In February 2007, the police commissioner declared Matheri the most dangerous criminal in the country. For Wambui, that announcement marked the darkest chapter of her life. His face appeared in every newspaper and was plastered across the police website.
By then, Matheri had started bringing home an AK-47 regularly. Wambui says she begged him to surrender, but he refused. On February 20, 2007, a dramatic standoff unfolded. Armed with a force of nearly a hundred officers, including special agents, police surrounded Wambui’s home and those of her neighbors.
Inside the apartment, Matheri, his bodyguard, and co-accused Elias Gathumbi Osama were ordered to come out with their hands on their heads.
Fearing the police might kill him rather than arrest him, Matheri hesitated. Wambui pleaded with him again, urging him to surrender for the sake of her safety and that of their six children. She reminded him that the officers had threatened to open fire on the house if he refused.
Eventually, her words reached him. Matheri stepped out with his hands raised, fists clenched above his head. As he exited, gunfire rang out, echoing through the neighborhood. His wife’s neighbors heard the shots clearly.
Matheri, once the most wanted man in Kenya, was killed that day. For Wambui and her family, his death brought an overwhelming sense of relief.
After the incident, Wambui returned to her home in Gachie, but peace remained elusive. Her neighbors viewed her with suspicion, and Matheri’s in-laws took an interest in the household items she had left behind.
The trauma lingered. Memories of the time when eight family homes were burned to the ground haunted her, and the fear that the same people might return for her never truly left her mind.
