'I don't know why I killed her' - Facebook rapist
"She believed in me"
“Facebook rapist” Thabo Bester does not know why he killed model Nomfundo Tyhulu, the Western Cape High Court heard on Tuesday.
Taking the stand in a tracksuit, Bester poured out his heart over Tyhulu, saying she was the only one who had stood by him when people accused him of crimes in Durban.
“She was a good friend... I knew her family. She was a good person. She believed in me,” he said in mitigation of sentence.
Bester, 23, revealed on Monday that he met Tyhulu, 23, at a Sandton, Johannesburg BMW dealership in January 2011, where she sold him a new car.
They started a long-distance relationship two months later and flew to Cape Town together in September for a holiday.
He pleaded guilty on Monday to robbing and killing her, following an argument at a Cape Town bed-and-breakfast on September 21. He stabbed her in the chest and fled with her cellphone and laptop.
Today, he elaborated, saying they flew to Cape Town to meet someone who was going to invest in Bester’s business.
He told the court he had been running an events-hosting business, earning about R15,000 a month.
Asked repeatedly by the State why he killed someone close to him, he could not come up with an answer.
He said his first thought was that stabbing Tyhulu might bring him some money from her possessions.
Eventually, he uttered: “I made a mistake and took her life”.
Bester is a father to three girls, aged seven, two, and 18 months, all from different women.
The two oldest children had been living with him in Durban before the crimes, while the youngest was living with her mother in Cape Town.
His lawyer Peter Burgers said since Bester had been in prison, the older children had moved to Johannesburg, one to live with her mother, the other to live with his retired uncle, 62.
He told Judge Judith Cloete the fact that his client was young, had dependants and pleaded guilty, should all count in his favour.
He suggested a sentence of about 25 years, to run concurrently with his 50-year sentence for other crimes.
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.
Bester 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.
Cloete postponed sentencing to Thursday.
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Comments
Sokheshe1905
Killing The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs...and expecting to get more eggs..idiot ThaboReport Abuse
Knan
Today, he elaborated, saying they flew to Cape Town to meet someone who was going to invest in Bester’s business.//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Stupid boy, cheap thug. Let him rod in prison while learning his lesson, go and join 26 gang you mor*on
Report Abuse
candilious
Was he thinkin of his children when he held that knife to stabb the poor woman............life sentence his a menance to society those kids are far better off without him. their still have a chance of a normal lifeReport Abuse
2nevvy4u
mistake is when you pour salt in your tea instead of sugar,kiillling someone is never a mistake but a take.Report Abuse
Mellow
Thabo o dom dom dom and your and your lawyer is crazy crazy crazy you killed raped and robbed and expect the judge to feel sorry for you cause you apparently young and stupid and have 3 kids with different women to hell man yes you pleaded guilty cause you are now go burn in hellReport Abuse
CheeseBoy
I've always mainatained that young girls should be extra careful who they befriend on facebook.As much as it is 'fun' or a status symbol to have 3 000 friends on face book i think most of those people are nothing more than strangers. how can someone be 'friends' with 3 000 people?
parents must teach their kids that the internet is just like any large city. they must not talk to strangers online or any other time.
social sites like facebook have made life easier for peodophiles, se.x pests,stalkers and murderers to get their victims.
I don't do facebook, period.
Do NOT become a statistic. you have been warned.
Report Abuse
Knan
Bester is a father to three girls, aged seven, two, and 18 months::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
This boy was 16 years by the time he had his first born?
O rata marago e le ruri, 3 children by the age of 23years?, Another 3 orphans added to STATS list resulting from stupid acts by a bloo.dy teenager
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Maezizsto4Sure
By pleading guilty he wants to rot in jailReport Abuse
malemaforpresident
I look at the pic of this moron he seem to be having a nice time and eating nice meal in prison he deserve to be sodomised till he peeeeReport Abuse
Papage
I dont understand why he was allowed to stay with his children at all, he is danger to them and himself. he need help.Report Abuse
Read all 14 comments