A 54-year-old California woman last week pleaded guilty to murdering her Cal Fire captain wife in 2025, according to authorities.
Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 2, according to KTLA-TV.
‘I don’t want to die.’
She faces 36 years to life in state prison.
As Blaze News previously reported, 49-year-old Cal Fire captain Rebecca “Becky” Marodi was found stabbed to death at her home in Ramona around 9 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2025.
The arrest warrant said deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office found Rebecca Marodi with “several lacerations and apparent stab wounds on her body, including her neck area, her chest, and abdomen.”
Days after the firefighter’s death, an arrest warrant was issued for Yolanda Marodi.
The sheriff’s office said Yolanda “was seen on surveillance video earlier in the evening arguing with Rebecca and physically assaulting her,” NBC News reported.
An affidavit said Rebecca Marodi could be seen with blood on her back and was heard on the video saying, “Yolanda! Please … I don’t want to die.”
Yolanda Marodi, who was seen in the video holding a knife, replied, “You should have thought about that before,” according to the affidavit.
Approximately 10 minutes later, Yolanda Marodi was “seen gathering pets, random items, and some luggage and loading it into a silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV,” according to the affidavit.
Blaze News reported that Homeland Security later spotted the vehicle crossing the border into Mexico.
After 33 days on the run, Marodi was taken into custody after being located at a hotel roughly two miles south of the U.S. border in Mexicali — approximately 175 miles southeast of where her wife was found stabbed to death at her home.
Rebecca Marodi served Cal Fire for 30 years and helped battle the devastating Eaton Fire.
“Becky was a beloved member of our community and department, and we miss her greatly,” Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department said in a statement after her death last year.
In an eerie similarity, Yolanda previously attempted to flee from law enforcement with her two young children after the October 2000 stabbing death of her then-estranged husband, according to law enforcement.
As Blaze News previously reported, Yolanda is an ex-convict who went to prison for the stabbing death of 26-year-old James Joseph Olejniczak in San Bernardino County.
In January 2004, Yolanda pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of her first spouse and was incarcerated from 2004 to 2013 after her conviction for voluntary manslaughter.
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California, Guilty plea, Mexico, Murder, Stabbing, Ex-con, Crime
