South African Facebook rapist and murderer, Thabo Bester, caught in Tanzania after escaping prison

Key highlights:

• Thabo Bester, the South African “Facebook rapist,” who escaped from prison by faking his own death, has been captured in Tanzania along with his girlfriend and another suspect.
• Bester’s escape had sparked a manhunt in March following a new post-mortem investigation that exposed the body found in his cell was not actually his.
• Bester was known for luring his victims through social media and was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu.

Thabo Bester, a convicted rapist and murderer, who escaped from a South African prison by faking his own death, has been apprehended in Tanzania along with his girlfriend and another suspect. The manhunt, launched in March, was sparked by a post-mortem investigation that revealed the body found in Bester’s cell was not actually his. Police believe the trio were attempting to flee into neighboring Kenya.

Employees of the British-owned security company G4S, which ran the prison where Bester was held, have been accused of aiding his escape. Bester, known as the “Facebook rapist,” was convicted in 2012 for the rape and murder of his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu and earlier for raping and robbing two other women.

His escape from prison, which sparked outrage in South Africa, where sexual assault rates are high, has finally come to an end.