The Facebook rapist, whose real name is Thabo Bester, was arrested in Tanzania after a run in South Africa. After spending several years behind bars, he escaped in May 2022 in a despicable way.
Thabo Bester, nicknamed the “Facebook rapist”, is a criminal from South Africa. His modus operandi: pretending to be a model recruiter via Facebook social networkto violate and kill his victims. Which earned him the nickname “the rapist of Facebook”. In 2012 he received a life imprisonment for murder, robbery and rape. It was in May 2022 that heescape from prison from Bloemfontein in South Africa by getting pass for dead. Prison authorities believe he immolated by fire.
However, in March 2023, he is photographed and recognized on the arm of an influencer, Nandipha Magudumana, as Le Matin explains. It turns out that Thabo Bester is not dead but has escaped from prison. And it was at the end of March, almost a year after this escape, that DNA testing prove that the charred body found in his cell is not his. We learn that he has paid prison guards to fake his death and help him in his escape plan. Moreover, during his imprisonment, he mounted a scam : a production company which he led from his cell. He pretended to be an American producer.
The “Facebook rapist” still on the loose?
Thabo Bester lives for a time in a luxury villa in South Africa with his partner. When the hunt begins, he has already left the country. As Le Matin points out, the South African government has just announced that the fugitive criminal was arrested east of Arusha, Tanzania. He was trying to leave the country, in the company of a South African woman with whom he has a romantic relationship and an accomplice. During its arresthe was in possession of several passports. The couple were subsequently extradited. Arriving at Johannesburg airport, Thabo Bester is placed in a maximum security prison, said the Minister of Justice, Ronald Lamola. As for his companion, she is accused of complicity in escape.