Madera County Sheriff Tyson Pogue announces the death of Realtor Bob Boyajian during a news conference on Thursday, July 17.

Madera County Sheriff Tyson J. Pogue said Thursday that a 21-year-old IT worker for Bass Lake Realtor Robert “Bob” Boyajian admitted to murdering the 75-year-old and leaving his body in the Mojave Desert.

Audrik Matevosian confessed to killing Boyajian, whose body was found in a cave in San Bernardino County, Pogue said. Matevosian, who lived with his parents in Clovis, had previously provided IT services at Boyajian’s home in Bass Lake.

Pogue said Boyajian met the 21-year-old through Matevosian’s brother, who worked as bookkeeper for Boyajian.

Matevosian faces nine separate charges, including murder, intentional murder carried out for financial gain, theft of a bank ATM card and grand theft of a firearm. He is currently in Madera County Jail and is set to be arraigned Friday at 1:30 p.m.

 

During his interrogation, Matevosian initially referred to Boyajian in the past tense, Pogue said, first claiming he had committed suicide. He later changed his story, saying that Boyajian had requested assistance in ending his life.

Pogue said that Matevosian ultimately confessed to killing Boyajian around midnight on Saturday, July 12, and then driving his body to the Mojave Desert and burying him in a cave.

Matevosian said that Boyajian had previously taken him to that location on an off-roading trip, according to Pogue.

Pogue said their relationship was described as that of a grandfather and grandchild.

 

According to the confession, Pogue said Matevosian’s motives were two fold  — Boyajian had spoken disparagingly about his family, and also for financial gain.

Pogue said a week prior to the incident, Matevosian had purchased a body bag from Amazon. He also rented a vehicle in Fresno.

“We now consider this a premeditated homicide,” Pogue said.

On Saturday, July 12, Matevosian called Boyajian to make sure he was home, then traveled to his home in Bass Lake to spend the night, which witnesses said was not unusual behavior.

After Boyajian went to bed, Matevosian killed him around midnight, Pogue said.

He then wrapped Boyajian’s body in bedding, placed him in the body bag and drove his body to San Bernardino County. Official there will handle the coroner’s investigation and determine the cause of death.

The sheriff’s department recovered two firearms in Matevosian’s bedroom — a 9mm handgun that was reported stolen in March and a 10mm handgun that was identified as Boyajian’s concealed carry.

Boyajian’s wallet was discovered in Matevosian’s gym locker, and his cell phone at Woodward Park. The shovel allegedly used in the burial was also located, Pogue said.

“This is a deeply disturbing case. It’s a case of betrayal and premeditated violence. Mr. Boyajian was a trusted figure in our community and our hearts go out to his loved ones in this case,” Pogue said.

Pogue said detectives worked for 36 hours straight on the case, which began on Monday, July 14, when an employee of Boyajian contacted the sheriff’s department requesting a welfare check after he had missed an appointment and couldn’t be reached by phone — “extremely unusual based on his consistent behavior,” Pogue said.

Deputies conducted a check at the residence and found Boyajian’s vehicle in the garage and located his Apple watch, which he reportedly always wore inside his home. His wallet and cellphone were missing.

Deputies also noticed the bedding was missing from his bed.

They attempted to access the home’s security cameras, and spoke to Matevosian for help in that part of the investigation. Despite those efforts, they could not get access to the camera system, which was found to be offline.

When asked about the DVR system that saved the surveillance footage, Matevosian directed deputies to a specific location in a closet, but the device was missing, which escalated suspicions, Pogue said.

The department then obtained a search warrant to check Boyajian’s bank records.

Surveillance footage revealed that on Sunday, July 13, at around 8:30 p.m., Matevosian made a $1,000 ATM withdrawal at a bank near East Herndon Avenue in Clovis.

There were two other withdrawals attempted that same night that were rejected.

As the department publicly released images from the ATM surveillance, they received two simultaneous tips identifying Matevosian.

Boyajian was last seen alive on Saturday, July 12, in Bass Lake, where he lived and operated Boyajian Realty, said the sheriff’s office.

Boyajian, a Fresno native, started Robert Boyajian Real Estate in 1975. He began a home general contracting business in 1981.

He was remembered online as a generous person who helped people in need.