A Newark man will die in prison after a New Castle County judge handed down a life sentence in a killing that rattled the region. Prosecutors say 33-year-old Nobert Matara pleaded guilty earlier this year in the violent December 2024 murder and dismemberment of his ex-girlfriend, Tracy Nyariki, a case that began when coworkers reported her missing just days before Christmas.
The life term was imposed on June 26, 2026, following Matara’s guilty plea to first-degree murder, according to the Delaware Department of Justice. “The facts of this case are beyond disturbing,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in the department’s statement, which also credited New Castle County detectives and prosecutors for putting together the case that led to the plea and sentence.
How investigators say it happened
Investigators say Matara waited inside Nyariki’s Newark apartment on December 17, 2024, and attacked her when she got home, according to NBC10 Philadelphia. Authorities allege Nyariki was stabbed 58 times, then dismembered and hidden inside a suitcase. The brutality of the attack and the eventual discovery of her remains prompted a joint investigation by New Castle County detectives and Maryland authorities.
Arrest and evidence
Police tracked Matara and his vehicle to a motel in Aberdeen, Maryland, where investigators found human remains in his car, as reported by CBS Philadelphia. New Castle County officers had first gone to check on Nyariki after her employer sounded the alarm when she did not show up for work, officials said. Matara was later extradited to Delaware to face a first-degree murder charge and ultimately entered his guilty plea.
Legal context
Matara formally pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on April 29, 2026, according to the Delaware Department of Justice. Under Delaware law, a first-degree murder conviction can carry a sentence of life imprisonment; the statutory penalties are detailed in the Delaware Code. Any sentencing memoranda or potential appeal filings were not described in the public statements about the case.
Officials from the Attorney General’s Office and New Castle County police have said they hope the punishment brings some measure of closure to Nyariki’s family. Hoodline followed the case from its early stages, including when remains were first discovered in December 2024. Authorities continue to urge anyone with information related to the investigation to contact New Castle County detectives.
