'Facebook rapist' gets life sentence
2012-08-16 10:48
Cape Town - "Facebook rapist" Thabo Bester was on Thursday jailed for life for the murder of Johannesburg model and car saleswoman Nomfundo Tyhulu.
He appeared in the Western Cape High Court before acting Judge Judith Cloete and assessor, advocate Juliana Thayson, who sentenced him to an additional 25 years on a charge of aggravated armed robbery.
The armed robbery charge related to possessions that he took from Tyhulu after killing her. Bester, 23, stabbed Tyhulu, 23, in the chest, in a bed-and-breakfast in Cape Town in September last year. The two were on holiday together.
They met at the BMW dealership in Sandton, Johannesburg, where she had sold him a car. They started a long-term relationship before going to Cape Town on holiday.
Premeditated
After stabbing Tyhulu, Bester flew to Durban. On his departure from the bed-and-breakfast in the morning, he told reception staff that Tyhulu was still sleeping and not to be disturbed before 14:00.
These remarks were an aggravating factor, the judge said.
Prosecutor Samantha Raphels told the court on Tuesday that Bester's acts were premeditated and that the robbery and murder charges should be treated as serious, separate crimes.
He should face life in prison as he was clearly not sorry for what he had done and had not been "open and honest" with the court, she said.
Bester was previously sentenced to 50 years in prison for raping and robbing two models. He was jailed for 15 years on each count of rape and 15 years on each count of robbery. Five years of each robbery sentence was suspended.
He is called the "Facebook rapist" as he used the social networking site to lure women to meet him, claiming that international modelling scouts were interested in them. Armed with a knife, he then raped and robbed them.
- SAPA