Kristin Smart's murderer Paul Flores is stabbed in California jail - the second attack he's suffered in last year

Paul Flores, the convicted killer of college student Kristin Smart, was injured in a brutal attack at a prison in California on Wednesday.

Flores, 47, was stabbed with an inmate-manufactured weapon, making it the second time someone has tried to kill him in the past year.

The stabbing, which is being considered an attempted homicide, occurred in the recreation yard at Pleasant Valley State Prison around 3:30 pm.

According to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, prison guards were able to stop the violence with verbal commands.

An injured Flores was rushed to an outside health facility for medical care before later being returned to the prison in stable condition.

On Wednesday, Paul Flores (pictured in his mugshot) was stabbed in the recreation yard at Pleasant Valley State Prison. It's the second time Flores has been attacked by another inmate in the past year

Kristin Smart (pictured) disappeared in 1996 after a California college party - and Flores was found guilty after a crime podcast helped crack the case more than two decades later

Both attempts on Flores's life have occurred in the recreation yard at Pleasant Valley State Prison (pictured)

The suspected inmate involved in the attack, whose name has not yet been disclosed, was put in restricted housing. 

Prison officials recovered two suspected inmate-fabricated weapons. Aside from killer Paul Flores, no other inmates or prison officials were injured in the attack.

In August, the 47-year-old was severely injured when another inmate slashed him in the neck with a weapon.

That attack occurred in the same recreation yard of the same California prison in which Flores was attacked on Wednesday. 

He had been transferred to the prison only a week prior to the assault. He was previously locked up in the North Kern State Prison.

After the slashing in August, the Kristin Smart's murderer was whisked to a hospital, where his condition quickly stabilized. He was returned to prison two days later.

Jason Budrow, who has been accused of the August attack, has pleaded not guilty to felony charges including attempted murder and assault by an inmate serving a life sentence.

Flores, pictured in court in Salinas, California for his sentencing in March, was rushed to an outside hospital after the attack on Wednesday. He recovered quickly and was returned to the prison

Smart and Flores were both students at California Polytech University in San Luis Obispo when she vanished in 1996 

Authorities have not yet offered potential motives for either attack, leaving many to speculate on possible reasons for the separate incidents.

Flores is currently serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for the murder of Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old college freshman who disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo over Memorial Day weekend in 1996.

The case was cold and remained unsolved for decades until a 2020 true-crime podcast galvanized the local police, which eventually led to the arrest of of Flores in 2021.

Although authorities never recovered Smart's body, they believe that Flores raped her in his dorm room before murdering her.

She had left an off-campus part in Flores's company on May 25, 1996, around 2 in the morning.

Flores claimed he escorted Smart to her dorm, but she was never seen again. Three days later, a missing persons report was filed.

Friends said that Smart was drunk and that Flores repeatedly said that he would walk her home.

Early on in the case, Flores was established as a person of interest, but to this day, he maintains his innocence.

Both Flores and his father, Ruben, were charged in connection with Smart's death.

Flores (pictured in 1996) became a person of interest shortly after Kristin Smart was announced missing. However, the case went cold and remained unsolved for decades

It wasn't until a true-crime podcast covered the story in 2020 that interest in the case was reawakened; pictured: a missing person flyer from the time of Smart's disappearance

Flores is now serving a 25-year-to-life sentence for Smart's murder

Prosecutors contended that Ruben assisted his son in stashing Smart's body under their backyard deck for years.

The father and son were suspected of moving Smart's remains once interest in the case started mounting in 2020.

Flores was found guilty of murder in October last year.

The trial was held in Salinas, about 110 miles north of San Luis Obispo, after the defense successfully argued that the case's notoriety precluded a fair trial for Flores and his father in their home county.

One of the items dredged up in the courtroom battle was an interview the Arroyo Grand Police Department conducted with Flores on June 19,  1996.

During the interview, Flores was repeatedly asked how he got his black eye.

'It didn't really matter,' Flores said. 'It was days later'.

Asked why his story about the black eye had changed, Flores said: 'Why does it matter if I leave out little details'?

A jury found Flores guilty of first-degree murder in October. A separate jury acquitted Ruben Flores, 81, of being an accessory in the crime.

Flores is seen in an interview at the time of Smart's disappearance

'After 26 years, with today's split verdicts, we learned that our quest for justice for Kristin will continue,' Kristin's dad, Stan Smart, said at a press conference.

'This has been an agonizingly long journey, with more downs than ups, but we are grateful and appreciate the diligence and energy of the two juries to thoroughly review the facts and reach their decision'.

He continued: 'To our Kristin: Almost three decades ago, our lives were irreparably changed on the night you disappeared.

'Know that your spirit lives on in each and every one of us, every day. Not a single day goes by where you aren't missed, remembered, loved and celebrated.'