California Inmate Accused of Stabbing Kristin Smart Killer Faces Life Sentence

 


Prosecutors in Fresno County, California have filed charges against Jason Richard Budrow, the inmate accused of stabbing Paul Ruben Flores, the convicted murderer of college student Kristin Smart.

Budrow, himself a convicted murderer, allegedly attacked Flores with a homemade weapon at Pleasant Valley State Prison on August 23rd, causing serious neck injuries. Flores was airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Budrow now faces four new charges:

  • Assault with a deadly weapon on a prison inmate
  • Inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant
  • Bringing a deadly weapon into a prison
  • Possession of a deadly weapon by a prisoner

If convicted, Budrow could face 27 years to life in prison, plus an additional 9 years for the enhancements. This sentence would be additional to the life sentence he is already serving for the murders of his girlfriend and a cellmate.

Motive for the attack remains unclear. Budrow is also serving a life sentence for murdering cellmate Roger Reece Kibbe, known as the I-5 Strangler. Budrow claimed he killed Kibbe to avenge the serial killer's victims.

Flores was serving a 25-to-life sentence for the 1996 murder of Smart, his fellow student at California Polytechnic State University. Smart's body has never been found, and a separate jury acquitted Flores' father of helping hide the body.

[SOURCE]

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