causing Flores to be hospitalized for two days, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported.
Budrow is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole for two separate murders, one being the murder of Roger Reece Kibbe, the serial rapist and killer known as the “I-5 Strangler.”
Flores was arrested in connection to Smart’s disappearance in 2021 after San Luis Obispo County resident Chris Lambert released the “Your Own Backyard” podcast series, which unearthed information previously unseen by the local sheriff’s office.
Smart’s body has never been found. Flores was convicted in October 2022 of murder for killing Smart, his classmate, during an attempted rape in his dorm room in May 1996.
Flores’ attorney, Harold Mesick, could not be reached for comment. KSBY reported that Mesick said he plans to request that Flores be moved to another facility.
