Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of assault and substance abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
Evil Lives Here‘s latest episode, “I Saw Myself on Tape,” aired on ID on Sunday, March 31, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. It revolved around the crimes of a millionaire fugitive named Andrew Luster from southern California.
Andrew Luster is the great-grandson of Max Factor, the Polish-American founder of the cosmetics empire Max Factor & Company. Luster was found guilty on multiple counts of rape, poisoning, and drug possession involving three women. He allegedly charmed and drugged the women, following which he would sexually assault them. Moreover, CBS News reported that he recorded the assault in his bedroom and the tapes were later used to prove him guilty in court.
Having met in 1996, a woman named Tonja began dating Andrew Luster and lived with him for four months. According to her, Luster asked her to try out a drug called GHB on the night they met. CBS News reported that after Tonja tried it, she passed out for the rest of the night. When she went to authorities after he was arrested, they showed her tapes that revealed that he raped her that night after she was drugged.
According to ABC News, two other women also accused Andrew Luster of raping them after he drugged them. They claimed that he gave them the GHB drug and assaulted them in his Mussel Shoals beach house, which is located northwest of Los Angeles.
Andrew Luster’s trial began in December 2002. However, a fugitive warrant was issued for Luster in January 2003. He fled from an in-home detention after posting a bail of $1 million. He was convicted in absentia on 86 counts. However, Luster was later captured in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on June 18, 2003.
How many years was Andrew Luster sentenced to?
Andrew Luster was sentenced to 124 years in prison. In 2003, ABC News reported that Luster was ordered to pay $20 million in damages to Tonja. All three victims reportedly sued Luster over intentional infliction of emotional distress, rape, negligence, assault and fraud. Tonja testified that she was unaware of the sexual assault until investigators showed her the video as part of another investigation.
ABC 7 reported in December 2022 that Luster’s sentence was reduced to 50 years in 2013 and is expected to be released early. However, his parole was denied in 2022 after the prosecutor argued that Andrew Luster remains a threat to public safety.
After his escape in 2003, Andrew Luster was caught by the Mexican police and jailed after they received a call reporting a street scruffle at 5 a.m. Per The New York Times, witnesses told authorities that three men had attacked another man with what seemed like a spray aerosol and bundled him into a van. Duane Lee Chapman was a bail bondsman who had been pursuing Luster and took him down that morning. A video crew reportedly recorded the confrontation.
The latest Evil Lives Here episode revolves around the crimes, trial, and conviction of Andrew Luster. The episode aired on ID on March 31, 2024.
