By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-06 18:37:59 | Updated at 2026-08-06 21:08:51
3 hours ago
A bisexual California woman confessed to murdering her fire captain wife with a knife inside their home 22 years after she killed her husband in nearly identical fashion.
Yolanda Marodi, 54, admitted Tuesday inside the San Diego Superior Court in El Cajon that she had killed her partner, 49-year-old Rebecca Marodi, on February 17, 2025.
Yolanda said she had used a knife to kill Rebecca, her wife of slightly more than two years, as she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office told the Daily Mail.
Rebecca, a captain with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, was found with stab wounds to her neck, chest and abdomen when police were called to the couple's $950,000 Ramona four-bedroom, three-bathroom home.
Surveillance footage seemingly captured the moments leading up to Rebecca's death, as she pleaded with her wife and told her she did not want to die.
Yolanda now faces 36-years-to-life in prison for Rebecca's murder. She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2.
The details of Rebecca's grisly murder echoed eerily similar to the way Yolanda stabbed her first partner, then-husband James J Olejniczak Jr, to death in October 2000.
She was sentenced in that case to 11 years in state prison but was only in custody from February 2004 through November 2013.
On Tuesday, Yolanda Marodi (right) admitted to having murdered her wife, Cal Fire Captain Rebecca Marodi, on February 17, 2025
Yolanda pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and said she had used a knife to kill her wife, whom she had been married to for slightly more than two years
The fatal stabbing happened in the couple's $950,000 four–bedroom, three–bathroom home in Ramona, California
Rebecca had told Yolanda that she was leaving her and ending their marriage about one week prior to the fatal stabbing, per a February 2025 arrest warrant.
Surveillance video captured Yolanda chasing after her wife on the patio around 8.10pm that day.
According to the warrant, a seemingly bloodied Rebecca was heard pleading, 'Yolanda! Please... I don't want to die.'
'You should have thought about that before,' Yolanda replied, according to the warrant.
The Ring camera footage captured Yolanda standing in front of Rebecca, seemingly with a knife in her right hand and with apparent blood spattered over her arms.
About ten minutes after the couple was last seen entering the home, Yolanda gathered her items, pets and luggage into a silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV and fled, per the warrant.
Yolanda also texted a 'known associate' of hers after killing Rebecca, the document continued.
'Becky came home and told me she was leaving me, she met someone else, all the messages were lies,' Yolanda wrote.
She added: 'We had a big fight and I hurt her... I'm sorry.'
An arrest warrant alleged that Rebecca had told Yolanda that she was going to end their marriage roughly one week before the stabbing
In surveillance video that was described by authorities, Rebecca could be heard begging with Yolanda and saying that she did not 'want to die'
The way Rebecca was murdered rang eerily similar to how Yolanda fatally stabbed her first spouse, then-husband James J. Olejniczak Jr., 26, in October 2000
After Yolanda fled the scene, the Department of Homeland Security logged her car as entering Mexico that same night.
Yolanda's whereabouts were initially unknown, with the San Diego Sheriff's Office alerting authorities on both sides of the US-Mexico border about her.
She was ultimately arrested for Rebecca's murder by Mexican authorities last March, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office.
Once she was taken into custody, Yolanda was subsequently released to US Marshals at an American port of entry.
As she pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Yolanda responded 'Yes' multiple times when asked by the judge if she understood the consequences, according to FOX5.
Marodi originally pleaded not guilty to murder last year. She had also faced a first-degree murder charge, but that was negotiated down by Deputy District Attorney Jared Coleman's office, in part after talking to Rebecca's family.
'The consideration of many factors, maybe the most important of which was the desire of the victim's family for closure,' Coleman told the outlet.
Becky's mother, Lorena Marodi, made the 911 call on the night that Rebecca was found dead.
Lorena previously told the court that she had been out with friends and drove by the home while dropping people off. At that point, she noticed that Yolanda's car was gone.
When she returned home later that night, she spotted a trail of blood and her daughter's dead body.
Rebecca's mom, Lorena Marodi, was the one who made the 911 call to authorities after discovering her daughter's dead body
Yolanda is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2 for Rebecca's murder. She faces up 36–years–to–life in prison
The details surrounding Rebecca's murder appeared similar to how Yolanda killed Olejniczak Jr, her first husband, in 2000.
Yolanda had filed for divorce from Olejniczak, 26, months earlier and the pair had agreed to 'mutual restraining orders,' according to court documents reviewed by CBS8.
She had also requested joint custody of the couple's two children, who were nine and four at the time.
Authorities at the time said they believed she 'cleared out' and 'took everything' after fleeing following Olejniczak's murder.
However, Yolanda turned herself in to police about 24 hours later and was jailed.
