A clinical psychologist believes that Thabo Bester used stories of his past to paint a picture of a meek and mild character while he gradually progressed from a fraudster to a serial rapist and murderer.
Dr Gérard Labuschagne was speaking to 702 earlier on Tuesday as authorities continue to search for the man known as the "Facebook rapist".
Labuschagne, whose work focuses on forensic and investigative psychology, painted a picture of Bester "gradually improving" as he continued his crimes.
"He had a conviction before the rape, of fraud. The rapes were an escalation of his luring people and then robbing them of their laptops and cellphones.
“[His crimes] then started to include rape and ultimately murder. So he is definitely a serial rapist and it escalated to murder.
“If he continued he would have murdered female victims. So we really have a serial rapist and serial murderer in development who's been out for the past year and the public was not notified of it," he said.
Labuschagne said during his trial, Bester portrayed himself as a meek and mild individual to garner sympathy.
"He spoke a lot about his traumatic growing up and sexual abuse that he experienced," he said.
The expert said Bester used this as a means of trying to sway the prosecution.
He said while Bester spoke about being abused as a child, he could not be trusted.
He said Bester was a conman who could not be believed.
Labuschagne said he believed that Bester was greatly assisted in plotting his escape including help with getting a body placed into his cell.
"If the body was a prisoner, someone would've noticed a prisoner missing. It would have had to be a body obtained from outside, brought into the prison, Bester removed and then the cell set alight," he said.
He added that wardens would’ve been bribed. Disputing Gayton Mckenzie’s opinion on Bester’s escape, Labuschagne said he didn’t believe politicians were involved.
He said Bester did not pose a threat to his girlfriend Nandipha Magudumana but he was a threat to other women he could possibly defraud or murder.
The whereabouts of Magudumana and her two children are unknown, while police are on the hunt for the prison escapee, Bester.
Meanwhile, in 2012, Thabo Bester gave an exclusive interview to the Daily Voice from prison where he aimed to come clean about his actions.
In the interview, he said he had fallen into a life of crime because he was a father of three kids and he wanted to support his children.
In light of Labuschagne’s comments, IOL is republishing the article below.
‘I’m a killer, not a rapist’
Original publication date: August 27, 2012
Authors: Tshego Lepule and Megan Baadjies, DailyVoice
The notorious Facebook killer Thabo Bester admits he’s a killer, but he insists “I’m no rapist”. The convicted killer makes the startling claim in an exclusive interview with the Daily Voice from behind bars.
SA’s infamous conman reveals:
His desperation to care for his three young daughters drove him to murder;
He begged the family of his former girlfriend - aspiring model Nomfundo Tyulu - to forgive him for butchering her in a Cape guest house;
How he has found God behind bars as he seeks redemption for his crimes.
In the interview, Bester pours out his heart for the first time since his high-profile arrest in October last year (2011).
Speaking from Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Paarl where he is serving a life sentence, Bester details how he killed Nomfundo.
But he says: “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I needed money to support my three [daughters].”
The conman became known across the country as the “Facebook Rapist” after reports emerged that the charmer used social networking sites to lure beautiful young women.
But despite admitting that he has killed, Bester amazingly claims he is no rapist.
“It is not like I wake up in the morning sexually frustrated,” he says. “I’m a father, I have daughters and would not want anyone raping them.”
Bester also insists he never intended to kill his girlfriend in a Milnerton guesthouse last September.
He says he only wanted to rob her because he needed the money to pay for rent so he could be close to where two of his daughters were living in Morningside, Durban.
“I needed the money and I knew she had some,” Bester says. “By then I knew I was not going to get funds from [the investors] I came to see in Cape Town.
“That night I wanted to scare her, so I took a knife and we got into a struggle.
“As she held my arm, my hand slipped and I stabbed her.
“I tried to stop the bleeding, but there was too much blood.
“She did not say anything.
“I wasn’t thinking straight - I knew I was wanted for rape and the police would not believe it was an accident.”
Bester admits he committed fraud “to survive”.
“My criminal record [prior to the rape and murder] states that I committed fraud,” he says. “But I did whatever I had to do to get money - I had to hustle.”
In a letter given to this newspaper, Bester also expresses his regret at killing Nomfundo.
“I am so sorry for all my sins in life… I am so sorry to Nomfundo’s family for the pain I put them in,” Bester writes.
“If I was not in her life she would be with us today.
“Yes, I got a life sentence, but it will not give us Nomfundo.”
After killing his girlfriend, Bester fled to Durban.
For weeks he dominated headlines as he played a high-profile cat-and-mouse game with cops hunting him across the country.
The conman’s flamboyant lifestyle came to an abrupt end when police eventually tracked him down last October.
Two weeks ago Bester was sentenced to life and 25 years for murder and aggravated robbery in the Western Cape High Court.
He was already serving a 50-year prison sentence for raping two models in Durban.
Bester is also currently facing two fraud charges in Johannesburg, one in Cape Town and another for an armed robbery in Boksburg.
But despite being one of SA’s most infamous inmates, Bester claims he never intended to embark on a life of crime.
He says he went from being a “normal person to a high-profile criminal” within a matter of weeks.
His notoriety has made him a well-known figure behind bars where even the prison guards casually refer to him as the “Facebook Rapist”.
Now, as he faces the rest of his life in jail, Bester reveals he has turned to God as he seeks redemption for his crimes.
“I started reading the Bible and [am] going to church,” he says.
Part I ends.
‘Facebook rapist’s’ famous jail pal
Publication date: August 28, 2012
Authors: Tshego Lepule and Megan Baadjies, DailyVoice
The infamous “Facebook Rapist” has become best buddies with Blackheath taxi killer Jacob Humphreys behind bars.
Thabo Bester made the shocking revelation in an exclusive prison interview with the Daily Voice.
Bester, 23, is currently serving a 50-year sentence for brutally stabbing his model girlfriend Nomfundo Tyulu to death in a plush Cape guesthouse.
Humphreys, 56, is serving 20 years for the deaths of 10 school children who died in a taxi he was driving at a Blackheath level crossing two years ago.
Now the infamous pair have struck up a close relationship at the Drakenstein Correctional Centre in Paarl.
“We are both sort of high profile [prisoners] in here. We mainly discuss church,” Bester tells the Daily Voice.
“He [Humphreys] is an older man and I’m obviously very young.
“He gives me advice and I give him advice as well.”
The two exchanged a friendly glance as Humphreys walked passed Bester as we spoke to him in prison.
Humphreys was returning to his cell following a visit from his family at the weekend.
Both Bester and Humphreys have turned to God as they seek redemption for their terrible crimes in jail.
But Bester admits he is struggling to cope with prison life.
Despite admitting to killing his girlfriend, he says he did not expect to be handed a life sentence.
And the self-confessed ladies’ man says his life “hit rock bottom” the day he was locked up.
“When I got the life sentence, I thought it was too much [because] I’m not really a violent person,” Bester says.
“I am only 23 years old and life is a very long time.
“I have lost all my friends, I feel alone.
“I was put in a single cell because I am regarded as a so-called high-profile inmate so 90 percent of the time I am alone.
“To deal with everything I am taking anti-depressants, sleeping tablets and I see a psychologist three times a week.
“I sleep for 22 hours and the two hours I’m awake, I eat.”
When asked if he ever cries, Bester replies: “It is the only thing you can do here.
“It is like crying becomes your friend.”
Aside from his murder conviction, Bester is serving a 50-year prison sentence for raping two models in Durban.
He is also currently facing two fraud charges in Johannesburg, one in Cape Town and another charge for an armed robbery in Boksburg.
But Bester insists he never intended to embark on a life of crime.
“I tried to control my life but it didn’t work and I landed in prison for making some horrible decisions,” he says.
Bester says he was forced to fend for himself without any parental guidance from a very young age.
“I was from a broken home without a relationship with my mother or my father,” he says.
“I was raised by my grandmother who was a domestic worker.
“She died when I was 12 years old and from then on I was alone. I have no family.”
Part II ends.
IOL