Posted on 07/16/2024 10:53:28 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni announced Tuesday the arrest of a man in connection with the murder of a Pruendale restaurant owner and his mother-in-law in 1991.
Ira Ulyesses Bastian, 85, currently a Fresno resident, is charged with the murder of George Smith, 67, and his 79-year-old mother-in-law, Eva Thompson.
George Smith owned Smith’s Restaurant, located on El Camino Real at the time. Bastian was a former employee at Smith's, said Pacioni.
On Nov. 11, 1991, Anna Smith returned home from running errands and found her husband and mother had been "brutally stabbed to death." Her mother, who was unable to walk, was found dead in her hospital-style bed.
Bastian was considered a suspect in the initial investigation, but no arrests were ever made, said Pacioni.
"The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office diligently pursued the case for decades and continued to submit and re-submit items of evidence in the case for newer and more sophisticated DNA testing," said Pacioni. "In 2024, an additional round of DNA testing yielded sufficient evidence to support the arrest and filing of criminal charges."
Bastian was arrested on Monday. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with special circumstance allegations that he murdered while committing a burglary and that he did multiple murders. It is also alleged he used a knife during the crimes, said Pacioni.
If convicted on one or more charges, he faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. He will be arraigned on Tuesday.
That’s a lot of murders🤣
1991 murders? No wonder he has no customers….
One of those towns that we mostly drive right past. They do have a nice Western store there, though.
The defendant is 85 years old? They better move quick to convict him.
What does he care if he is sentenced to life in prison? He’s 85 years old. Life in prison, so what, maybe 5 years?
I’m guessing it’s a very uncomfortable way to go. Not a great place for an 85 year old.
He is 85. What good is the death penalty?
He has been sweating increased DNA evidence techniques for over 30 years. Surprised he could live until 85.
So, earlier this year, the DNA samples gathered in 1991 were re-examined. I didn’t realize DNA samples remained ‘good’ for that length of time. One would have expected the samples to be desiccated and fragmented by now.
You beat me to it!!
Don’t they sometimes find DNA on ancient archaeological finds?
That’s true. I’ve heard about it often.
To paraphrase the great Joni Mitchell:
‘I really don’t know DNA Science ... At All!”
I memorized enough for school tests, but forgot most of it, since that topic rarely comes up in my real life.
**One of the most interesting and prolific posters on Free Republic has a name something like SUNKEN CIV.
DNA searches are a big part of his milieu.
The judge was going to give him five years, but his lawyer got it reduced to life.
Black on white murders?
Yes, awful headline. Do the publishers ever read such stuff aloud to themselves?
The suspected killer is black. The murders were in California. No way he gets the death penalty.
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