Thabo Bester, who targeted his victims by finding them on Facebook, was found “dead” last May after a burned body was left in his cell – but he was later spotted in shops and restaurants in an upmarket part of Cape Town.
A rapist who targeted his victims on social media was seen sauntering through one of Cape Town’s most-upmarket suburbs after staging his own death and breaking out of prison.
Thabo Bester, who was branded the “Facebook rapist”, broke out after a charred body was found in his cell at a max-security prison run by G4S – a London-based security firm.
A few months after the brazen escape, Bester was seen in an area close to a £5million mansion he had been renting, which was down the road from the president’s home.
An investigation by news website GroundUp found that Bester did escape – and that he may have been helped by the prison’s own guards.
A post-mortem revealed that the body, which was burned beyond recognition, had been bludgeoned before it was set ablaze.
In emails sent from a prison official to the country’s deputy justice and correctional services minister, there were claims of officials helping him escape Mangaung Prison.
In a statement urging the public to help track down Bester, the department said jail guards have been sacked.
Bester was in prison after luring women to him by claiming that modeling scouts were interested in meeting them.