Woman Accused of Murdering Off-Duty CAL FIRE Captain Wife Arrested in Mexico
The San Diego Union-Tribune
(TNS)
Mexican authorities on Saturday arrested the woman suspected in the alleged stabbing death of her spouse, a Cal Fire captain killed in her Ramona home, culminating a five–week, bi-national manhunt.
Agents from Fuerza Estatal de Seguridad Ciudadana, known as FESC, in Baja California said they apprehended Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi near a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali.
Marodi was later released to U.S. Marshals. According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, the 53-year-old was being processed and was to be booked on suspicion of murder. As of late Sunday afternoon, it was unclear where Marodi was being held. Her name could not be found in the sheriff’s online jail database.
She is suspected in the death of her wife, Rebecca Marodi, 49, who was with Cal Fire for more than 30 years. Investigators said the pair had been married for about two years.
Shortly before 9 p.m. Feb. 17, deputies responded to a call of an assault with a deadly weapon at a home on Rancho Villa Road. They found Rebecca Marodi suffering from multiple stab wounds. She died at the scene.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed last month in El Cajon Superior Court, video from a home doorbell camera allegedly showed Yolana Marodi chasing Rebecca Marodi about 8 p.m. that night.
“Yolanda! Please! (I) don’t want to die,” Rebecca Marodi allegedly can be heard saying in the video before appearing on camera with what appeared to be blood on her back.
“You should have thought about that before,” Yolanda Marodi allegedly said.
According to the affidavit, footage shows Yolanda Marodi standing in front of Rebecca allegedly holding a knife, telling her to enter the house. They both enter the home. Minutes later — just after 8:20 p.m. — the suspect loads luggage into an SUV and leaves, the court document states.
Sheriff’s officials said the victim’s 77-year-old mother, who lives in an accessory dwelling unit on the property, arrived home and found her daughter with injuries to her neck, chest and back and called for help just before 9 p.m.
Deputies and emergency fire personnel attempted life-saving measures but Marodi died before she could be taken to a hospital.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Yolanda Marodi was seen entering Mexico just after 9:15 p.m., according to the affidavit.
The following day, according to the affidavit, Yolanda Marodi texted a “known associate” regarding the incident. “Rebecca came home and told me she was leaving me,” Yolanda said. “We had a big fight and I hurt her … I’m sorry.”
Previously, Yolanda Marodi was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and served 13 years in prison in connection with the stabbing death of her then-husband, James Joseph Olejniczak, in San Bernardino County in 2000. She was released in 2013 and moved to parole supervision.
Rebecca Marodi’s firefighting career began as a volunteer firefighter in 1993 in Moreno Valley. She attained the rank of captain in 2022 and most recently worked out of a station in French Valley in Riverside County.
Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department officials issued a statement Sunday acknowledging the arrest and thanking “our law enforcement partners in San Diego and Mexico for their hard work. Becky was a beloved member of our community and Department, and we miss her greatly.”
A fundraiser set up to assist her family had raised more than $29,000 as of Sunday. The post from Cal Fire San Diego Benevolent Fund says Marodi “dedicated more than three decades to serving and protecting our communities with unwavering bravery, leadership, and commitment.”
“She was not just a respected leader and mentor — she was a beloved member of the CAL FIRE family,” the post states, adding that Marodi was the primary caregiver for her mother.
The Litas San Diego, an all-female motorcycle collective, organized a memorial ride on March 16 to honor Marodi, who was a member of the group.
More than 200 people took part in the event that saw motorcyclists travel from Hillcrest in downtown San Diego through Ramona and into the unincorporated town of Wynola.
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