How Authorities Tracked Down Kenya’s Most Wanted Man, Matheri, Through his Sister

In the late 1990s, the mention of Wacucu, Wanugu, or Matheri sent shivers through Nairobi residents and even police authorities. This trio was well known for leading bank heists and carjackings within Nairobi and its environs.

While Anthony Ngugi Kanagi (Wacucu) and Gerald Wambugu Munyeria (Wanugu) were gunned down in 1996, the last man standing was Bernard Matheri Thuo, better known as “Kagwanja.”

Even after his colleagues’ deaths, Matheri did not back down, and for over a year, even the elite Alfa Romeo squad could not trace him. Despite evading police like a ghost and proving hard to track, the woman he loved eventually played a role in his capture. How did this happen?

Times Digital Kenya takes a look at how Matheri was monitored and how his end came, sadly through police tracking his sister.

The Last of the Big Three

Even though many viewed him as a gangster, Bernard Matheri Thuo was a skilled tactician. This was one of the traits that made him hard to track for over a year after his colleagues had been brought down.

By 1997, he was the only one remaining of the three most wanted gangsters—Wacucu, Wanugu, and Matheri—and immense pressure was placed on the police to capture him by any means possible.

It was not for lack of effort. The police, led by crime buster Daniel Seroney, tried on numerous occasions to capture Matheri, but he was always one step ahead. From hideouts in Nairobi to Central Kenya and even the Rift Valley, Bernard Matheri moved swiftly whenever he became aware of a raid.

How his Sister ‘Helped’ Track Him

After police used many methods to track Matheri, all in vain, they eventually decided to find another solution.

It was in September 1997 that the police tracked Matheri’s sister. He was living in a goat pen on his mother’s homestead in Murang’a area. At the time, areas surrounding the his hideout was sparsely populated, and as such, Matheri saw it as the perfect hiding spot, where not many people were around.

While Matheri was reportedly addicted to tobacco, on that fateful day, he sent his sister to fetch some for him. On her way back, Romeo Squad and Flying Squad officers followed her to Rasta’s hideout.

No sooner had the police officers entered the compound than Rasta noticed them and jumped out of the house. It was not to surrender, but to confront the officers.

With his signature AK-47, he opened fire, leading to an exchange with the officers. However, he was eventually overpowered and gunned down, dying on the spot.

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