Thabo Bester, one of South Africa's most dangerous criminals, has been brought back to South Africa after being captured in Tanzania.
Thabo Bester, 35, was jailed in 2012 for raping and killing his ex-girlfriend and model Nomfundo Tyhulu. Earlier, he was convicted of raping and robbing two other women.
Bester is known in South Africa as the "Facebook Rapist" because most of his rapists were found through Facebook.
He was sentenced in 2012 and placed in a prison in South Africa run by a British security company, which is the second largest private prison in the world.
Authorities ruled that he died in his cell in May last year through self immolation. However, following reports by investigative journalists in South Africa, the country's prisons authority conducted further analysis of the body found in Bester's cell.
South African authorities later investigated and found that the burnt body found in Bester's cell was not his. The authorities said the body found there was in the cell before the fire.
Investigations later revealed that Bester escaped from prison in a highly planned manner. The British company has been temporarily suspended from running the prison.
South Africa's Justice and Correctional Service said a private vehicle had entered the prison without permission on the day of the fire. Authorities believe it was the vehicle that brought the body that was placed in Bester's cell.
The prison Bester escaped from is said to be the most secure prison in the country. Last Wednesday, the heads of the British company that runs the prison were summoned to the Parliament for questioning. The company's owners said that the company had no involvement in the incident. And that three people on duty in the prison that day were dismissed and seven others were suspended. MPs, however, were critical of the company, accusing it of withholding vital information, which the company denied.
According to a report prepared and submitted to the Parliament, a laptop and a cell phone were recovered from Bester's cell, and he was transferred from his previous cell to an isolated cell at his request three days before the fire.
In addition, there is no CCTV recording of the night Bester escaped, due to an electricity problem.
Before his escape, Bester is also known to have operated a multi-million rand scam business while serving his life sentence within the prison. Posing as a businessman named "Tom Motsepe", he organized an event on his birthday at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton which was attended by the rich and famous. The people were told that "Tom" would be video calling from New York, though unbeknownst to them it was the criminal Thabo Bester, wearing a suit and designer watch in prison. The oblivious people at the event sang happy birthday to him, which has been recorded in video.
South African authorities began searching for Bester last month. And he was arrested last week near the Tanzanian border. Bester was arrested along with his current girlfriend. Bester's girlfriend is a famous and rich South African celebrity doctor, Dr. Nandipha Magudumana.
Thabo Bester has now been placed in a high security prison in Pretoria. He is being guarded by the best officers in the prison. In addition to Bester, his girlfriend and her father were also arrested and detained, though her father has been released today on bail. They were arrested for helping him escape. In addition, reports say some other people have also been arrested in relation to this case, including one of the dismissed guards and a CCTV technician.
Thabo Bester, 35, was jailed in 2012 for raping and killing his ex-girlfriend and model Nomfundo Tyhulu. Earlier, he was convicted of raping and robbing two other women.
Bester is known in South Africa as the "Facebook Rapist" because most of his rapists were found through Facebook.
He was sentenced in 2012 and placed in a prison in South Africa run by a British security company, which is the second largest private prison in the world.
Authorities ruled that he died in his cell in May last year through self immolation. However, following reports by investigative journalists in South Africa, the country's prisons authority conducted further analysis of the body found in Bester's cell.
South African authorities later investigated and found that the burnt body found in Bester's cell was not his. The authorities said the body found there was in the cell before the fire.
Investigations later revealed that Bester escaped from prison in a highly planned manner. The British company has been temporarily suspended from running the prison.
South Africa's Justice and Correctional Service said a private vehicle had entered the prison without permission on the day of the fire. Authorities believe it was the vehicle that brought the body that was placed in Bester's cell.
The prison Bester escaped from is said to be the most secure prison in the country. Last Wednesday, the heads of the British company that runs the prison were summoned to the Parliament for questioning. The company's owners said that the company had no involvement in the incident. And that three people on duty in the prison that day were dismissed and seven others were suspended. MPs, however, were critical of the company, accusing it of withholding vital information, which the company denied.
According to a report prepared and submitted to the Parliament, a laptop and a cell phone were recovered from Bester's cell, and he was transferred from his previous cell to an isolated cell at his request three days before the fire.
In addition, there is no CCTV recording of the night Bester escaped, due to an electricity problem.
Before his escape, Bester is also known to have operated a multi-million rand scam business while serving his life sentence within the prison. Posing as a businessman named "Tom Motsepe", he organized an event on his birthday at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton which was attended by the rich and famous. The people were told that "Tom" would be video calling from New York, though unbeknownst to them it was the criminal Thabo Bester, wearing a suit and designer watch in prison. The oblivious people at the event sang happy birthday to him, which has been recorded in video.
South African authorities began searching for Bester last month. And he was arrested last week near the Tanzanian border. Bester was arrested along with his current girlfriend. Bester's girlfriend is a famous and rich South African celebrity doctor, Dr. Nandipha Magudumana.
Thabo Bester has now been placed in a high security prison in Pretoria. He is being guarded by the best officers in the prison. In addition to Bester, his girlfriend and her father were also arrested and detained, though her father has been released today on bail. They were arrested for helping him escape. In addition, reports say some other people have also been arrested in relation to this case, including one of the dismissed guards and a CCTV technician.
