86-year-old convicted in 1991 Prunedale diner killings after new DNA evidence - Local News Matters

Prunedale Diner Murders: Former Employee Convicted in 1991 Case - USA Herald

The Prunedale Diner Murders of 1991, a cold case that haunted Monterey County for more than three decades, has finally resulted in a conviction.  On Tuesday, an 86-year-old former employee, Ira Ulysses Bastian, was found guilty of murdering George Smith and his mother-in-law, Eva Thompson, at Smith’s Restaurant in Prunedale. A Brutal Crime at a Family Restaurant On November 11, 1991, Anna Smith returned from errands to find the bodies of her hus…

86-year-old convicted in 1991 Prunedale diner killings after new DNA evidence - Local News Matters

A jury convicted an 86-year-old former restaurant employee of murdering two people more than three decades ago at a family-run diner in Prunedale, Monterey County prosecutors said. In a statement Tuesday, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office said jurors found Ira Bastian guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the 1991 killings of George Smith, 67, and his mother-in-law, Eva Thompson, 79. They also upheld special-circumstance a…