Accused “Facebook rapist” who faked death to escape prison loses bid to block Netflix documentary

A South African court on Friday rejected an attempt to block the release of a Netflix documentary about a man convicted of rape and murder who faked his own death to escape prison.

Thabo Bester gained global notoriety in 2023 after his arrest in Tanzania, a year after the dramatic escape from a private prison in Bloemfontein.

Authorities had believed that Bester, dubbed the “Facebook Rapist,” had set himself alight in his cell but DNA tests revealed the charred remains belonged to someone else.

Bester and his celebrity doctor partner, Nandipha Magudumana, opposed the three-part “Beauty and the Bester” documentary, arguing it was defamatory and violated their rights to a fair trial.

Judge Sulet Potterill dismissed the application, ruling that they had failed to prove that their petition was urgent, adding that the matter was “firmly in the public domain.”

However, the judge said the pair would still be free to sue for defamation if they wished, after the documentary airs, CBC News partner BBC News reported. 

“A defamation claim can be instituted and damages sought. I cannot find in any way that the screening of the utterances they find to make the doctor guilty affects her right to a fair trial,” the judge ruled.

Bester had been sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for luring victims on Facebook and then raping and robbing them, killing at least one person. He now faces separate charges, including for his escape.

Doubts about Bester’s death were first raised by local media outlet GroundUp.

Police later opened a fresh murder investigation after an autopsy revealed the body found in Bester’s cell had died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head before it was set ablaze. The body was identified as that of Katlego Bereng Mpholo, according to the BBC.

Before fleeing abroad, Bester and Magudumana were thought to have lived in a villa in an affluent Johannesburg suburb.

The pair were arrested while on the run in the East African state of Tanzania in April 2023 and were deported, according to BBC News.

The film was released hours after Friday’s judgment was delivered.