Days after cosmetics heir Andrew Luster ditched his Ventura County, Calif., rape trial, his truck was found, his dog was found, and on Jan. 21 Luster was found guilty of raping three women.  So now it's only Luster himself who remains to be found, a convicted felon on the lam three weeks and counting.

Luster with his dog.

Luster's disappearance may have hurt him at trial, but it could help him in the long run.  His attorney, Roger Jon Diamond, says the jury was prejudiced by Luster's absence, providing one of many grounds for appeal.

"They were given the instruction that flight could be construed as consciousness of guilt," said Diamond.  "It did impact it."

Luster is not the only defendant to jump a sinking ship.  In August 2001, a Bronx couple jumped their $5,000 bail after being charged with snatching and imprisoning a 12-year-old girl in March 1998.  They were convicted in absentia in September, sentenced to 25 years, and hit with additional felony bail-jumping charges after being nabbed in November 2001.

"Hippie Guru" Ira Einhorn was convicted at a second trial of killing Holly Maddux, his girlfriend.

In 1993, the Pennsylvania legislature granted a new trial to hippie guru Ira Einhorn, who was convicted while on the lam in France of murdering his girlfriend in 1979. French officials refused to extradite him, not recognizing convictions in absentia.  But the new trial led to the same result.  In 2002, Einhorn was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Not every state instructs a jury that a defendant's absence may be considered consciousness of guilt, as in California.  As veteran criminal defense attorney Pamela Hayes points out, some, like New York, actually do the opposite.

"Sometimes it helps," said Hayes, former chief of the sex crimes division with the Brooklyn district attorney's office.  "We call it trying an empty chair.  The judge tells the jury, 'Don't speculate.'" 

Luster, 39, was convicted in absentia of 86 counts, including multiple rape charges connected to assaults in 1996, 1997 and 2000.  Police say he videotaped sexual romps with unconscious women after drugging them with the date rape drug gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.

The great grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor skipped town after his prospects at trial grew bleak: One victim had already testified about the alleged abuses, and the jury was about to view a videotape labeled "Shauna GHBing."  He took with him his pet dog, later found at his mother's, and his Toyota 4-Runner, which was found last week.

Diamond, whose defense suggested Luster's victims were play-acting in the videos, says he has no idea where his client is.  "He hasn't called but if he did, I would keep it confidential," said the lawyer.  "My presumption is it's protected by attorney-client privilege."

Diamond plans to fight the conviction on a number of fronts.  First up is the sentencing, scheduled for Feb. 18. Diamond says his client, who could recieve the equivalent of a life sentence, shouldn't be sentenced in absentia.

For Luster's appeal bid to take off, he'll have to turn himself in to the authorities. In California, a fugitive is not allowed to appeal a conviction.  If he's not back within 60 days of his sentencing, he will lose the right to appeal. 

But many are hoping to see him back behind bars much sooner.  California police and even the FBI have been involved in a national search for the fugitive.  Also hunting Luster is Duane "Dog" Chapman, a Honolulu-based bounty hunter who boasts more than 6,000 captures.  

Chapman now says that Luster's mother is the key to reeling him in.  He plans to scout Elizabeth Luster's properties for her son.  Elizabeth Luster did not return calls to her Sonoma, Calif., home.

Duane "Dog" Chapman

Chapman and Luster's attorney have sparred, in part over Chapman's motivation for hunting Luster. 

But Chapman, who has sent mugshots of Luster as far as Bali and plans to scour the coast for the fugitive, insists he's not a media hound (no pun intended) and is not hunting Luster to get rich. 

"I'm a bounty hunter, this is the number one fugitive in America, and I'm on his ass," he said. "This one has become personal.  If one of the victims comes up to me and says, 'Dog, thank you,' that's it, I'm paid."