On Monday, June 17, a judge in California ruled that the convicted murderer of 19 year-old Kristin Smart—a college student slain in 1996—must pay a little over $350,000 to her family in restitution for costs incurred by the family as the result of her death.
Jennifer O’Keefe, a judge at the Monterey County Superior Court, ordered killer Paul Flores to begin making payments after she presided over a hearing on Wednesday the 11th, wherein the family presented the court the records for its travel expenses, bills from private investigators, costs of billboards they posted soliciting information on their daughter’s murder, the memorial service, and lost wages from their grief and their hunt for Flores. After hearing the testimony and considering the evidence, the judge rendered her decision.
Kristin’s mother, Denise Smart, told the San Louis Obisbo Tribune that she felt that it demeaned her daughter’s memory to append a price tag to losing her. Nonetheless, while the family’s actual loss was emotional and the cost was their daughter, the financial difficulties that the loss created were real and substantial.
The family originally had sought $361,000 in restitution. In her ruling, Judge O’Keefe told the family that additional restitution could be sought should they decide to produce documentation for expenses not already accounted for.
In California, those who are convicted on criminal charges are required to compensate their victims for any expenses resulting from their crimes, regardless of whether the defendant is able to pay or not. The California Department of Corrections collects half of all prison wages and half of all money deposited into a convict’s prison trust account, and uses those collected funds to pay restitution.
Kristin Smart was a student at California Polytechnic State University—also known as Cal Poly—in the 1995-1996 school year. She disappeared in May 1996. Prosecutors alleged that she was killed when Flores attempted to violate her. He was eventually apprehended with the help of a True Crime podcast called “Your Own Backyard.”
