San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office via AP, Axel Koester/Sygma via Getty
After going to prison for strangling his girlfriend to death, Jason Budrow later strangled to death his cellmate – Robert Kibbe, the infamous“I-5 Strangler” serial killer— in 2021. Now, Budrow, 43, is back in a California court, accused of yet another murder attempt against an inmate: for allegedly slashing the throat of college studentKristin Smart’smurdererwhile they were together in the prison yard,the Associated Press reports.
Jason Budrow.California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation via AP
California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation via AP
Budrow and Paul Flores – who was arrested for Smart’s 1996 murder in 2021 and was convicted the following year – were both inmates at Pleasant Valley State Prison in central California, where Flores was serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the 19-year-old student’s murder.
Smart, a college first year whose body was never found, disappeared from the California Polytechnic State University campus Memorial Day weekend in 1996.
Kristin Smart.Axel Koester/Sygma via Getty
Axel Koester/Sygma via Getty
Over the summer, Budrow, who sports a “666” tattoo over his right eyebrow according to his mug shot, allegedly slashed Flores in the neck at their prison yard August 23, authorities have said, the AP reports.
Paul Flores.San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office via AP
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office via AP
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Budrow was relatively new to Pleasant Valley State Prison, per the AP. In 2021, he was held at Mule Creek State Prison, but was removed after strangling to death his new cellmate,Kibbe, who was notorious for a string of rapes and murders in the 1970s and 1980s. Kibbe was known for cutting the clothing of his female victims into distinctive patterns.
Budrow – already serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole for the two prior convicted stranglings of the serial killer and his girlfriend – now potentially faces another 27 years behind bars if convicted of the new charges, the AP reports.
Budrow is scheduled to return to Fresno County Superior Court March 11 for a preliminary hearing, according to the courts.
source: people.com
