While the seemingly innovative prison break of "Facebook rapist" Thabo Bester has gripped the country, convicted criminals and awaiting trial prisoners break out of correctional facilities around the country every year.
Bester, who was serving a life sentence for murder and rape at the Mangaung Correctional Centre in the Free State, reportedly died in his cell during the early morning hours of 3 May 2022.
At least, this was according to a statement by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), which added that Bester had died by suicide after he set himself alight in the prison managed by security company G4S. An investigation by GroundUp revealed that the body found in the cell was not the Facebook rapist and the evidence suggested he had escaped.
Since then, police have confirmed that they are investigating a case of murder as an autopsy revealed that the charred body found showed signs of blunt force trauma to the head before it was set alight.
News24 reported that DCS confirmed that DNA sequencing with a person identified as the mother of Bester failed to indicate a common ancestor or a match, meaning Bester had escaped prison.
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