A rapist and murderer who faked his own death to escape from a South African prison has been detained in Tanzania.
Once it was believed that Thabo Bester had set himself on fire in his cell, he remained at large for a year.
As a further post-mortem examination proved the body wasn’t truly his last month, a manhunt was started.
Bester will be extradited to South Africa after being apprehended on Friday along with his girlfriend and a third suspect.
The three were allegedly planning to run into neighboring Kenya, according to the police.
Bester is referred to as the “Facebook rapist” since he lured his victims through the social networking site.
He was found guilty of raping and killing his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyhulu in 2012. He had been convicted of raping and robbing two other women a year earlier.
He was reportedly discovered dead in his cell at the Mangaung Correctional Center in Bloemfontein in May after lighting himself on fire, according to reports.
Late last year, local media started to cast doubt on Bester’s passing, though.
Further testing proved the body was not Bester, and that the unidentified individual had died from blunt-force injuries to the head. In March, authorities started a fresh murder inquiry.
Employees of the British-owned security company G4S, which ran the prison where he was held, have been accused of helping him flee.
It has said three employees were dismissed in connection with the incident.
Earlier this week, representatives for the organisation failed to attend a meeting in parliament about Bester’s escape. The BBC has approached G4S for comment.
There have been many reported sightings of Bester over the past year, including claims he was grocery shopping in an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, and was living in a rented mansion there.
Bester’s escape sparked outrage in South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world.
