Christ said that He would meet that thief on the cross in paradise that very day.
"And Jesus said to him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise'" (Luke 23:43, NET).
We know from Psalm 16 and Acts 2, that Christ was going to Sheol.
"You will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit" (NET).
Peter quotes Psalm 16:10 as referring to Christ's descent into Sheol. We know from Peter's words in Acts 2, that Sheol is the equivalent of the Greek place Hades.
"But God raised [Jesus] up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. For David says about him, ‘I saw the Lord always in front of me, for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body also will live in hope, because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor permit your Holy One to experience decay" (Acts 2:24-27, NET).Therefore, Paradise was in Hades or Sheol. Christ descended to Hades or Sheol and told the thief that He would meet him that very day in Hades or Sheol, in Paradise. Paradise must therefore have been in Hades or Sheol. But we know from 2 Corinthians 12 that Paradise is now in a different place, the third heaven.
First, Abel died before Christ died and ascended with the thief to Paradise. John 3:13 precludes Abel from having ascended, before Christ.
Second David did not go to Paradise, which is the third Heaven, again because John 3:13 precludes it.
No passage of scripture says or implies that Paradise is in Hades.
No passage of scripture says or implies that Paradise was in Hades before Christ.
The assertion that anyone ascended to Paradise/Heaven before Christ is fake theology.