Thabo Bester, who used social media to lure victims, was captured after a two-week manhunt and is being extradited back to South Africa.
A South African convicted murderer who faked his death to escape prison has been arrested in Tanzania following a two-week manhunt. Police confirmed the arrest of Thabo Bester, 35, who was serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a woman. Bester, known as the “Facebook Rapist” for using the platform to lure his victims, had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012.
In May last year, reports claimed that Bester had died in a fire in his prison cell, but new developments revealed that the body found in the fire was not his. A subsequent investigation, including DNA testing, led authorities to uncover that Bester had faked his death and escaped the prison. Following sightings of him in Johannesburg, police began a manhunt.
The search ended when Bester was arrested in Tanzania along with his girlfriend, Nandipha Magudumana, a celebrity doctor, and a Mozambican national believed to have helped him evade capture. They were apprehended with fake passports just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Kenyan border. Authorities have initiated the extradition process to return the fugitives to South Africa, where Bester faces several charges.
It was reported that Bester had been living a lavish lifestyle in Johannesburg’s Hyde Park suburb for nearly a year after his escape. While incarcerated, Bester had used a laptop to run a company, even speaking at a conference from his prison cell under the false pretence of being in the United States.
The escape raised concerns about the possible involvement of prison officials, and at least three workers at the Mangaung Correctional Centre, managed by the private British-based G4S security firm, have been fired. Following Bester’s escape, the South African government took over the management of the facility and announced that the contract with G4S will not be renewed when it expires in 2026.
