WIFE OF SLAIN CALFIRE CAPT. REBECCA MARODI ARRESTED IN MEXICO
By Jennifer Vigil, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association
March 23, 2025 (Ramona) - The woman accused of killing her wife, a CalFire captain, has been arrested in Mexico more than a month after the slaying, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities had been searching since late Feb. 17 for Yolanda Marodi, 53, named as the suspect in the stabbing death of Capt. Rebecca Marodi, 49.
The veteran firefighter was found dead by her mother at the couple’s home on Rancho Villa Road in Ramona, suffering from multiple stab wounds to her neck, chest and abdomen, according to court documents.
Sheriff’s officials said that Mexican authorities notified U.S. Marshals on Saturday that she was being held, then released her to their custody at an unnamed U.S. Port of Entry.
The suspect, they said, will be booked on a murder charge.
According to Telemundo, Baja California’s Citizen Security Secretariat offered more details in a news release. Yolanda Marodi, they said had been located and arrested near a Mexicali hotel on Avenida Fresnillo.
Within days of Rebecca Marodi’s death, the Sheriff’s office released a number of details as they sought the suspect, from the car she was believed to be driving, a compact SUV, to their belief that she may have crossed the border.
Legal documents also described footage of the attack on the victim, captured by Ring video.
Footage from outside the home showed Rebecca Marodi fleeing the residence, with her wife close on her heels. The suspect, authorities wrote, appeared to be holding a knife in her hand and had blood on her arms.
The couple returned inside, but some minutes later, Yolanda Marodi was seen placing items in a Chevrolet Equinox and leaving the residence.
Sheriff’s officials said Saturday that they had long known that the suspect had crossed into Mexico in her vehicle via the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Feb. 17, the same day of the attack. U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided the information, according to the Sheriff’s office.
Yolanda Marodi, who also uses the surname Olejniczak, already had served a prison stint for voluntary manslaughter.
The woman pleaded guilty to the charge in San Bernardino County, after James Olejniczak, her former husband, was killed, also with a knife. Family court documents filed in North County indicate that James and Yolanda Olejniczak filed for divorce five months before his May 2000 death.
Updated 9:55 p.m. March 22, 2025