All Episodes

January 5, 2025 33 mins

Thabo Bester is South Africa’s most notorious con man. In 2012, he was locked away for life for murder and rape.

But when in 2022, a fire suddenly breaks out in Bester’s cell, and nothing but a charred body remains, the country’s in shock. Is that the end of Thabo Bester?

This is a story about how a serial rapist worked his way into South Africa’s most exclusive circles and about how he almost escaped justice.

Listen to the premiere episode of True Crime Reports from Al Jazeera.

In this episode: 

  • Glenda Paul, (@GlenniePaul), Forensic Investigator at IRS Forensic Investigations
  • Marecia Damons, (@mareciadamons), Journalist, GroundUp News

Episode credits:

This episode was written and produced by Anna Staufenberg, and hosted by Halla Mohieddeen. 

Executive Producers: Ney Alvarez and Sandra Ferrari.

Production Manager: Archan Mohile.

Senior Producer: Marthe van der Wolf.

Assistant Producers: Leo Danczak, Sophie McNulty and Catherine Nouhan.

Fact-checking by Ruby Zaman.

Audio editing by Alan Leer.

Music composition by Tom Biddle.

Lead of Engagement: Aya Elmileik.

Engagement Producers: Adam Abou-Gad, Munera AlDosari, and Vienna Maglio.

Al Jazeera’s Head of Audio: Ney Alvarez.

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.