Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi pleaded guilty on Tuesday in San Diego County Superior Court to second-degree murder for stabbing her wife, Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi, to death in their Ramona home on February 17, 2025. She faces up to 36 years to life in prison, echoing a prior voluntary manslaughter conviction from 2003.
A California woman with a decades-old homicide conviction on her record admitted in court on Tuesday to killing her wife in a remarkably similar manner. Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 54, appeared before San Diego County Superior Court and confessed to killing her wife, 49-year-old Cal Fire Capt. Rebecca Marodi, inside their Ramona residence.
The guilty plea to second-degree murder comes after the Feb. 17, 2025, attack, which triggered an international manhunt after Yolanda Marodi fled across the border into Mexico. Prosecutors agreed to downgrade the charge from first-degree murder following discussions with the victim’s family, according to deputy district attorney Jared Coleman.
The Crime Scene and Ring Camera Evidence in Ramona
Emergency responders and investigators uncovered a horrifying scene inside the couple’s Rancho Villa Road home after Rebecca’s mother, Lorena Marodi, called 911. Authorities found the decorated fire captain suffering from multiple stab wounds to her neck, chest, and abdomen. Despite immediate life-saving measures performed at the scene, she succumbed to her injuries.
An arrest-warrant declaration detailed chilling footage captured by a Ring security camera outside the home on the night of the killing. According to the court documents, Rebecca Marodi was seen fleeing through the patio as her wife chased her brandishing a knife.
“Yolanda! Please … ! I don’t want to die!”
Rebecca Marodi, via arrest-warrant declaration
The warrant states that Yolanda Marodi, who had blood on her arms, responded, You should have thought about that before.
Surveillance footage subsequently showed the suspect gathering pets and luggage, loading them into a silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV, and driving away.
Escape to Mexico and the 33-Day Manhunt
Immediately after the fatal attack, Yolanda Marodi drove south and crossed the U.S. border. Department of Homeland Security logs confirmed her vehicle entered Mexico late that same night.
Mexican authorities tracked her down more than a month later. On March 22, 2025, agents with the Baja California Citizen Security Secretariat (SSCBC) captured her near a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali, roughly 2.3 miles south of the border. State security agents transported her to the border and handed her over to U.S. marshals, leading to her booking in San Diego.
While on the lam, Yolanda Marodi messaged an acquaintance about the violent encounter.
Becky came home and told me she was leaving me, she met someone else, all the messages were lies. We had a big fight and I hurt her …
Yolanda Marodi, via police affidavit
A Decades-Old Prior Manslaughter Conviction
The guilty plea marks the second time Yolanda Marodi has been convicted of killing a spouse with a knife. Court records show she previously pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the October 2000 stabbing death of her then-husband, James Joseph Olejniczak, in San Bernardino County, Nypost.
For that prior killing, she was sentenced in 2004 to 11 years in prison. She served time from 2004 until her release in 2013.
Legacy of a Decorated Cal Fire Captain
Friends and colleagues remembered Rebecca Marodi as a dedicated public servant who spent more than 30 years in firefighting. She began her career as a volunteer in Moreno Valley and rose to become a decorated captain with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, according to Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department.
In the months leading up to her death, she had been on the front lines battling the Eaton Fire, one of California’s deadliest recent blazes.
Yolanda Marodi is scheduled to appear in San Diego County Superior Court for sentencing on September 2, where she faces a prison term of 36 years to life.
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