COALINGA, Calif. — Paul Flores, the man convicted of killing college student Kristin Smart, was stabbed Wednesday in a California prison. It was the second attack on the prison in the past year, authorities said.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said staff members witnessed the stabbing in the recreation yard at Pleasant Valley State Prison just before 3:30 p.m. and were able to stop the assault with verbal commands.
The injured Flores, 47, was taken to an outside medical facility for treatment and later returned to the prison in good condition, officials said.
The inmate accused of assault, whose name has not been released, was housed in restrictive housing, the Department of Corrections said. The attack is being investigated as attempted murder.
According to the department, two weapons believed to have been manufactured by inmates were recovered. No other staff or inmates were injured.
In August, Flores was slashed in the neck by another inmate in the yard of the same prison in Coalinga, central California. Flores was hospitalized and returned to prison two days later.
The suspect in the attack, Jason Budrow, has pleaded not guilty to felony charges including attempted murder and assault by an inmate serving a life sentence.
Authorities have not said a motive for either attack.
Flores is serving a 25-year to life sentence for the murder of 19-year-old Smart, who disappeared from the California Institute of Technology in San Luis Obispo on Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
Prosecutors allege that Mr. Flores killed Mr. Smart during an attempted rape in his college dorm room, where both were freshmen. He was last seen walking Smart home from an off-campus party. Her body was never found.
Flores was arrested in 2021, convicted in 2022 and sentenced last year.