Jason Budrow: Inmate who murdered 'I-5 Strangler' pleads not guilty to slashing Kristin Smart's killer
COALINGA, CALIFORNIA: Jason Budrow, the infamous inmate who made headlines three years ago for murdering the notorious 'I-5 Strangler' in prison, is once again at the center of a prison ambush.
After being accused of slashing Paul Flores, the convicted killer of Kristin Smart, Budrow pleaded not guilty to the jailhouse attack that occurred on August 23, 2023 at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.
Timeline of Jason Budrow's attack on Paul Flores
Budrow allegedly crafted a makeshift weapon and attacked Flores, leaving him seriously injured, just a week after the convict was transferred to the facility. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), yard staff witnessed Flores collapsing between the recreational yard and the medical clinic following the assault.
Flores was quickly transported to an outside hospital in serious condition, where he spent two days before returning to prison.
Budrow, 43, faced the court on Monday, January 8, pleading not guilty to four felony charges, including the use of a prison-made deadly weapon and assault by an inmate serving a life sentence. If convicted on these charges, he could potentially receive an additional sentence of 27 years to life in prison.
Notably, authorities have yet to provide a motive for Budrow's alleged attempt on Flores' life, or an explanation of how the former gained access to the latter and the current housing arrangements of both inmates, as per Fox.
Who is Paul Flores?
Flores, who is serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for the 1996 high-profile murder of Smart, has been a figure of infamy since his conviction in the decades-old cold case. Smart and Paul were 19-year-old students at California Polytechnic State University college. On May 25, 1996, she mysteriously disappeared while walking home from a college frat party.
(San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office)
The murder remained unsolved for years until a 2019 podcast 'Your own Backyard' reopened the pandora's box. Paul was convicted of murdering her while trying to rape her after the party. Moreover, after killing the victim, the suspect hid her body in his father Ruben Flores' backyard and allegedly moved the body years later in 2020, reported authorities.
Investigators claimed Paul's father assisted him in concealing Smart's body, but he was found not guilty of being an accomplice to the murder. Nevertheless, her body was never found, and she was declared legally dead in 2002.
Who is Jason Budrow?
Budrow, a self-described Satanist with a prominent "666" tattoo above his right eye, had previously made headlines for killing his girlfriend in 2010 and, more recently, strangling his cellmate, Roger Reece Kibbe, known as the 'I-5 Strangler.'
Kibbe terrorized the Interstate 5 corridor in the 1970s and 1980s, raping and strangling at least seven women. Budrow, claiming a mission to avenge Kibbe's victims, deliberately arranged to share a cell with Kibbe and took matters into his own hands.
