Paul Flores was convicted of killing Kristin Smart and now justice has been served - on Friday he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. During the Monterey County Superior Court sentencing, Judge Jennifer O'Keefe described Flores as a "cancer to society". She rejected motions to toss out the conviction, acquit him and order a new trial.

Smart, 19, had vanished from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Her remains have never been found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002. It was believed that Flores, then a first-year student, walked her home from an off-campus party and attempted to rape her in his dorm room. To this day, Flores has never admitted his guilt.

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Chris Peuvrelle asked the judge for the maximum sentence