Kristin Smart murder trial focus shifts to Ruben Flores, derogatory nicknames for Smart
SALINAS -- The Kristin Smart murder trial continued in Salinas Monday, at the start of the sixth week of testimony, 26 years after the Stockton teenager disappeared during her freshman year at California Polytechnic University.
Smart's former classmate, Paul Flores, and his father, Ruben, are on trial in connection to her disappearance. Paul is charged in her death during an attempted rape and Ruben is charged with helping his son hide Smart's body in his backyard, according to prosecutors.
Ruben's Arroyo Grande home was at the center of evidence introduced in court on Monday with a range of witnesses from the home's original contractor to a former renter of Ruben's who lived in a room inside the home. Jurors saw photos of the home's blueprints, early construction photos, and a photo of the front of the home introduced during the first week of testimony -- when Smart's father noted an altercation that took place in the home's front yard.
The details, San Luis Obispo County Deputy District Attorney Chris Peuvrelle, laid out during opening statements for jurors. That the home was important because it's where, he said the DA's office will prove, Smart was buried for a period of time after her disappearance.
Since she was last seen leaving an off-campus party on Memorial Day weekend 1996, Smart's body has never been found. A note the Flores father and son's attorneys reminded jurors at the start of the trial and in opening statements.
David Stone lived at Ruben's home on White Court in Arroyo Grande from 2010-2020. He rented a rear room of the home from Ruben and found the listing on Craigslist. Peuvrelle asked if he ever heard the name Kristin Smart mentioned while he lived in the house.
"I heard the name," Stone said.
Peuvrelle asked if Stone saw anyone go under the deck in the decade he lived at the White Ct. home and he told the court, "No." He told the court he and Ruben always got along, and when Ruben raised the rent, Stone moved to Texas.
These facts established Stone as a roommate, but it's a conversation he said he overheard in the home that Peuvrelle asked about. Peuvrelle asked if Stone overheard a conversation by Ruben that referenced Smart.
Stone said he couldn't tell whose voice that was, it could have been Ruben, but it also could have been another person. Stone didn't see that other person, he explained, but shared with the court what he did hear.
"I heard the word Kristin... the phrase 'effing slut'" said Stone. He would add, after he was asked by Peuvrelle, that he never heard a last name used alongside Kristin.
Stone told Peuvrelle that he doesn't remember telling a detective that Ruben called Smart a "dirty slut" "all the time."
During cross-examination by Paul's attorney, Robert Sanger, Stone is asked about Ruben's reaction to his use of the back deck, where prosecutors believe Smart's body was once buried.
Sanger: "You weren't restricted from going into the deck."
Stone: "He got mad at me for putting them [55-gallon tanks] down there... without asking." Sanger noted that in his original statement to law enforcement Stone said he was not allowed under the deck.
Stone: "He didn't want you to go down there unless he gave you permission. It's his house."
Sanger asked about Stone's knowledge of the "Your Own Backyard Podcast," credited as reigniting public interest in Smart's disappearance. Sanger asked if Stone had read other things online about the case, to which Stone agreed he saw information online.
Sanger: "You offered the opinion that if someone were to hide a body they could go under the house to the basement area."
Stone: "Underneath the house." He has not seen the area under the deck but said aloud in court, "I assume it's just a big crawl space."
Jurors saw photos of Ruben's home during construction as part of testimony from the home's original contractor, Edward Chadwell. He described the process of building a home in San Luis Obispo in 1996, that included his supervision of the foundation work at Ruben's home. He did the framing and the foundation of the home to save as much money as he could.
Chadwell read an excerpt from a previous interview with law enforcement to the court that they did not find human bodies during the building of the house. Chadwell explained, if that was the case, they would have had to notify the county and stop the building.
He added they also did not find any primate or ferret bodies buried on the property during construction. Add to it, Chadwell confirmed there were no injuries during construction.
This line of questioning backs Peuvrelle and the prosecution's case, as outlined in opening statements for both juries, that the only link to human remains on the property appeared after Smart disappeared. Through Chadwell's testimony, the prosecution asked pointed questions to clear potential juror doubts that there were no animal or human remains on the property during construction.
Sanger and Harold Mesick, Ruben's attorney, have both told the court that there is no body and no physical evidence that links the father and son to Smart's disappearance. The prosecution, as outlined through Monday's testimony, argues that physical evidence can be forensic evidence, as proof her body was buried at the home for a period of time.
Finally, jurors heard about Ruben's home and habits through the testimony and eyes of his neighbor, Jamie Lynn Holman, who lived within eyesight of Ruben's home in February 2020.
From her testimony, jurors hear about activity at the home after the "Your Own Backyard Podcast" was released. She said she saw Ruben's ex-wife and Paul's mother, Susan Flores, at the home more often in the time after the podcast was out.
On February 9, 2020, Holman noticed what she described as "unusual activity" when a red SUV was parked parallel to the house and a cargo trailer backed up into the garage, "which I thought was unusual," she said.
When the sun set, the cargo trailer, "was pulled in instead of backed in" to the back side of the garage at Ruben's house. All of the vehicles were still parked at the home the following morning, Holman said.
The incident was described as "unusual" by Holman, who said she had not seen vehicles parked overnight before that night in 2020.
Holman's testimony would support the prosecution's theory that, at some point, Smart's body was moved from Ruben's home.
The trial will resume Tuesday.
Nicolás Viñuela is a CBS contributor to this post and is a general assignment reporter for the Mustang Daily News.