
A convict serving a life sentence for murder and rape who escaped from a top-security prison in South Africa by faking his own burning death likely got warders to help smuggle a corpse into his cell, a parliamentary hearing was told Wednesday.
Thabo Bester's elaborate escape happened nearly a year ago — when he was formally declared dead by suicide — but has only been made public and pieced together in the past three weeks. Critics allege that officials intentionally covered up the story.