A notorious South African prisoner nicknamed “The Facebook Rapist” was captured after he reportedly faked his death and lived with his celebrity doctor girlfriend for a year.
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Thabo Bester is known for his heinous crimes, such as rape and murder; he faked his death in May 2022 after pretending to set himself on fire at a person in Bloemfontein. However, DNA results revealed he used another person killed by blunt force trauma and escaped from the maximum security prison. Bester and his girlfriend, Dr. Nandipha Magudumana, were caught in Tanzania last Friday and returned to South Africa with police on Thursday, as the New York Post reported. Magudamana is known as a celebrity doctor and businesswoman with over 146,000 followers on Instagram.
Her father, Zolile Cornelius Sekeleni,65, and a former prison guard, Senohe Ishmael Matsora,38, was already charged with murder concerning the unidentified man found burned in Bester’s jail cell.
The biggest downfall of Thabo Bester and Dr Nandipha was their love for finer things , if they had tried to cross into Zimbabwe with a Renault Kwid there was gonna be zero drama but they picked a Mercedes Benz and instead of buying from ShopRite they went shopping at Woolies pic.twitter.com/uJ6cSE92tV
— The Instigator (@Am_Blujay) April 13, 2023
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Authorities discovered the prison escape plot in March after DNA results revealed that the body didn’t belong to Bester. Additionally, local reports said there were sightings of him in Johannesburg in November. Before his prison escape, Bester was convicted of one count of murder and two counts of rape concerning the death of his then-girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu and sentenced to 75 years in 2012.
He was dubbed “The Facebook Rapist” after he used the platform to find his victims.
Once again thanks to the individual who took this picture at Woolies that day otherwise we wouldn’t be here , Thabo Bester would probably still be out there and free pic.twitter.com/P1FCAQUv33
— The Instigator (@Am_Blujay) April 13, 2023
The public is calling on the suspension of Subashini Moodley, the Free State’s DCS Regional Commissioner, after failing to expedite the investigation into Thabo Bester’s escape as early as 4 November 2022 at Mangaung Prison after being told to do so by Justice Cameron. pic.twitter.com/YePFJAymze
— CrimeInSA (@sa_crime) April 13, 2023
NowInSA News: in issues about why Thabo Bester and Dr. Nandipha were chartered in a private jet. Another fiery exchange between Glynnis Breytenbach and Bheki Cele
🧑🏻🦳it’s a yes or no answer?
👮🏿♂️NO! I’m not going to answer that way
🧑🏻🦳Then don’t Answer.
👮🏿♂️ absolutely not in court https://t.co/9iUAgNCiF0 pic.twitter.com/oxxUzFUDsK— NOWinSA (@NowInSA) April 13, 2023
Authorities said there would be more arrests for the case and added three more prison employees who were accused of facilitating the prison escape. Three days before, after prison officials approved, Bester was transferred to a single-occupant cell. Conveniently, it was next to a fire exit, officials said.
Magudumana reportedly met Bester in 2006 while studying at Wits University but lost contact in 2011. She allegedly reached out to Bester when he was in prison around 2016 and frequently visited him.