Body of man intended to aid in Thabo Bester escape plot still ...

Thabo Bester at a court appearance.

Free State police say the body of a man that was intended to be used in the escape of Thabo Bester remains unidentified. The man was dumped in the Modder River in April last year by one of Thabo Bester's alleged allies.Police say the man's body was first found in Bloemfontein after a hit-and-run accident in October 2021.

The body of a man that was intended to be used to aid in the escape of convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester remains unidentified, Free State police say.

Spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said one of the accused in the case claimed the corpse from a government mortuary to use in the escape but dumped it in the Modder River on 28 April last year. 

Makhele added the body of the black male was first found on 9 October 2021 in Lovedale Road, Bloemfontein, after a hit-and-run.

Bester, also known as the "Facebook Rapist", used the platform to lure women for modelling jobs with "international modelling scouts".

READ | Bloemfontein High Court grants accused in Thabo Bester escape trial bail

He would then rape and rob them at knifepoint, murdering at least one of his victims.

In 2012, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for these crimes.

In May last year, he escaped from Mangaung Correctional Centre after faking his death in a single isolation cell.

News24 previously reported Bester initially planned to escape in April but later changed his plan to May. 

However, his girlfriend and alleged accomplice, Dr Nandipha Magudumana, had already claimed and abandoned two bodies weeks before his escape, in which they used the body of Katlego Bereng as a cover-up.

Bester is on trial with several others. They are accused of aiding his escape from prison. 

READ | Free State cop arrested for allegedly helping prisoner escape from court

Some are out on bail - including Teboho James Lipholo, Senohe Ishmael Matsoara and Tieho France Makhotsa.

They face charges of fraud, corruption and defeating the ends of justice.

The Bloemfontein High Court granted the trio R10 000 bail each on Wednesday after they appealed the local magistrate's court's denial of their application.