Earlier today, Thabo Bester, also known as the “Facebook rapist”, appeared in the Western Cape High Court and was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes.

Acting Judge Judith Cloete and assessor, advocate Juliana Thayson, sentenced him to an additional 25 years on a charge of aggravated armed robbery, this was on top of his two 15-year rape charges, and two 15-year robbery charges, the latter charges each had five years suspended. In total, he has been sentenced to 75 years in prison, effectively a life sentence.

Bester had used the social networking site, Facebook, to lure in models who he then raped and robbed. Johannesburg model and car saleswoman Nomfundo Tyhulu was his last victim. He’d killed her following an altercation they had, stabbing her in the chest.

The additional aggravated armed robbery charges related to possessions he took from Tyhulu after killing her and were brought forward for more serious scrutiny by prosecutor Samantha Raphels. She told the court that his actions were premeditated, and therefore the armed robbery and murder charges should be tried separately.

The ruling marks the end of the drawn out trial following the murder in September of last year.

[Source: News24]