San Luis Obispo County Sheriff discusses Kristin Smart murder trial
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.- San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson says he has more work to do in the aftermath of the Kristin Smart murder trial.
Sheriff Parkinson promised yesterday to find Kristin's body and return her to the family.
“I made a promise that we would see this case through to the best of my ability. And one of that promises was to recover Kristin and return to the family. That has not been done yet. So we will continue our investigation until we can find Kristen," said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson.
Parkinson said finding the body is going to be based on investigative and public leads. and says he has mixed feelings on the case.
“I felt it was just and the verdict was right. However, you know, there is no there is no winner in this because the Smart family is still missing their daughter and and they would like her remains return. So I kind of had mixed feelings. I ultimately believe that that's the purpose of a jury. And their decision is why we have a system like this," said Ian Parkinson.
He also said it was surprising to hear the verdict on Ruben Flores.
“Surprising. You know, both juries are responsible to determine their portion of the case. And so I think you see Ruben's case that, you know, the jury obviously doesn't believe in Ruben's guilt, that there was enough evidence to convict Ruben so there are essentially two different cases going on. So they do have some shared evidence and and such. But there are also things that that Ruben's jury wasn't necessarily privy to," said Ian Parkinson.
He said a case like this is a complicated case and it took a group of people to solve this case.
“This investigation was a collective group. And if you, you know, you take for instance, I mentioned Chris Lambert in the podcast. That was a piece to it. I think, though, it required, from my point of view, somebody that was very passionate about seeking the truth picking up a case that, you know, that has is that old is very difficult. It's not an easy job. We're very fortunate. The two investigators that I had appointed, one was Chief Deputy Nate Paul did a great job. And then along came a detective client call who brought it home and really was passionate about seeking the truth and getting the truth to a jury to make a decision," said Ian Parkinson.
