An 86-year-old Fresno man was convicted on Aug. 26 for a double-murder committed more than three decades ago in Prunedale.
According to Monterey County Sheriff spokesman Andres Rosas, Ira Ulyesses Bastian murdered George Smith, 67, and Eva Thompson, 79 in a Prunedale restaurant on Nov. 11, 1991.
The victims lived at the same site where the restaurant was located.
According to the investigation conducted by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, Smith’s wife had returned home and found that her husband had been stabbed multiple times.
Thompson had been beaten and strangled in her bed.
Investigators found a knife believed to have been used in the murders at the scene.
Bastian, who was 52 at the time of the double-murder, was identified as a former employee of the Smith’s restaurant, but denied having been at the restaurant for more than one year prior to the murders.
But his girlfriend at the time provided a pair of his shoes to Monterey County Sheriff’s investigators, who determined that they left impressions in the backyard of the restaurant, near where Bastian was believed to have made entry.
At the time of the initial investigation, Bastian was considered a suspect, but no charges were filed.
Investigators in 2024 and ‘25 resubmitted evidence, which showed that Bastian left his DNA on the shoes and on the knife, as well as on Thompson’s clothes.
He was arrested in Fresno on July 15, 2024.
“The persistence and dedication of our Monterey County Sheriff’s investigators, working alongside the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office and the Cold Case Task Force, brought justice to a case that remained unresolved for more than three decades,” Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto stated in a press release. “Their determination ensured that George Smith and Eva Thompson’s families now have closure. After 33 years, this conviction stands as a reminder that we never stop pursuing justice for victims and their loved ones.”
Bastian is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24, and is facing a prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
