Couple Who Met Fugitive Heir Helped Nab Him
L O S A N G E L E S, June 20 -- When Andrew Luster showed up at the door of an American couple who own a resort community in Puerto Vallarta in April, he claimed to be a surfer from Hawaii looking to buy real estate.
But two months later, resort owners Min Labanauskas and Mona Rains learned who Luster really was, and that he was wanted by the FBI.
In the hours before his takedown, Labanauskas and Rains followed Luster as he was club-hopping in Puerto Vallarta. They were helping bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman hunt him down and were there for his capture.
Luster, an heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune, was convicted in January in absentia. A California court sentenced him to 124 years for multiple counts of rape, poisoning and drug possession a few days after he vanished during a recess in the trial. He had posted $1 million in bail before he left.
A Surfer from Hawaii?
Then, Luster apparently assumed a new identity in Mexico.
Luster introduced himself to Labanauskas as David Carerra. Labanauskas said Luster claimed he was a surfer from Hawaii who had been traveling around Mexico for two months, looking to buy some property for other people as a real estate investment.
"Andrew showed up one afternoon with the intentions of looking for property," Labanauskas said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "We showed him around and then he stayed to party with some of the guests," he said.
Luster stayed overnight in one of the resort's empty villas and left a thank-you note in the morning, Labanauskas said.
A Generous Guest
The couple took a trip to the United States in mid-April through May, and while they were gone, Luster stayed at one of their villas again, and one of the resort's maids gave them a note he had left saying he had surfed and fished and loved the area.
Labanauskas said Luster left a number where he could be reached, but Labanauskas said he never called him until he got a surprising e-mail, which included a link to a Web site, from friends who believed they recognized Luster.
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